K-19: The Widowmaker is a 2002 historical submarine film directed and produced by Kathryn Bigelow, and produced by Edward S. Feldman, Sigurjon Sighvatsson, Christine Whitaker and Matthias Deyle with screenplay by Christopher Kyle. An international production of the United States, United Kingdom, Germany and Canada, the film takes place in 1961 and focuses its story on the Soviet Hotel-class submarine K-19.

The film stars Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson alongside Peter Sarsgaard, Donald Sumpter, Christian Camargo, Michael Gladis and John Shrapnel in supporting roles.

K-19: The Widowmaker was released by Paramount Pictures on July 19, 2002 in the United States while on September 5, 2002 in Germany and October 25, 2002 in the United Kingdom. Upon release, the film received generally mixed reviews from critics, which particularly praised the performances and the dramatic atmosphere but criticized the screenwriting. The film became a box-office bomb grossing $65 million against a production budget of $90 million.

Plot

In 1961, the Soviet Union launches its first ballistic missile nuclear submarine, the K-19, commanded by Captain Alexei Vostrikov, with executive officer Mikhail Polenin, the crew s original captain. Vostrikov is alleged to have been appointed through his wife s political connections, as well as Polenin s tendency to put crew morale and safety before Soviet pride. Discovering the reactor officer drunk and asleep on duty, Vostrikov fires him, receiving a replacement, Vadim Radtchenko, fresh from the academy. The launch is plagued by misfortune; the medical officer is killed by a truck and the inaugural bottle of champagne fails to break on the bow.

The K-19 s first mission is to surface in the Arctic, test-fire an unarmed intercontinental ballistic missile, and patrol the Atlantic within striking range of New York City and Washington, D.C. Vostrikov orders K-19 to submerge past its maximum operational depth, then surface at full-speed to break through the Arctic pack-ice. Protesting the dangerous maneuver, Polenin storms off the bridge. The test missile launches successfully.

A reactor coolant pipe bursts. Control rods are inserted into the reactor, but the temperature rises; back-up coolant systems were not installed. K-19 surfaces to contact fleet command but the long-range transmitter antenna cable is damaged. Engineers rig a makeshift coolant system, working in shifts to limit radiation exposure. The first team emerges vomiting and blistered. The second and third teams cool the reactor, but all suffer radiation poisoning. With radiation levels rising, the submarine surfaces and most of the crew are ordered topside. Radtchenko balks after seeing the first team s injuries, and the crew chief takes his place on the third team.

A Sikorsky H-34 helicopter from a nearby United States Navy destroyer offers assistance, which Vostrikov rejects. The Soviet government grows concerned when the K-19 ceases contact but is spotted near the destroyer. Hoping diesel submarines will be sent to tow the K-19, Vostrikov orders a return to port. The repaired pipework leaks causing the reactor temperature to rise. Torpedo fuel ignites a fire. Initially ordering the fire suppression system activated – which would suffocate anyone in the area – Vostrikov is talked down by Polenin, who personally assists the fire crew. Two officers mutiny against Vostrikov and Radtchenko enters the reactor alone to attempt repairs.

Polenin deceives the mutineers into handing over their weapons, arrests them, and frees Vostrikov. Unaware of Radtchenko, Vostrikov, at Polenin s behest, announces his plan to dive and attempt another repair, fearing an overheating reactor could set off their warheads and incite nuclear war. The crew responds positively, and K-19 dives. Radtchenko s repairs are successful. Blinded and weakened by the radiation, he is dragged to safety by Vostrikov. A meltdown is prevented, but irradiated steam leaks throughout the submarine.

A Soviet diesel submarine reaches K-19, with orders to confine the crew aboard until a freighter can pick them up. Vostrikov instead orders an evacuation. Returning to the Soviet Union, Vostrikov is tried for endangering the mission and disobeying a direct order, but Polenin comes to his defense. In all, twenty seven men died from radiation sickness.

In 1989, an aged Vostrikov meets Polenin and other survivors at a cemetery on the anniversary of their rescue. Vostrikov reveals that he nominated the deceased crewmen for the Hero of the Soviet Union award, but was told the honor was reserved for combat veterans. Remarking what good are honors from such people, Vostrikov toasts the survivors and those who sacrificed their lives.

