Critic Reviews
K-19: The Widowmaker (2002) Rank 2 Reviews
Expert Review Summary
based on (267) reviews
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Reviews by Score:
MovieMaze (Thomas Straßer)
Las Vegas Weekly (Steve Bornfeld)
BluntReview.com (Emily Blunt)
Entertainment Insiders (Ed Malinowski)
Considering the infamous submarine movies of the past -- such as Crimson Tide, The Hunt for Red October, and Das Boot -- it becomes perplexing how anything new or innovative can be added to the genre. And while Kathryn Bigelow’s K-19: The Widowmaker is ...read the complete K-19: The Widowmaker movie review at Entertainment Insiders (Ed Malinowski)
At-A-Glance Film Reviews (--)
Film Threat (Michael Dequina)
While watchable, skews more toward the drier expectations fostered by that publication's name then the more exciting, explosive ones associated with the genre. ...read the complete K-19: The Widowmaker movie review at Film Threat (Michael Dequina)
Washington Post (Stephen Hunter)
It's a pretty good sub movie, with some pretty good performances, that, alas, somewhat disintegrates in the last half-hour. ...read the complete K-19: The Widowmaker movie review at Washington Post (Stephen Hunter)
Los Angeles Times (Kenneth Turan)
K-19's determination to push hard for self-congratulatory morals and convenient resolutions undercut the film's strengths and make it more conventional. ...read the complete K-19: The Widowmaker movie review at Los Angeles Times (Kenneth Turan)
Screen It! (Jim Judy)
Decent and certainly not a terrible chore to sit through, the film offers some memorable moments. ...read the complete K-19: The Widowmaker movie review at Screen It! (Jim Judy)
Citysearch (Ross Brooks)
Though a capable thriller, somewhere along the way K-19 jettisoned some crucial drama. ...read the complete K-19: The Widowmaker movie review at Citysearch (Ross Brooks)
Film Threat (David Grove)
A cold war thriller told from the Russian point of view which gives it the appearance of having more credibility and dark truth than if this were an American story. ...read the complete K-19: The Widowmaker movie review at Film Threat (David Grove)
Variety (Robert Koehler)
Obediently follows the verities of the submarine movie and its true story origins but without the imagination needed to refresh the genre. ...read the complete K-19: The Widowmaker movie review at Variety (Robert Koehler)
The Onion (A.V. Club) (Keith Phipps)
After spending so much time letting the characters' deeds do the talking, the film veers into overkill, which comes as a letdown. But the actions linger longer than the words. ...read the complete K-19: The Widowmaker movie review at The Onion (A.V. Club) (Keith Phipps)
Ottawa Citizen (Roger Moore)
It's no Das Boot , Crimson Tide or The Enemy Below . But it's no embarrassment, either. ...read the complete K-19: The Widowmaker movie review at Ottawa Citizen (Roger Moore)
Dark Horizons (Garth Franklin)
Sun Newspapers of Cleveland (Gerry Shamray)
K-19 has some rusty spots, though it maintains enough balance to stay on course with a suspenseful dive. ...read the complete K-19: The Widowmaker movie review at Sun Newspapers of Cleveland (Gerry Shamray)
Netflix (James Rocchi)
Soviet submarine drama tells a great true story, but lacks depth. ...read the complete K-19: The Widowmaker movie review at Netflix (James Rocchi)
Toronto Star (Geoff Pevere)
The movie's centrepiece is as close to tour-de-force suspense filmmaking as you'll see anywhere this summer. ...read the complete K-19: The Widowmaker movie review at Toronto Star (Geoff Pevere)
Chicago Reader (Jonathan Rosenbaum)
Perhaps the post-cold-war attitudes behind this film are progressive, but the same old pre-nuclear-war worship of the military goes all but unchallenged. ...read the complete K-19: The Widowmaker movie review at Chicago Reader (Jonathan Rosenbaum)
CineFile : il Cinema in Rete (Luciana Morelli)
Chicago Tribune (Michael Wilmington)
Political Film Society
Houston Community Newspapers (Gary Brown)
Moviola (Jorge G. Avila Andrade)
Reel.com (Tor Thorsen)
El Criticon (Antonio Méndez Casanova)
cinEncanto (Pablo del Moral)
Cinema 2000 (Eurico de Barros; Vasco Câmara)
