History Film / CrimsonTide

* ALighterShadeOfGrey: Played straight with Ramsey and Hunter. Despite the some efforts of the film to tell the viewer that both Ramsey and Hunter are equally right and wrong in a GoodVersusGood situation, the fact of the matter is that Hunter is portrayed in a more heroic light than Ramsey: he keeps his cool in nearly all situations, is Harvard educated, a MartialPacifist, willing to technically disobey orders for the greater good, and ends up being right. It also helps that he's TheProtagonist. Ramsey on the other hand is a rough and darker military man, being SergeantRock with bits of TheNeidermeyer sprinkled in. He punches Hunter in the face twice and threatens to outright murder another sailor in order to force Weps to launch the missiles. Ramsey was always the one to escalate situations, and was in the wrong to order Hunter's removal when Hunter refused to relay his order for a nuclear strike. Ramsey was wrong on all counts.

* ALighterShadeOfGrey: Played straight with Ramsey and Hunter. Despite the some efforts of the film to tell the viewer that both Ramsey and Hunter are equally right and wrong in a GoodVersusGood situation, the fact of the matter is that Hunter is portrayed in a more heroic light than Ramsey: he keeps his cool in nearly all situations, is Harvard educated, a MartialPacifist, willing to technically disobey orders for the greater good, and ends up being right. It also helps that he's TheProtagonist. Ramsey on the other hand is a rough and darker military man, being SergeantRock with bits of TheNeidermeyer sprinkled in. He ends up threatening to outright murder, and punches Hunter in the face twice; he was always the one to escalate situations, and was in the wrong to order Hunter's removal when Hunter refused to relay his order for a nuclear strike. Ramsey was wrong on all counts.

* ALighterShadeOfGrey: Played straight with Ramsey and Hunter. Despite the some efforts of the film to tell the viewer that both Ramsey and Hunter are equally right and wrong in a GoodVersusGood situation, the fact of the matter is that Hunter is portrayed in a more heroic light than Ramsey: he keeps his cool in nearly all situations, is Harvard educated, a MartialPacifist, willing to technically disobey orders for the greater good, and ends up being right. It also helps that he's TheProtagonist. Ramsey on the other hand is a rough and darker military man, being SergeantRock with bits of TheNeidermeyer sprinkled in. He ends up threatening to outright murder a sailor or and punching Hunter in the face; he was always the one to escalate situations, and was in the wrong to order Hunter's removal when Hunter refused to relay his order for a nuclear strike. Ramsey was wrong on all counts.

* ALighterShadeOfGrey: Played straight with Ramsey and Hunter. Despite the some efforts of the film to tell the viewer that both Ramsey and Hunter are equally right and wrong in a GoodVersusGood situation, the fact of the matter is that Hunter is portrayed in a more heroic light than Ramsey: he keeps his cool in nearly all situations, is Harvard educated, is a MartialPacifist, is willing to technically disobey orders for the greater good, and ends up being right. It also helps that he's TheProtagonist. Ramsey on the other hand is a rough and darker military man, being SergeantRock with bits of TheNeidermeyer sprinkled. He ends up threatening to outright murder a sailor or and punching Hunter in the face; he was always the one to escalate situations, and was in the wrong to order Hunter's removal when Hunter refused to relay his order for a nuclear strike. Ramsey was wrong on all counts.

* ALighterShadeOfGrey: Played straight with Ramsey and Hunter. Despite the some efforts of the film to tell the viewer that both Ramsey and Hunter are equally right and wrong in a GoodVersusGood situation, the fact of the matter is that Hunter is portrayed in a more heroic light than Ramsey, he keeps his cool in nearly all situations, is Harvard educated, is a MartialPacifist, is willing to technically disobey orders for the greater good, and ends up being right. It also helps that he's TheProtagonist. Ramsey on the other hand is a rough and darker military man, being SergeantRock with bits of TheNeidermeyer sprinkled. He ends up threatening to outright murder a sailor or and punching Hunter in the face; he was always the one to escalate situations, and was in the wrong to order Hunter's removal when Hunter refused to relay his order for a nuclear strike. Ramsey was wrong on all counts.

* ALighterShadeOfGrey: Played straight with Ramsey and Hunter. Despite the some efforts of the film to tell the viewer that both Ramsey and Hunter are equally right and wrong in a GoodVersusGood situation, the fact of the matter is that Hunter is portrayed in a more heroic light than Ramsey, he keeps his cool in nearly all situations, is Harvard educated, is a MartialPacifist, is willing to technically disobey orders for the greater good, and ends up being right. It also helps that he's TheProtagonist. Ramsey on the other hand to either threats of physical violence or straight up physical violence by punching Hunter in the face; he's SergeantRock with bits of TheNeidermeyer sprinkled in, and always is the one to escalate situations.