An epilogue reveals Vostrikov was acquitted, but the K-19 crew was sworn to secrecy and Vostrikov was never again given a command.

Cast

• Harrison Ford as Captain 2nd Rank Alexei Vostrikov, Commanding Officer
• Liam Neeson as Captain 3rd Rank Mikhail Misha Polenin, Executive Officer
• Peter Sarsgaard as Lieutenant Vadim Radtchenko, Reactor Officer
• Joss Ackland as Marshal Zolentsov, Defence Minister
• John Shrapnel as Admiral Bratyeev
• Donald Sumpter as Captain 3rd Rank Gennadi Savran, Medical Officer
• Tim Woodward as Vice-Admiral Konstantin Partonov
• Steve Nicolson as Captain 3rd Rank Yuri Demichev, Torpedo Officer
• Ravil Isyanov as Captain 3rd Rank Igor Suslov, Political Officer
• Christian Camargo as Petty Officer Pavel Loktev, Senior Reactor Technician
• George Anton as Captain-Lieutenant Konstantin Poliansky, Missile Officer
• James Francis Ginty as Seaman Anatoly Subachev, Reactor Technician
• Lex Shrapnel as Captain-Lieutenant Mikhail Kornilov, Communications Officer
• Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson as Captain 3rd Rank Viktor Gorelov, Chief Engineer
• Sam Spruell as Senior Seaman Dmitri Nevsky
• Sam Redford as Petty Officer 2nd Class Vasily Mishin
• Peter Stebbings as Kuryshev
• Shaun Benson as Chief Petty Officer Leonid Pashinski
• Kristen Holden-Ried as Captain-Lieutenant Anton Malahov
• Dmitry Chepovetsky as Sergei Maximov
• Tygh Runyan as Petty Officer 1st Class Maxim Portenko, Sonar Operator
• Jacob Pitts as Grigori
• Michael Gladis as Senior Seaman Yevgeny Borzenkov
• JJ Feild as Andrei Pritoola
• Peter Oldring as Vanya Belov
• Joshua Close as Viktor
• Jeremy Akerman as Fyodor Tsetkov, Captain of the S-270

Production

K-19: The Widowmaker cost $100 million to produce, but gross returns were only $35 million in the United States and $30.5 million internationally. The film was not financed by a major studio (National Geographic was owned by National Geographic Partners, a joint venture with 21st Century Fox and The National Geographic Society), making it one of the most expensive independent films to-date. K-19: The Widowmaker was filmed in Canada, specifically Toronto, Ontario; Gimli, Manitoba; and Halifax, Nova Scotia.

The producers made some efforts to work with the original crew of K-19, who took exception to the first version of the script available to them. The submarine s captain presented an open letter to the actors and production team, and a group of officers and crew members presented another. In a later script, several scenes were cut, and the names of the crew changed at the request of the crew members and their families.

The Hotel-class submarine K-19 was portrayed in the film by the Juliett-class K-77, which was significantly modified for the role. HMCS Ojibwa portrayed the Soviet Whiskey-class submarine S-270. HMCS Terra Nova portrayed USS Decatur. The Canadian Halifax Shipyard stood in for the Sevmash shipyard of northern Russia.

Klaus Badelt wrote the film s late-Romantic-styled score.

Historical accuracy

The nickname The Widowmaker was used only in the film. In real life, the submarine had no nickname until the nuclear accident on July 3, 1961, when it received the nickname Hiroshima .

The film shows several officers attempting to commit mutiny aboard the K-19. In real life, there was no mutiny attempt, though Captain Zatayev was worried enough about the possibility of mutiny that he had almost of all the submarine s small arms thrown overboard.

Reception

K-19: The Widowmaker received mixed reviews. It has a 61% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 170 reviews, with an average score of 6.09/10. It is summarized as being A gripping drama even though the filmmakers have taken liberties with the facts. Metacritic calculated an average score of 58 out of 100 based on 35 reviews, indicating mixed or average reviews . Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of B on an A+ to F scale.