Tyler Morning Telegraph (Texas) (Jonathan R. Perry)
'... So waterlogged by cliches not even the effortless authority of Harrison Ford or the carefully inflected sympathy of Liam Neeson can keep it afloat.' ...read the complete K-19: The Widowmaker movie review at Tyler Morning Telegraph (Texas) (Jonathan R. Perry)
Miami Herald (Connie Ogle)
Despite its exciting moments, the film is too long. ...read the complete K-19: The Widowmaker movie review at Miami Herald (Connie Ogle)
Daily-Reviews.com (Alex Ostapiej)
Three Movie Buffs (Eric Nash)
Seattle Times (Moira MacDonald)
Within the clutter of accents and heavenly choirs -- Klaus Badelt's score is at times a bit much -- lurks a good story. And, in midsummer, that's often all we can ask for. ...read the complete K-19: The Widowmaker movie review at Seattle Times (Moira MacDonald)
San Francisco Examiner (Joe Leydon)
Despite the star power, and despite the persuasively rendered specifics of setting, mood and period attitudes, K-19 too often feels like a slow, stately cruise through familiar territory. ...read the complete K-19: The Widowmaker movie review at San Francisco Examiner (Joe Leydon)
Globe and Mail (Liam Lacey)
The movie, from director Kathryn Bigelow, can't keep track of what course it wants to steer. ...read the complete K-19: The Widowmaker movie review at Globe and Mail (Liam Lacey)
Natural Born Viewers (James Chappell)
Contra Costa Times (Mary F. Pols)
A worthy but ponderous submarine movie. ...read the complete K-19: The Widowmaker movie review at Contra Costa Times (Mary F. Pols)
TheMovieBoy.com (Dustin Putman)
Exciting enough for the majority of its 138-minute running time to make for, at the least, a marginally arresting cinematic experience. ...read the complete K-19: The Widowmaker movie review at TheMovieBoy.com (Dustin Putman)
DVD Talk (Holly E. Ordway)
Palo Alto Online (Jeanne Aufmuth)
Charlotte Observer (Lawrence Toppman)
K-19: The Widowmaker delivers Hollywood heroics, stock characters and heavy-handed sentimentality in a handsome but repetitive production. ...read the complete K-19: The Widowmaker movie review at Charlotte Observer (Lawrence Toppman)
Aisle Seat (Mike McGranaghan)
I admired the movie to a degree, but I couldn't escape the feeling that K-19 should have been more than it is. ...read the complete K-19: The Widowmaker movie review at Aisle Seat (Mike McGranaghan)
Los Angeles Daily News (Glenn Whipp)
This isn't a bad movie, just an uninspired one. ...read the complete K-19: The Widowmaker movie review at Los Angeles Daily News (Glenn Whipp)
Ozus' World Movie Reviews (Dennis Schwartz)
"The secret is now out, but I doubt if we saw the true story." ...read the complete K-19: The Widowmaker movie review at Ozus' World Movie Reviews (Dennis Schwartz)
St. Paul Pioneer Press (Chris Hewitt (St. Paul))
The story hits too many notes we've heard before. ...read the complete K-19: The Widowmaker movie review at St. Paul Pioneer Press (Chris Hewitt (St. Paul))
Jigsaw Lounge (Neil Young)
Palo Alto Weekly (Jeanne Aufmuth)
Message movie or an action-packed submarine spectacular? Alas, it's neither. ...read the complete K-19: The Widowmaker movie review at Palo Alto Weekly (Jeanne Aufmuth)
Newsday (John Anderson)
A thriller without a lot of thrills. ...read the complete K-19: The Widowmaker movie review at Newsday (John Anderson)
Detroit News (Susan Stark)
USA Today (Mike Clark)
Though this saga would be terrific to read about, it is dicey screen material that only a genius should touch. With no genius in sight, K-19 might be headed for meltdown. ...read the complete K-19: The Widowmaker movie review at USA Today (Mike Clark)
The Globe and Mail (Toronto) (Liam Lacey)
The movie becomes an American salute to military patriotism, anybody's military patriotism. Think of it as "A Few Good ...read the complete K-19: The Widowmaker movie review at The Globe and Mail (Toronto) (Liam Lacey)
TV Guide (Ken Fox)
The truly heartbreaking sacrifice of a few extraordinarily heroic men is lost under the ponderous score and a series of even heavier speeches. ...read the complete K-19: The Widowmaker movie review at TV Guide (Ken Fox)
Charlotte Observer (Lawrence Toppman)