* {{Foil}}: Hunter vs Ramsay, of course. In many ways the two men are mirror images of one another. Ramsay is the older and more experienced officer having seen actual combat, yet comes from a poorer, less educated background than Hunter. He is the hardass and firmly believes in GoodIsNotSoft and is firmly in the BloodKnight category. The way he motivates the crew is through the "man up" approach, with shades of fear and intimidation. Despite his poor background, Ramsay listens to classical music and enjoys intellectual debates. Hunter on the other hand is younger and more inexperienced, having never been in a combat situation, yet comes from a more educated and esteemed background, coming from Harvard. Hunters' preference is a much more positive, softer and inspirational approach to the men, and leans towards being a MartialPacifist. Yet in his spare time, he's shown doing violent, physical activities, like boxing and exercising.

* {{Foil}}: Hunter vs Ramsay, of course. In many ways the two men are mirror images of one another. Ramsay is the older and more experienced officer, yet comes from a poorer, less educated background than Hunter. He is the hardass and firmly believes in GoodIsNotSoft and is firmly in the BloodKnight category. The way he motivates the crew is through the "man up" approach, with shades of fear and intimidation. Despite his poor background, Ramsay listens to classical music and enjoys intellectual debates. Hunter on the other hand is younger and more inexperienced, yet comes from a more educated and esteemed background, coming from Harvard. Hunters' preference is a much more positive, softer and inspirational approach to the men, and leans towards being a MartialPacifist. Yet in his spare time, he's shown doing violent, physical activities, like boxing and exercising.

* CulturedWarrior: Hunter went to Harvard, and likes to ride horses.

* {{Foil}}: Hunter vs Ramsay, of course. In many ways the two men are mirror images of one another. Ramsay is the older and more experienced officer, yet comes from a poorer, less educated background than Hunter. He is the hardass and firmly believes in GoodIsNotSoft and is firmly in the BloodKnight category. The way he motivates the crew is through the "man up" approach, with shades of fear and intimidation. Despite the appearance and his poor background, Ramsay listens to classical music and enjoys intellectual debates. Hunter on the other hand is younger and more inexperienced, yet comes from a more educated and esteemed background, coming from Harvard. Hunters' preference is a much more positive, softer and inspirational approach to the men, and leans towards being a MartialPacifist. Yet in his spare time, he's shown doing violent, physical activities, like boxing and exercising.

* {{Foil}}: As much as the movie plays up the differences between them, in many ways Hunter is a younger Ramsey. Like the Captain, Commander Hunter has no qualms sacrificing the lives of three crewmen if it means saving the ship. As "cultured" as Hunter is, if you pay attention, you'll notice that in his state room, Captain Ramsey always has some sort of classical or opera music playing. Additionally, each man is capable of rallying various crew to their cause with little more than a word.

* TheProtagonist: Most of the movie is from Hunter's point of view, with several characters being the Deuteragonist.

** As much of the film tries to present the situation as BothSidesHaveAPoint (including the final court martial), the reality is that Ramsey committed greater atrocities for the sake of performing his assumed orders (Ramsey is in violation of at least three articles such as UCMJ Article 133: Conduct Unbecoming an Officer and Gentleman, UCMJ Article 128: Assault and UCMJ Article 80: Attempted Murder) than Hunter does trying to prevent them (Hunter certainly didn't threaten to kill anybody).

** As much of the film tries to present the situation as BothSidesHaveAPoint (including the final court martial), the reality is that Ramsey committed greater atrocities for the sake of performing his assumed orders (Ramsey is in violation of at least three article such as UCMJ Article 133: Conduct Unbecoming an Officer and Gentleman, UCMJ Article 128: Assault and UCMJ Article 80: Attempted Murder) than Hunter does trying to prevent them (Hunter certainly didn't threaten to kill anybody).

** As much of the film tries to present the situation as BothSidesHaveAPoint (including the final court martial), the reality is that Ramsey committed greater atrocities for the sake of performing his assumed orders than Hunter does trying to prevent them (Hunter certainly didn't threaten to kill anybody).

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''Crimson Tide'' is a war film about the United States Navy's nuclear submarine USS ''Alabama'' (SSBN-731), which gets sent to the Russian Far East to deter the leader of a Russian civil war, a violent nationalist who may or may not have nuclear weapons to use against the United States.

