Harrison Ford Plays Captain Alexi Vostrikov example essay topic

1961: one of the world's most feared years. Russia and the United States of America are head-to-head in the Cold War at its zenith. Both superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, armed with nuclear strength and willingness to use it, threaten the world with great ferocity. In November of 1960, the United States sent the Soviet Union a submarine vessel called George Washington. With the reputation of the Soviet Union endangered, the Russians hurry to produce a devastating weapon of their own, the Widowmaker. It was called the "Widowmaker", because it turned so many wives into widows.

This devastating story was made into a movie, replaying the scenes. Harrison Ford plays Captain Alexi Vostrikov, the replacement captain of Mikhail Polenin, played by Liam Neeson. This movie is based on the true story of K-19. Its story has been hidden for thirty years, during the existence of the Soviet Union. The story itself is quite extraordinary, how the two captains manage to keep the vessel in one piece while it was threatening to make a nuclear reaction. The story has a twist as the movie nears the end.

The crew are dying. K-19 desperately needs help, which the motherland cannot give. Their communication with Russia breaks, leaving the Widowmaker homeless. The reactor was melting with the heat of the nuclear fission, and the crew came up with a barely workable plan.

They would leak the ship, only a small amount, just enough to cool her down to get back to the motherland. This shows great bravery of the crew, and their efforts to save what they had lost. In the middle of their havoc, the Americans have spotted them, and offered to help. If the Russians had accepted their help, they would all have been arrested for treason. If not, they would have all died of the explosion, leaving nuclear radiation behind them.

Neither of the crew's choices was very appealing. However, the crew managed to get by without the U.S. ' help, sacrificing seven people. This shows great intrepidity from them. The Widowmaker story took place in 1961, during the time of the Cold War. Out of the ashes of World War II, two great nations rose. The Soviet Union, the mighty communist country dominated by one of the world's most powerful armies, and the United States, great power of the western nations and world's economic leader.

After the fall of Nazi Germany, both nations, along with Britain and France, competed for the grand prize of Central Europe: Berlin. This was only the beginning of uneasy tensions. The Soviets' hunger for nuclear knowledge coupled with their thirst for world domination did not mix well with the democratic society of the United States. When the Soviets detonated their first atomic bomb in 1949, tensions between the two countries began to reach a high point. Both super power nations now had atomic weapons, and a great despise of one another. This was the beginning of the Cold War.

This confrontation was called "Cold" because both nations did not fight in actual full combat. This war, which lasted for a time span of almost forty years, was a war fought with politics, espionage, propaganda and economics. This style of warfare occurred because both sides feared nuclear annihilation. However, nuclear weapons with more destructive power and greater launch capability were created by both nations over the course of time.

Limited wars, such as the Korean War and the Vietnamese War, were fought between Communist nations and the western powers. The world did come close to actual nuclear war several times, most notably the Cuban Missile Crisis. Many of history's greatest events and people came out of the Cold War. And because of those important people (Kennedy, Gorbachev), nuclear war was narrowly averted several times, and eventually the Cold War came to an end. The main characters of this movie are played by Harrison Ford, and Liam Neeson, both heroes from the Star Wars Saga (Smuggler Han Solo and Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn).

Harrison Ford played Captain Alexi Vostrikov, who took Captain Mikhail Polenin's place, performed by Liam Neeson. One would be astonished on how well Harrison Ford plays a Russian. His accent is extraordinary, and contradicts to his usual, American accent, filled with slang. Harrison Ford portrayed an entirely different person through this movie, playing a stubborn, strict, and sometimes unreasonable captain of the sub-marine, rather than a lazy, snob of a thief. Liam Neeson is the calm, co-operative, and friendly second-in-command of the vicious vessel. He knows his crew personally, and won much love from his crew.

Neeson's appearance and personality helps him greatly in his role of captain Polenin. His stare, either warm or cold depending on the situation, is his key to excellence in the movie. Both actors performed in excellence, giving the movie more life that it would have had without them. K-19: The Widowmaker was a fascinating movie, capturing the mood of the event, remaking the scene exactly, with able actors to playing difficult roles and characters of the story.

Kathryn Bigelow indeed did a great job in reviving one of the most devastating events in our history.