When K-19: The Widowmaker was premiered in Russia in October 2002, 52 veterans of the K-19 submarine accepted flights to the Saint Petersburg premiere; despite what they saw as technical as well as historical compromises, they praised the film and, in particular, the performance of Harrison Ford.

In his review, film critic Roger Ebert compared K-19: The Widowmaker to other classic films of the genre, Movies involving submarines have the logic of chess: The longer the game goes, the fewer the possible remaining moves. K-19: The Widowmaker joins a tradition that includes Das Boot and The Hunt for Red October and goes all the way back to Run Silent, Run Deep. The variables are always oxygen, water pressure and the enemy. Can the men breathe, will the sub implode, will depth charges destroy it?

Stanley Kauffmann of The New Republic wrote: Why did movie moguls think that this was the right moment for a tale of unflinching loyalty to the Soviet Union?

In a 2023 interview with James Hibberd of The Hollywood Reporter, Ford cited his role as Alexei Vostrikov as one of his roles he is most proud of regardless how K-19: The Widowmaker was received, as he considers it a good movie and that s why he is proud of it.

Year	2002
ReleaseDate	2002-07-19
RuntimeMins	138
RuntimeStr	2h 18min
Plot	When Russia’s first nuclear submarine malfunctions on its maiden voyage, the crew must race to save the ship and prevent a nuclear disaster.
Awards	Awards, 1 win & 2 nominations
Directors	Kathryn Bigelow
Writers	Louis Nowra, Christopher Kyle
Stars	Harrison Ford, Sam Spruell, Peter Stebbings
Produced by	Kathryn Bigelow, Moritz Borman, Winship Cook, Steve Danton, Matthias Deyle, Guy East, Edward S. Feldman, Harrison Ford, Oliver Hengst, Basil Iwanyk, Steven-Charles Jaffe, Samara Koffler, Mary Montiforte, Dieter Nobbe, Brent O Connor, Volker Schauz, Sigurjon Sighvatsson, Nigel Sinclair, Leonid Vereshchagin, Christine Whitaker, Mark Wolfe
Music by	Klaus Badelt
Cinematography by	Jeff Cronenweth
Film Editing by	Walter Murch
Casting By	Ross Clydesdale, Mali Finn, Mary Selway
Production Design by	Karl Júlíusson, Michael Novotny
Art Direction by	Arvinder Greywal, Angela Murphy, William Ladd Skinner
Set Decoration by	Ian Greig, Carol Lavallee, Dan Wladyka
Costume Design by	Marit Allen
Makeup Department	David R. Beecroft, Caroline Demmoy, Nisha Dubey, Brian Hui, Michael Kriston, Michael Laudati, Marianne Lovink, Jay McClennen, Tammy Mark McClennen, Ann McLaren, Evan Penny, Lydia Pensa, Jordan Samuel, Christina Smith, Gordon J. Smith, Cindy e Smith-McGuire, Joe Ventura, Joyce Wold, Clinton Wayne
Production Management	Petter J. Borgli, Skot Bright, Gilles Bélanger, Emanuele Manny Danelon, Sergei Gurevich, Lesley Myers, Brent O Connor, Neil Ravan, Frank Venegas, Sean Wimmer
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director	Dara Bratt, Gary Capo, Steve Danton, Evgeniy Degtyarenko, Joseph T. Finkleman, Walter Gasparovic, Alan Goluboff, Armen Kazazian, Katrina Lee, Patrick Murphy, Jennifer A. Murray, David Pearson, Kristie Sills, Peter Stolworthy, Jeremy Timmons, Ken Wada, Bob Warwick, Vladimir Zhelezniakov, Emanuele Manny Danelon, John Karmouche
