Follow TV Tropes

Following

Context Film / HunterKiller

Go To

1[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_71hxz4s1adl_sy679.png]]
2
3''Hunter Killer'' is an American action-adventure film that was released October 2018. Directed by Creator/DonovanMarsh and written by Arne Schmidt with Jamie Moss, it is an adaptation of the 2012 novel ''Firing Point'', which was authored by Don Keith and George Wallace. The cast includes Creator/GerardButler, Creator/GaryOldman, Music/{{Common}}, Creator/LindaCardellini, Creator/TobyStephens, Creator/MichaelNyqvist in one of his final roles, Creator/CarolineGoodall, and Creator/MikhailGorevoy. It was released in the United States on October 26, 2018 by Summit Entertainment. It is dedicated to Mikael Nyqvist, who died in June 2017 in his native Stockholm, Sweden.
4
5In terms of story-line, the film features cat-and-mouse games involving [[HotSubOnSubAction American and Russian submarines]] that culminate in the [[UsefulNotes/YanksWithTanks U.S. military]] discovering a coup against the civilian Russian leadership. Orchestrated by [[EvilChancellor the treacherous Minister of Defense]] and his cronies, the rapidly unfolding events threaten to start WorldWarIII. The crew of a U.S. hunter killer must work with a special group of [[UsefulNotes/NavySeals Navy SEALs]] to save the day, working deep in Russian territory to [[PreventTheWar prevent catastrophe]].
6
7
8
9----
10
11!!This film provides examples of:
12* ATeamFiring:
13** Trained soldiers both regular and elite spend over 30 seconds firing at eachother sometimes with only one or two hits. Sometimes the other side is entirely berefit of cover and they STILL don't get hits.
14* ArmorIsUseless:
15** Both the Russian soldiers and the SF team wear body armor. None of it helps. In fact, one of the special forces soldiers are hit in the back, right in where his plate would be.
16* BadassInDistress:
17** Russian submarine captain Andropov is trapped aboard his sub when a saboteur blows a hole in it from the inside. After being saved by ''DSRV Mystic'', then brought aboard ''USS Arkansas'', he helps the latter get past Polyarny's anti-sub defenses.
18** Russian president Zakarin is a [[ThePenIsMightier non-combat]] example, spending most of the film locked up in Polyarny, then using his position as ''president of the Russian government'' to [[spoiler:undo Durov's villainy]] after being freed.
19* BigBad: Defense Minister Dmitri Durov (played by Creator/MikhailGorevoy, who was actually born in Moscow).
20* BigDamnHeroes: Martinelli has his moment when he saves the surviving members of his team (which included Russian president Zakarin at the time) by laying down accurate and deadly sniper fire on their pursuers.
21* BigGood:
22** The [[NoNameGiven unnamed]] "Madam President" (played by Creator/CarolineGoodall, [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed bearing a clear resemblance to a certain 2008 and 2016 candidate]])
23** On the other side, we have Russian president Zakarin, whose presence aboard ''USS Arkansas'' becomes instrumental in stopping Durov.
24* ButtMonkey: Absolutely nothing goes right for Martinelli during the first half of the movie. He (barely) fails a training exercise, almost doesn't stick his landing and almost kills himself and he's the only one to get shot when the Russians try to scout their position. His luck ironically turns around once he gets left behind and takes on the role of FriendlySniper.
25* DefeatEqualsFriendship: Glass' relationship with his XO grow increasingly strained due to his unconventional command style, to the point that the XO comes close to mutinying. But when a particularly daring stratagem of Glass' turns out successful, the XO proves himself a GracefulLoser and throws his full support behind his captain.
26* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Glass is introduced hunting deer [[TheStraightAndArrowPath with a modern recurve bow]], and abstaining from taking the shot when he notices his prey having young with them. While certainly TruthInTelevision, bow hunting is still a rather unusual sight in movies, so it serves well to portray Glass as a man of unconventional choices and tactics who does all he can to avoid harming innocents.
27* EvilChancellor: The usurping Durov's role.
28* FatalFamilyPhoto: [[spoiler: inverted. Martinelli, who shows his wife/girlfriend's photo, is among the two survivors out of the SEAL team.]]
29* AFatherToHisMen:
30** Glass is one to his crew, as he does his utmost in usual circumstances to minimize any risks to his own men. That he almost had a mutiny on his hands when he makes high risk demands on his crew is a testament to just how grave the situation has become.
