Phantom 2013

Walter V. Addiego, San Francisco Chronicle: A game effort by a decent cast highlights the old-fashioned submarine thriller "Phantom," but heavy-handed dialogue, flurries of melodrama and a silly ending make the whole enterprise sink like a stone. Read more

Jeannette Catsoulis, New York Times: The basis for the film's confusing, cliche-stuffed plot is the mysterious sinking of a Soviet submarine in 1968 - an event around which Mr. Robinson spins a yarn of unpardonable monotony. Read more

Rex Reed, New York Observer: To sustain tension, you need the kind of claustrophobic camera movement, high-strung talk and gritty character development that are badly needed in any submarine movie and are sadly missing in Phantom. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: As one might expect from a submarine drama, Phantom is claustrophobic and confining. If only it were compelling. Read more

Scott Tobias, AV Club: A film that promises the threat of World War III sinks limply into the murky depths. Read more

Tom Russo, Boston Globe: The plot is dragged down by a script filled with awkward exposition and blunt audience cues. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: How did this submarine movie turn out so unseaworthy? Read more

Laremy Legel, Film.com: Ed Harris and company can't lift this one off the seafloor, and "Phantom" fades away into the murky mist. Read more

Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times: A modest thriller propelled by a strong cast and straightforward storytelling. Read more

Rafer Guzman, Newsday: A challenge that offers zero rewards. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: The film remains mediocre, with flat cinematography and crudely anachronistic dialogue. Read more

Mark Jenkins, NPR: Phantom offers no more plausible a vision of the doomed K-129 than A Good Day to Die Hard does of post-meltdown Chernobyl. Read more

Lou Lumenick, New York Post: It's not something you want to plunk down $12 for, but just diverting enough to check out when it arrives on Netflix Instant. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: Much of what's contained in Phantom is at best speculative and at worst completely made-up. But, regardless of the accuracy, it makes for compelling viewing. Read more

Richard Roeper, Chicago Sun-Times: Ed Harris in "Phantom" is like Steve Carlton with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1972 - delivering a wall-to-wall, amazing performance that's lost in a sea of dreadfulness. Read more

Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com: "Phantom" has a pulpy B-movie intensity and economy to match its cast of quality character actors. Read more

Alonso Duralde, TheWrap: There's a lot to like about Phantom, but the movie, like the rust-bucket old submarine in which most of it takes place, would be better off dry-docked. Read more

Michael Atkinson, Time Out: As far as such potboilers go, Phantom is literate, tense and, thankfully, modest. Read more

Justin Chang, Variety: The potential for screw-tightening suspense gets lost amid the ineffectual dramatics in Phantom. Read more

Chris Packham, Village Voice: What is up with combinations of Ed Harris, water, and unbelievably hokey endings? Read more

Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: [Its] admirable air of realism dissipates once Robinson takes viewers outside the sub, where torpedo skirmishes are staged with too-perfect CGI bombast. Read more