Art Department	Ricardo Alms, Tracy Ann Baines, Rob Ballantyne, Patrick Baxter, Deryck Blake, Rob Bonney, Vito Botticella, Chris Buchinsky, Barbara Chandler, Sophia Chowdhury, Ewen Dickson, Vince Donato, Gary Allen Ferguson, Dale Wesley Fischer, Danielle Fleury, Kieran Gelfand, Lisa Godwin, Stacey Gooch, James Halpenny, Joel Hansen, Joanna Tracey Heaton, Dorn Merrill Kennison, Sue Klabunde, Jan Kobylka, Guy Lalande, David Langley, Raymond Larose, Loyola Lewis, Kevin Lise, Katie MacGregor, Travis McConnell, Christine McDonald, David Melrose, Aaron Morrison, Denise Nadredre, Daniel Novotny, H. Nancy Pak, Cameron Patterson, Colin Paul, Chris Pellegrini, Tammy Peters, Melodi Petrigo, Brett Phillips, Michael G. Ploog, Reet Puhm, Albert F. Seibert, Douglas Slater, Brian Smith, Sara Soucie, Bill Thomas, Joe Ventura, Bruce Bryne, Toby Hawkes, Raymond MacDonald, Robert E. Phillips
Sound Department	Christopher Barrick, Mark Berger, Frank Canonica, Bruce Carwardine, Pat Cassin, Brian Chumney, Ben Conrad, Grant Foerster, Stuart French, Anna Geyer, Aura Gilge, Dan Gleich, Kevin Globerman, David Hewitt, Pat Jackson, Colin Jones, Rick Kahn, Mark Levinson, Kyrsten Mate, Marnie Moore, Walter Murch, Douglas Murray, Margie O Malley, Larry Oatfield, Dan Olmsted, David Parker, Brian Power, Frank Rinella, Larry Schalit, Gregg Silk, Michael Silvers, Daniel Sperry, Dianna Stirpe, Gary Summers, Viet Tran, Markus Wade, James Willetts, Kendrick Wright, David Abrahamsen, Christopher Barnett, Alek Bromke, Richard Calistan, Robert Farr, Pat Jackson, James Marchione, Kyrsten Mate, Douglas Murray, David Parker, Michael Silvers
Special Effects by	Paul Bentman, Gary Brown, Colin Chilvers, Kelly Coe, Allan Cotter, Trevor Cripps, H. Michael Dale, Paul Dimmer, Aaron Dinsmore, Peter Field, Laurence Harvey, Mike Kavanagh, Tony Kenny, Gary Kleinsteuber, Tim Lidstone, Ian Locke, Jared Manley, Jason Marsh, Martin Marty McLaughlin, Allan Meuse, Karl Openshaw, Dan Owens, Alan Poole, David Reaume, Andy Roberts, Troy Rundle, Peter Sissakis, Brian Smith, Dean Stewart, David Pinkie Thomas, Neil Toddy Todd, James Weeks, Leo Wieser, Lawerence Willet, Stuart Wishart, Raymond MacDonald
Visual Effects by	Phil Allen, Paul Amer, Adrienne Anderson, Iain Anderson, Jerry Andrews, Darryl Anka, James G. Anka, Joel Aron, Kevin Baguley, Peter Bakic, Mark Bakowski, Rebecca Bastone, Hitesh Bharadia, Doug Bishop, Eric Brevig, Kevin Campbell, Martin Chamney, Sophia Chowdhury, Bill Coffin, Grant Connor, Gary Coulter, Alexandra Coxon, Victoria Coxon, Darren Cranford, David Crawford, Brice Criswell, Ryan Da Silva, Ken Dackermann, Sean Danischevsky, Evan Davies, Nick Davis, Peter Demarest, Scott Dobbie, Rob Dunbar, Dave Early, Timothy Eaton, Paul Edwards, Yasmine El-Ghamrawy, Peter Field, Tim Fortenberry, Ryan Galloway, Vanessa Garcia, Caroline Garrett, Brien Goodrich, José Granell, Miguel Granell, John Grower, Martin Hall, Neil Harrison, Maggie Hewitt, Grant