31** Sergei Andropov is regarded as one by his men as well. And it extends beyond his own present crew, as many in the Russian navy once served under him and regard him as a LivingLegend. That provides a crucial turn when some of his former crew members turn on Sutrev at the last minute.
32* FireForgedFriends: Glass and Andropov don't exactly get off on the right foot, but their shared ordeal leads to them developing a deep mutual respect for each other, and they seem to part as friends once the crisis is resolved.
33* FriendlySniper: Martinelli, the SEAL team sniper.
34* FriendOrFoe: Invoked. [[spoiler:After Big Bad Durov inadvertently commits treason, Russian destroyer ''Yevchenko'' promptly launches a pair of cruise missiles at him.]]
35* HeelFaceTurn:
36** While they were never ''antagonists'' to begin with, Russian president Zakarin and captain Andropov quickly become two of ''USS Arkansas'''s most powerful allies once they step aboard, despite the fact that BigBad Durov and his supporters are also Russian.
37** After being chased by them for most of the finale, Andropov contacts Russian destroyer ''Yevchenko'' and tells it to stand down, banking on the fact that her crew was primarily composed of sailors he trained personally, meaning that his relationship with them was the same that Glass has with ''Arkansas''[='=] crew. When ''Yevchenko'''s current captain, Sutrev, orders the crew to launch a missile at ''USS Arkansas'' after she surfaces, its crew does nothing. And while president Zakarin declaring that attacking ''Arkansas'' would be considered treason gets Sutrev to stand down, he doesn't join his crew until BigBad Durov defies Zakarin's declaration by launching a pack of missiles at ''Arkansas''.
38* HotSubOnSubAction: A major draw of the film. [[spoiler: Unfortunately the actual action scenes are few and far between. Most of the effort are spent on ''not getting hit''.]]
39* IronicName: Captain Joe Glass (played by Creator/GerardButler) of the ''USS Arkansas'' has to be a brittle figure who cracks easily, right? Actually, he's an intelligent, principled leader who remains calm under extreme pressure. In boxing terms, he's got the total opposite of a 'glass jaw'.
40* LoopholeAbuse: One of the major conflicts in the final confrontation is that if ''USS Arkansas'' tries to attack anyone while in Polyarny's territory, her actions could start WorldWarIII. After Russian president Zakarin, who is currently aboard ''Arkansas'', declares that attacking her would count as treason, Durov launching a battery of [=SAMs=] at her allows ''Yevchenko'' to do what ''Arkansas'' couldn't...
41* MacrossMissileMassacre: [[spoiler:Durov launches a barrage of several anti-ship missiles at the ''Arkansas'' while it's surfaced, but those missiles are intercepted by the [[GatlingGood CIWS]] of Russian destroyer ''Yevchenko''. ''Yevchenko'' then launches a couple of cruise missiles at Polyarny's command center, destroying it, killing Durov, and ensuring that any of his surviving supporters couldn't retaliate.]]
42* MadeOfIron: Soldier after soldier gets shown as being tough, understandably enough, but Beaman stands out for his body and will of steel.
43** Oleg (Zakarin's bodyguard) [[MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong is far tougher than Beaman]]. He takes a gut shot pretty much in stride, doesn't drown or freeze to death when thrown into a Siberian port basin, ''climbs a sheer wall'' with his barely patched-up gunshot wound, participates in a major firefight with his assailants, and survives several more bullet wounds before finally going down in a HeroicSacrifice.
44* MakeTheBearAngryAgain: The direct outcome of the [[BigBad central villain's]] plan means triggering a new world war that he expects to win. He aims to trick regular soldiers and other Russians, the pawns in his scheme, into thinking that they simply act to defend their homeland.
45* MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong: The Navy [=SEALs=] are certainly badass, but they can't hold a candle to Oleg, Zakarin's faithful bodyguard. When one of the [=SEALs=] gets shot in the leg, he's forced to stay behind. Oleg gets shot in the gut and just keeps on trucking, showing up the Americans at every moment they share a scene.
46* NewMeat: Of course, the fact that they are [[ElitesAreMoreGlamorous Navy SEALs]] puts this in perspective, as by almost every metric Martinelli is still TheAce, but his lack of experience in comparison to the rest of the team is noted and shown several times.
47* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: The U.S. President bears a strong resemblance to UsefulNotes/HillaryClinton, who run for that office in 2008 and 2016 but did not succeed.
48* NoNameGiven: The U.S. President is simply called by her title.
49* NoOneGetsLeftBehind: Despite being wounded himself, [[spoiler:Lieutenant Beaman refuses to escape in the rescue sub and abandon Martinelli to Durov's men. He goes back alone and saves Martinelli right before he's going to be executed.]]
50* PointDefenseless: Submarines are completely helpless against anything but torpedoes, especially while surfaced. It makes the ''Arkansas'' a sitting duck when [[spoiler:Durov launches a barrage of anti-ship missiles at the sub. Fortunately for the ''Arkansas'', Russian destroyer ''Yevchenko'' packs multiple very powerful CIWS turrets, and had just been given a reason to use them.]]
51* PreventTheWar: This could basically be called ''Prevent The War: TheMovie''.
52* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Neither the civilian leadership of Russia nor the U.S. want a war. On the American side, official after official acts cool under pressure and tries to think out all of their options. Captain Joe Glass is a great example. Interestingly, CJCS Donnegan (Creator/GaryOldman's character) is an exception, but coming across as a hothead makes sense given the circumstances.
53* RenegadeRussian: The villains aren't just acting outside of the Kremlin's authority (as in many [[Film/JamesBond ''James Bond'' movies]]). The bad guys actively murder and hold hostage the civilian leadership and their people.
54* SacrificialLion: [[spoiler:Hall]], the SEAL who gets the least characterization, is the first to go.
55* SeaMine: The Arkansas had to navigate an area filled with these things.
56* SheatheYourSword: [[spoiler: When ''Arkansas'' is given clearance to fire upon the Anti-ship missile battery it doesn't... which is what convinces Russian ''Yevchenko'' to act in their stead.]]
57* ShootTheBullet: [[spoiler: Done by ''Yevchenko'' to protect the ''Arkansas''.]]
58* SilentRunningMode: When ''USS Arkansas'' is traveling through Polyarny's underwater defense grid, Andropov silently signals for quiet, at which point captain Glass states "Set condition; 'Ultra-quiet'" over the sub's intercom, silencing ''everything'' save a rattling bolt in the torpedo room, which is swiftly dealt with by the crew.
59* TakingYouWithMe: [[spoiler:Zakarin's bodyguard Oleg pulls a HeroicSacrifice to buy the Navy [=SEALs=] time to get his boss to safety. When he's finally overwhelmed by Russian special forces, he lures them close before detonating two hand grenades while FlippingTheBird to his treacherous former comrades.]]
60* TeethClenchedTeamwork: Sergei Andropov, the captain of the Russian sub that was sunk in the ActionPrologue, is none too happy about being rescued by Americans instead of his own people. He likes it even less when Glass asks for his help in sneaking the ''Arkansas'' into a heavily guarded Russian naval base, but the circumstances force the two captains to work together to prevent WorldWarIII.
61* TemptingFate: A rather odd example in that the party being threatened is also the one that metes out the punishment. After Zakarin gets Russian destroyer ''Yevchenko'' to stand down by stating that attacking ''USS Arkansas'' would be considered treason, her captain tells BigBad Durov that he won't fire. In response, Durov sic's a battery of KH-35 mobile SAM launchers on the sub, seemingly oblivious to Zakarin's warning. [[spoiler:After intercepting the missiles with its CIWS, ''Yevchenko'' makes good on said warning by firing a pair of cruise missiles at Polyarny's command center, taking out Durov in the process]].
62* WhatMeasureIsAMook: A major point in the plot is Glass' attempt to avoid any unnecessary combat actions against the Russians, knowing full well that the vast majority are normal people just following orders from a treacherous minister. It becomes especially poignant once Russian captain Andropov comes aboard the ''Arkansas'', as he trained most of the opposing sailors personally and knows many of them by name.
63* WorldWarIII: This is what multiple characters work to prevent. Durov, in contrast, appears almost suicidal in his overconfidence that Russia would win a military conflict with the U.S. (and, presumably, that he would emerge as a hero).
64* WorkingClassHero: In a sense. Glass is noted as an unusual submarine captain because he never graduated from a naval academy, having worked his way up from the lowest ranks instead. He makes sure to point out to his new crew during his RousingSpeech that he's one of them.

Top