The lead actors come from America, Ireland, Iceland, England and South Africa. Who decided they should attempt Russian accents? Neeson forgets his, Ford wavers in and out, and real Russians in the cast make the others sound inauthentic. ...read the complete K-19: The Widowmaker movie review at Charlotte Observer (Lawrence Toppman)
Portland Oregonian (Shawn Levy)
The script doesn't give Bigelow enough human stuff to balance the mechanical. For good or ill, like so many other submarine thrillers before it, K-19 is more about the machine than the men. ...read the complete K-19: The Widowmaker movie review at Portland Oregonian (Shawn Levy)
LA Weekly (John Powers)
K-19 is so unnervingly square that it seems eerily like Party-sanctioned Soviet filmmaking: Its Motherland-loving sailors, myth-making shots of K-19 and displays of heroism are worthy of the Young Lenin Pioneers' Handbook. ...read the complete K-19: The Widowmaker movie review at LA Weekly (John Powers)
Sacramento Bee (Joe Baltake)
A very depressing movie of many missed opportunities. ...read the complete K-19: The Widowmaker movie review at Sacramento Bee (Joe Baltake)
Washington Post (Desson Thomson)
Despite drawing from one of the most powerful and true stories from the Cold War, K-19 is only moderately moving. ...read the complete K-19: The Widowmaker movie review at Washington Post (Desson Thomson)
Movie Parables (Michael Elliott)
This sub doesn't sink nor does it rise to the top. An average, often engaging character study of men in a stressful situation. ...read the complete K-19: The Widowmaker movie review at Movie Parables (Michael Elliott)
San Diego Union-Tribune (David Elliott)
This is one of the most machocentric and masochistic movies ever made by a woman. ...read the complete K-19: The Widowmaker movie review at San Diego Union-Tribune (David Elliott)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Duane Dudek)
While the center of the film is both thrilling and horrifying, what will resonate for anyone old enough to remember is the cautionary thing left unspoken ... ...read the complete K-19: The Widowmaker movie review at Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Duane Dudek)
Mr. Brown's Movies (Michael Dequina)
eFilmCritic.com (Erik Childress)
Remains curiously less compelling than Spock’s big scene in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. ...read the complete K-19: The Widowmaker movie review at eFilmCritic.com (Erik Childress)
The UK Critic (Ian Waldron-Mantgani)
This is Lancashire (--)
Mediasharx (David Grant)
Empire Magazine (--)
Empire Movies (Sean Cullin)
TV Guide's Movie Guide (Ken Fox)
A passably interesting, Tom Clancy-style thriller. ...read the complete K-19: The Widowmaker movie review at TV Guide's Movie Guide (Ken Fox)
Jam! Movies (Liz Braun)
At no point during K-19:The Widowmaker did this viewer feel enveloped in a story that, though meant to be universal in its themes of loyalty, courage and dedication to a common goal, never seems to leave the lot. ...read the complete K-19: The Widowmaker movie review at Jam! Movies (Liz Braun)
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) (Ken Hanke)
Christopher Kyle is apparently the Will Rogers of screenwriters %u2013 he never met a cliché he didn't like, and he put all of them in this script. ...read the complete K-19: The Widowmaker movie review at Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) (Ken Hanke)
RTE Interactive (Dublin, Ireland) (Harry Guerin)
It's a military maxim that there is no room for egos on a submarine. Which prompts the question if there's any more room for another military movie set below the waves? ...read the complete K-19: The Widowmaker movie review at RTE Interactive (Dublin, Ireland) (Harry Guerin)
Reno News and Review (Bob Grimm)
This is Ford slumming in conventional trash. ...read the complete K-19: The Widowmaker movie review at Reno News and Review (Bob Grimm)
ComingSoon.net (Andy Weil)
The film is void of any emotion or tension, making it one of the worst movies to come out this summer. ...read the complete K-19: The Widowmaker movie review at ComingSoon.net (Andy Weil)
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