Liam Neeson's Chilling Submarine Movie With Harrison Ford Is A Must-Watch On Netflix

Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson are two of Hollywood's greatest living legends, each with iconic roles in the "Star Wars" franchise across two generations. But Neeson and Ford even starred opposite each other in the 2002 submarine thriller "K-19: The Widowmaker," which is currently streaming on Netflix.

Directed by Kathryn Bigelow, "K-19: The Widowmaker" throws audiences in the middle of a high-stakes disaster in the midst of the Cold War during the early 1960s. Inspired by a true story, the film sees Ford as Russian submarine captain Alexei Vostrikov, with Neeson playing his first officer, Mikhail Polenin. K-19 is the designation of Russia's first nuclear-powered submarine with intercontinental ballistic missile capability, making it a deadly threat in international waters. But when K-19 suffers a mechanical problem that risks a nuclear meltdown on its maiden voyage, Vostrikov and Polenin must decide whether to follow orders or save their crew, while somehow avoiding World War III.  

"K-19: The Widowmaker" is a story that's not often talked about in history books. One of Harrison Ford's most underrated movies, it remains a triumph of Hollywood moviemaking.

Based on the true story of Russia's real nuclear-powered submarine of the same name, "K-19: The Widowmaker" strove to be as accurate as possible. To do it, they had the script reviewed by real Russian submarine veterans, as chronicled by The Guardian. Unfortunately, those who survived the incident weren't happy with the changes made and how they were depicted in the film.

On top of harboring some of the worst on-screen accents of all time, many, such as retired K-19 captain Yury Mukhin, found that the film shined a poor light on the crew. "Everyone is drinking, the officers and the sailors ... They drink heavily, and they drink constantly. The only activity which distracts them from this is fighting." In contrast to the movie's depiction, the real world sea-faring soldiers were far more honorable according to Mukhin, who continued, "It portrays us as ill-educated, ill-disciplined, and impolite, when in reality K-19 was the most advanced submarine in the Soviet Union, and the navy recruited its best men to serve on board."

Despite demands for script changes and even total rewrites, "K-19: The Widowmaker" was produced with only minor alterations. Despite the controversy, many retired sailors attended the premiere in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and the film even received a standing ovation.