1. What is the movie about?

-Crimson Tide is more than just an action film about a conflict between Russia
and the United of States. The film depicts the repercussions when people with
contrasting leadership styles, opinions, and personalities fail to resolve their
differences and arrive at a consensus, which will benefit everyone and preserve
chain of command and international relations. In a nutshell, the films subject is
conflict.
The gist of the films plot goes as follows: Russias president ordered bombing
strikes as the rebellion in Chechnya spread to neighboring nations, which results
to the US President (along with French president and British PM) suspending aid to
Russia. This angers Russian Ultranationalist leader Vladimir Radchenko to
denounce his own president, revolt, and wage war against the US. With arising
numerous internal and external conflict, Russia ends up in a state of civil war and
martial law. To protect the US, a nuclear missile submarine is deployed to the
Pacific deeps to patrol, attack, and counter the attacks of Russian submarine
controlled by Radchenko. The US submarine, USS Alabama, is commanded by
Captain Ramsey, who chooses Lieutenant Hunter as his Executive Officer. Turmoil
blankets the USS Alabama as well, as the chain of command becomes blurred and
two competing opinions regarding an incomplete Emergency Action message fail
to be resolved. This, coupled with the damage caused by a torpedo launched by
the Russian submarine, leads to the lives of the Navy aboard USS Alabama and
the US citizens to hang in a balance. The radio equipment is fixed and
communication with the US Military Command Center is re-established a few
minutes before the Russians were supposed to launch nuclear missiles.
Apparently, the Russian rebels surrendered and the USS Alabama made the right
decision to terminate the launch of its missiles against the Russian submarine.
2. What is the main conflict in the movie?
The main conflict in the film exists between the Captain Ramsey and XO Hunter.
The Russian submarine was destroyed by the countermeasures launched by the
USS Alabama, however it was able to fire a third torpedo that severed the
Alabamas radio buoy cable. With the radio equipment destroyed, only a fragment
of an incoming Emergency Action was received. Captain Ramsey dismissed the
message fragment as irrelevant and ordered to continue with the pre-emptive
launch, justifying it by saying that backup ships might have already been
destroyed by the Russian rebels. On the other hand, the XO sees the message to
be important, as this could be a message to abort. The XO wanted to terminate
the launch but maintain their state of readiness, and wait until the radio is
repaired in order to read the whole EAM. The Captain stood his ground while the
XO refused to concur, which lead to the XO to relieve the Captain of his command
as per Navy regulations.
3. Describe the contrasting styles of the captain and the XO.
Captain Ramsey: The Commander
Captain Ramsey radiates overconfidence bias. Because of his 25 years of
experience in the Navy, he believes that his decisions and commands are all that
matter. He is stubborn and does not welcome differing opinions, which is ironic as
he mentioned that he is not seeking the company of kiss-asses. Captain Ramsey
is more of a commander, as much as he is less of a leader. When his XO raised the
concern of lowering morale among the crew, he merely announces that they go
back to work instead of motivating them. The Captain makes interpretations
literally, believing that there is nothing more to what is physically present.
Because the EAM is incomplete, he dismissed it as unimportant and irrelevant. It

can be concluded that his overconfidence leads him to make careless decisions.
Towards the tail of the film, however, he finally learned to accept his mistake.
XO Hunter: The Leader
XO Hunter is equally as aggressive and persistent as the Captain. He continued to
push his opinion and gathered his own army to stop the pre-eemptive launch. On
the contrary, he has relatively limited combat experience and seems to do things
by the book. He explores varying possibilities, and considers the message
fragment to be as important as a complete one, as It could be a message to abort
the preemptive launch. He is analytical, collected in times of crisis, and knows
how to motivate people. He is the antithesis of the aloof Captain and prioritizes
the welfare of his crew, especially when the galley caught fire and an officer
suffers from medical complications.
4. Who do you think was the "hero" of the movie? Why?
The fate of USS Alabama and the state was on the hands of various members of
the submarine, which makes it difficult to pinpoint only one hero. It would be
easy to promote the XO as the hero as it was his idea to terminate the launch
until the full message is received. Rivetti proved to be a trustworthy Sonar
Supervisor, who helped the XO stop the preemptive launch. Vossler was the one
who fixed the radio equipment so that the complete EAM could be received. If
Hellerman didnt seal the seawater hatch in the bilge bay, the submarine would
have sank faster with the propulsion lost. Ince (Weps) can also be considered as a
hero as he was the only one who knew the code to the safe containing the firing
trigger. Had he gave in to the Captains threat and opened the safe immediately
at gunpoint, the war would have been worse (considering that the XO was right).
In a way, the Captain is also a hero as he did not force to grab the key from the
XO and commence the launch. Cob is also a hero since he sided with the XO and
followed the protocol ins spite of the fact that it the Captain who is in command.
In conclusion, the roles of the executives and officers are intertwined. Each one
was an important part of the whole, and had any one acted otherwise the end of
the film would have been different.
5. Suppose that the incomplete message actually ordered a nuclear strike, how
will you evaluate the XO's actions? Were his actions still justified? Why or why
not?
The XO was right not to dismiss the incomplete message an unimportant,
however he is also wrong when he let his emotions get the best of him. Both the
XO and the Captain were in states of anger as each one pushed his own course of
action. The XO was right to mention the consequences of the Captains decision
and try to persuade him to change it, but he failed to also consider the risk of him
being wrong. He didnt have any information or fact to backup his opinion.
Therefore if he was wrong, he would have been punished for carrying out a mutiny
and the safety of the state would have been compromised. The XOs actions were
justified only because he and the Captain were simultaneously right and wrong.
The Captain was wrong to violate nuclear launch protocol, but was right to carry
out his duties as commander and demand the agreement of his crew. The XO was
wrong to organize a mutniy aboard a nuclear submarine, but was right to follow
the US Navys Policies and Regulations.
In conclusion, believe that the XOs actions were not justified if he was wrong. He
chose to organize a mutiny instead of trying to calmly discuss with the Captain
and sort out their differences. Though it might have been hard to persuade the

equally hard-headed Captain to discuss given the time constraint, he could have
presented his point in a better way.