Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsTHIS K-19: The Widowmaker [Blu-ray] IS AN AWESOME COMPELLING REAL LIFE STORY - WHAT HAPPENED AFTERWARDS IS EQUALLY ASTOUNDING!
Reviewed in the United States on April 5, 2014
What started off as Project 658. became the K19 Soviet (Hotel I Cass) Ballistic Missile Sub. K-19: The Widowmaker [Blu-ray] is a first rate DVD movie and blu-ray just makes the visual and sound quality that much better. There are scenes of gore during which the men are exposed to very high levels of radation after the reactor literally loses its cool. Radiation sickness is shown at its worst with a moderate amount of graphic detail left intact. For the men sent into the Reactor room death came to all of them in about three months time. 15 more men died in the next two years due to radiation exposure. Even after the K19 redesigns even in the west Soviet nuclear safety was more joke than reality. Decisions were made that would be unthinkable in US nuclear subs. Unfortunately there was a "Cold War" on and the Soviet Union had to find a way to beef up its nuclear deterant. The USSR had formidable land based ICBM nukes that were the backbone of the soviet threat but they were increasingly vulnerable. In 1961 the big slow moving prop driven Russian Туполев Ту-95 or TU-142 Russian Bear Bombers were effective but no real immediate threat to US interests if launched from a distance. So the former Soviet Union did what it always did when put between a rock and a hard place militarily. The soviets sacrficed safety and hurries a weapons system to "Readiness" in this case it was the K-19 first in a long line of Soviet ballistic missile Hotel Class subs. The sailors who manned her were expected to suffer any hardship for the sake of the motherland which this movie illustrates in unflinching detail.
This K-19: The Widowmaker DVD movie on its face appears shocking, evil and foolish to 2014 western sensibilities which is why in my review I provided a little background so you can watch this movie in its historical context. The Soviet Union was a strong advisary indeed. The former Soviet Union had a formidable, credible nuclear deterent even in 1961. The Soviet Union shocked the United States with its launch of Yuri Gagarin into space because; it also signalled they had very advanced if basic rocket sciences. Advanced rockets with huge lift capacity meant they could hurl huge nuclear weapons at communism's enemies in the west. The United States is often a sleeping giant that once roused from its slumber is very effective at building the infrastructure needed to defend itself. The USA not only eliminated the nuclear missile gap we developed the nuclear triad of land based sub based and air based delivery systems. Now the Soviets were shocked and honestly frightened they had to answer what they saw as the new threat. K19 was the answer. A sub rushed into development, rushed into service with two presurized water nuclear reactors favored for their small size and huge power outputs. Neither of the K19's reactors was protected by even the most basic safety backups. So when disaster happened and the cooling system failed we had a disaster of epic scope that is the basis of this K-19: The Widowmaker [Blu-ray] DVD.
Communism was the religion of the former Soviet state and any sacrifice made on the alter of communism was not only good but expected of all its adherents. This movie reveals so pretty shocking stuff about the lengths the former Soviet Union went to keep this sub and its secrets. What I found equally shocking is some of what happened after the story told by K-19: The Widowmaker. The K19 post accident was nicknamed after the first Japanese city bombed by the USA in its hope to end World War Two with less bloodshed. Shocking is the K19 instead of being immediately scraped was indeed retrofitted and put back into service. Equally shocking is the K19 a sub where so many men died was kept in service till it was finally decomissioned in the early 1990's. When I watch K-19: The Widowmaker I realize that despite all the faults and flaws in our United States government, I am blessed to have been born here. When I think of those poor men scacrified on the alter of communism in such a brutish way, I am shocked and saddened most profoundly. K-19: The Widowmaker Blue Ray is an awesome DVD movie because; with few exceptions it follows pretty true to history. K-19: The Widowmaker is entertaining while also informative. this is NOT a dry documentary it presents the saliors of the K19 as living people who were but for their form of government just like us. On the level of the pure inhumanity of what happened on the K19 my heart cried right along with the sailors who lost their friends. This was a very moving portrayal told with great sensitivity. This movie was not a box office success taking in far less in box office than it cost to make. Hopefully the DVD sales will help K-19: The Widowmaker break even because; this was a story that so totally had to be shared with the world so those sailors did not die in vain.
![K-19 [DVD]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51HG85YBESL._AC_US60_SCLZZZZZZZ__.jpg)
![K-19: The Widowmaker [DVD] [2002] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/519uO8sJGVL._AC_US90_SCLZZZZZZZ__.jpg)