Hewlett, Charity Hobbs-Wood, Shaina Holmes, Julian Howard, Adam Howarth, Antony Hunt, Diana Stulic Ibanez, Michael Illingworth, Jon Jarvis, Bruce Jones, Gregor Lakner, Andrew Law, Jennifer Law-Stump, Tad Leckman, Katherine Little, Richard Little, Darren Locke, Sarah Lockwood, Jody Madden, Jay Mallet, Peter Marin, Gray Marshall, Terry Molatore, Steve Molin, Ray Moody, Jim Morris, Steve Murgatroyd, Gareth Murphy, Patrick Neary, John Nelson, Rachel Nicoll, Paul Oakley, Mayur Patel, John Payne, Hannah Peirce, Nigel Permane, Daniel Pettipher, Brian Pohl, Paula Pope, Bob Powell, Scott Ramsey, Neil Ravan, Nick Richardson, Tom Rolfe, Pete Romano, Alex Rothwell, Peter Mitchell Rubin, Alex Rutherford, Mark Sawicki, Nishet Shah, David Smith, Jason Snyman, Simon Stanley-Clamp, Jim Steel, Andy Stevens, Alex Suter, Jeff Sutherland, Ginger Theisen, George Theophanous, James D. Tittle, Nigel Trevessey, Alex Tropiec Jr., Ben Turner, Bruce Vecchitto, Matt Welford, Lance Wilhoite, Angie Wills, Kathy Wise, Dave Asling, Wayne Baker, Zachary Cole, Rob Delicata, Edward Helmers, Lloyd Hess, Clark James, Maureen O Connor, Marc Ostroff, Alexandra Papavramides
Stunts	Rene Bishop, Brad Bunn, Randy Butcher, Chris Duffy, Tom Farr, Mickey Giacomazzi, Stephan Hiltbrunner, David Jacox, André Jette, Jamie Jones, Kelly Jones, Keith Klapstein, J.J. Makaro, Patrick Mark, Cotton Mather, Christopher McGuire, Billy Oliver, Fred Perron, Alison Reid, Paul Rutledge, John Stoneham Jr., Bryan J. Thomas, Dave Van Zeyl, Peter James, Blair Johannes, Rick Skene, John Stoneham Jr.
Camera and Electrical Department	Mongo Andrews, Christopher Ball, Kevin A. Barnes, John Biggar, Vincent Borg, Gary Capo, Tracey Chapman, Mark Cyre, Roger Durhanto, Tim Dutchak, Alexander Egorov, Rob Eshelby, Henri Fiks, Guy Godfree, Angel Gonzalez, Christopher M. Gower, Peter Graf, Daniel Graff, Brad Hodson, Joao Holowka, Michael Jackson, Camilo Jarquin, David Kanner, Patrick King, Steve Koster, Mark Lewandowski, Forbes MacDonald, Peter MacDonald, Ed Maloney, Mark Manchester, Daniel Page McDonough, Paul Mitcheltree, Juan Montalvo, Greg Mustin, Rajat Nayyar, Malcolm Nefsky, Anatoliy Neznanov, Anthony Nocera, Chris Nordstrom, Marcus Paletta, Danny Piva, David Reilly IV, David Reppen, Pete Romano, Peter Rosenfeld, Les Sanderson, Ronald Schlueter, Andrey Schtaff, Tracy Shaw, Pasha Shilov, Dmitry Shlykov, Christopher G. Sprague, John Sztejnmiler, Franco Tata, Andrew Thom, Neil Trafford, Paul Michael Tree, Rob Turko, David Vernerey, Jasper Vrakking, Rick Youck, Paul Zoskey, Gary Kanner, Jim Teevan
Animation Department	Billy D. Choi, Greg Fisher
Casting Department	Shana Collier, Lisa Ferguson, Lindsey Hayes Kroeger, Juli-Ann Kay, Tamara Odintsova, Sharat Raju, David Rapaport, Jane Rogers, James Siano, Olga Sizova, Fiona Weir
Costume and Wardrobe Department	Timothy Alberts, Stacia Bon, Bethana Briffett, Melinda Cook, Renee Fontana, Rachael Grant, Tatjana Hutinec, Ryan Keaveney, Karen Kristalovich, Sara Schilt, James A. Worthen, Luis Sequeira