* KarmaHoudini: Dougherty, Zimmer and Westergard launch a mutiny (counter-mutiny?) against Hunter (and come across as jerks a bit in the process) that nearly launches the war after all, but are never shown to have been reprimanded in the aftermath due to the brass's decision that it was a GoodVersusGood conflict.

* IrrevocableOrder: Deconstructed as the basis for the internal conflict of the crew. When the new message is interrupted by the enemy sub, Ramsey chooses to continue with their existing order to launch, having no orders to the contrary in hand, and on the basis that the other subs with redundant orders may have been destroyed.]] Hunter wants to try to repair the radio, arguing that the new message could be an order to change targets, or cancel the launch entirely. Ramsey and Hunter both argue the merits of their positions to the officers and crew forming their respective factions. Hunter even explicitly points out that if they fire, and they're wrong, they will have caused WorldWarIII when Russia retaliates. Ultimately subverted when they repair the radio and confirm that the new message IS, in fact, an order to cancel their launch, as the rebel missile site had been recaptured by the Russian government.

* {{Foil}}: As much as the movie plays up the differences between them, in many ways Hunter is a younger Ramsey. Like the Captain, Commander Hunter has no qualms sacrificing the lives of three crewmen if it means saving the ship. As "cultured" as Hunter is, if you pay attention, you'll notice that in his state room, Captain Ramsey always has some sort of classical or opera music playing. Additionally, each man is capable of rallying various crew to their cause with little more than a word.

* CantKillYouStillNeedYou: Captain Ramsay threatens Weps with a gun to get the launch trigger. Weps is the only person on the ship that knows the combination to the safe with the launch trigger in it, and refuses to open it. The captain counts to three, but curses when he realizes that if he kills Weps, ''no one'' will be able to open the safe. [[IWillPunishYourFriendForYourFailure So he points his gun at another sailor's head]], [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope and states that the sailor will die on the count of three]]. Weps is clearly horrified and relents, opening the safe. [[spoiler: Fortunately, the delay caused is enough that Hunter is able to remove the launch key in the CIC, disabling the launch system.]]

* IrrevocableOrder: [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed]] as the basis for the internal conflict of the crew. When the new message is interrupted by the enemy sub, Ramsey chooses to continue with their existing order to launch, [[JustifiedTrope having no orders to the contrary in hand, and on the basis that the other subs with redundant orders may have been destroyed.]] Hunter wants to try to repair the radio, [[DefiedTrope arguing that the new message could be an order to change targets, or cancel the launch entirely.]] Ramsey and Hunter both [[DiscussedTrope argue the merits of their positions to the officers and crew forming their respective factions.]] Hunter even explicitly points out that if they fire, and they're wrong, they will have caused WorldWarIII when Russia retaliates. Ultimately [[SubvertedTrope subverted]] when they repair the radio and confirm that the new message IS, in fact, an order to cancel their launch, as the rebel missile site had been recaptured by the Russian government.

* AmericaSavesTheDay: [[SettingUpdate After a fashion]]. The plot is loosely based on/inspired by events aboard the Soviet submarine B-59 during the Cuban Missile Crisis, with Ramsey playing the part of Captain Valentin Savitsky, and Hunter playing the second-in-command Vasily Arkhipov. In this case, saving the day means [[MindScrew not]] firing a nuke and triggering a nuclear war. To the film's merit, the script justifies the Americans' involvement, and in the end it's the Russian government's own troops who take back the rebel base.

* AsYouKnow: During the attacks by the ''Akula'' submarine, one crew member repeatedly asks about basic concepts like the ArbitraryMinimumRange of the torpedoes (why Hunter maneuvers the ''Alabama'' to a thousand yards from the enemy before firing). In fairness, this is {{lampshaded}} when Rivetti becomes aghast at the other sailor's ignorance.

* AmericaSavesTheDay: [[SettingUpdate After a fashion]]. The plot is loosely based on/inspired by events aboard the Soviet submarine B-59 during the Cuban Missile Crisis, with Ramsey playing the part of Captain Valentin Savitsky, and Hunter playing the second-in-comand Vasily Arkhipov. In this case, saving the day means [[MindScrew not]] firing a nuke and triggering a nuclear war. To the film's merit, the script justifies the Americans' involvement, and in the end it's the Russian government's own troops who take back the rebel base.

* HeelFaceRevolvingDoor: Weps jumps from Hunter’s side to Ramsey’s and back again.

* ChromosomeCasting: Besides Hunter's wife appearing very briefly at the beginning of the film, the rest of the cast are all men.