Editorial Department	Amir Aazam, Diane Brunjes, Erin Michelle Hopkins, Bryan McMahan, Walter Slater Murch, Brigitte Rabazo, Humberto Ramirez Jr., Theresa Repola Mohammed, Stephen R. Sheridan, Michael Struk, Grant Wilkinson, William Parnell
Location Management	Lynn Beaudin, Pierre Blondin, Per Henry Borch, Andrew McInnes, Aleksandr Utkin
Music Department	David Alexander, Klaus Badelt, Christopher Brooks, Ramin Djawadi, Jay Duerr, Marylou Eales, Robert Elhai, Arlene Fishbach, Vic Fraser, Valery Gergiev, Kevin Globerman, Stephen Greco, Mitchell Leib, Ladd McIntosh, Alan Meyerson, Julia Migenes, Blake Neely, Sunny Park, Vladimir Ryabenko, Gregg Silk, Joel Sill, Greg Smith, Jill Streater, Brad Warnaar, Geoff Zanelli, Ryan Hanifl
Script and Continuity Department	Sandy Morrow, Dug Rotstein, Tom Stoppard
Transportation Department	Kristin Arason, Bruce Callahan, Ben Cekuta, Richard Colp, Darrell Downey, Frederik Joly, Brian O Hara, Dave Perich, Derek Raser, Rohan Singh, Marco Sousa, Spiro Tsovras, Robert White
Additional Crew	Gerry Alfonso, Sergei Aprelev, Tobin Armbrust, Darren A. Bell, John Frenchie Berger, Stacia Bon, Sherrie Bradshaw, Stanley Brossette, D.H. Buster Brown, Alexander Yves Brunner, Jay Burnley, Natalia Chown, Sandra Contreras, Sean Coyne, Ken Dhaliwal, Michael Duncan, Curtis Dunn, Dave Ellin, Martin Ellis, Miles Flewitt, Victoria Germaine, Gary Gillingham, Julie Golden, Peter D. Graves, Ulo Greer, Melissa Hall, Shauna Hatt, Allan Henneberry, Leah Holmes, Raz Inserra, Frank K. Isaac, Ian Jackson, Peter James, R. Emerson John, Filomena Jolic, Seth Adam Jones, Harry L. Julian Sr., Lance Julian, Sharon Julian, Ray Juncal, David Kanner, Bill King, Vince Krochak, Daniel Kubat, Vincent LaFarge, Jill Lawless, Ann LeSchander, Laura Lodin, Joe Martinovic, Jimmie Mayo, Mary Louise McCloskey, Janice McDougall, Rob McEntegart, Ray McMillan, Joe Melton, J.C. Merrill, Karla Morash, Andrea Mullan, Matthew H. O Connor, Jeff Partin, Chandra-Li Paul, Michael Peleshok, Susan Phillips, Alicia Pleasence, Geneva Pryor, Tanya Rainault, Alex Reveliotty, Padro Routhier, Howard Samuelsohn, Larney Shah, Dave Ian Smith, Nick Spetsiotis, Scott Stevens, Simone Stock, William Chad Strug, Alan Sutton, Steven Tabachnik, Steven J. Todd, Andrea Voss, Jeff Wagner, Peter Weireter, Brooke Weslak, Lauranne West, Shawn West, Angie Winstl, James Gregory Yorke, Julia Zherdina, Jim Chizmar, Candice Creelman, Greg Ferris, Jim Filippone, William Flower, Michael J. Harker, Erin Lacey, Val McDow, David Milhous, Ian Nichols, Keleigh Slaight, Jason Burke Sutter, Troy Waters
Thanks	Jim Berkus, Skip Brittenham, Jake Eberts, Ed Limato, Patricia McQueeney, Hank Palmieri, John Ptak, Don Steele, Ken Stovitz
Genres	Drama, History, Thriller
Companies	First Light Production, IMF Internationale Medien und Film GmbH & Co. 2. Produktions KG, Intermedia Films
Countries	UK, Germany, Canada, USA
Languages	English, Russian
ContentRating	PG-13
ImDbRating	6.7
ImDbRatingVotes	65186
MetacriticRating	58
Keywords	nuclear submarine,nuclear accident,radiation sickness,radioactive contamination,nuclear disaster