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Gerard Butler caught my attention back when I was a young theater nerd going through her “ The Phantom of the Opera ” stage. Since then, Butler’s acting seems to have ossified. Gone are his more limber moments of intensely singing or screaming as he did in “ Phantom ” and “300.” Now, he acts stoically for almost every part in recent memory, most notably the “Fallen” series, where he saves government officials from showy acts of terrorism. Butler will furrow his brow to feign deep thinking, the sound of his voice will drop to show some newly found resolve for whatever he’s going to do next. Explosions and action happen around Butler, but he will not be fazed—or forced to emote.

In essence, “Hunter Killer” shares some similarities to “ Olympus Has Fallen ” and “ London Has Fallen .” Butler also saves government officials and by extension, averts geopolitical chaos in this movie. Instead of facing off against terrorists as he does in the “Fallen” movies, the threat to Pax Americana is a Russian coup that topples that country’s president. This infighting could not come at a worst time for the Americans, who have a submarine unaccounted for in enemy territory. So the powers-to-be in the States send Captain Joe Glass (Butler) for a top-secret search mission.

Between tense exchanges shared by Rear Admiral John Fisk (Common) and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Charles Donnegan ( Gary Oldman ), the two senior officials are at odds with how to proceed with the operation. Glass’ ship may need to defend itself, which invariably would start another Cold War. But unless someone doesn’t rescue the deposed Russian president soon, the Cold War may already be underway by Russia’s rogue military leader.

Tacked on to an already busy plot is the land component to the sea rescue of the Russian president. Almost midway through the movie, the audience is introduced to a group of ragtag Marines training up their newest member when they get the call for an impossible mission to spy on the enemy. They’re the ones who report back to D.C. about the coup, and in a last ditch effort to stave off an all-out war, Fisk asks them to step in and rescue the president and bring him to the sub Glass is commanding so they can all escape. Sound like a good plan? I didn’t think so.

Another anchor weighing down “Hunter Killer” are the occasional serious moments that veer into parody—like when senior officials hold top-secret conversations in the center of a busy government building, instead of a private office. It's also laughable how the movie portrays Glass the Merciful as a nonviolent man at heart, by showing how he spares the life of a deer when he sees it has a family. Glass also spends ample time reminding everyone around him that he’s just like his working-class crew and not one of those Annapolis guys from the Naval Academy—channeling the conservative attitude against people who went to college. It’s those kinds of forgettable scenes that are only memorable because they’re so odd.

But there is no inner life for Butler’s character, no moment where he shows doubt or reflects on his choices, no shot of a family back home. Glass mentions some kind of an incident that marks his naval career, but then it’s never referred to again or shows how the experience changed him. Although he’s supposed to be the sympathetic one fighting to save lives on both sides, it’s the other members of his crew who shows emotions—fear, panic, uncertainty, joy, you name it—while Butler looks robotically on, almost as if he’s phoning his performance in until the paycheck clears. Even a Russian prisoner of war taken by the Americans shows more emotions in his eyes than Butler can muster with his body.

Butler’s performance—or lack thereof—keeps “Hunter Killer” from breaking any ground in the field of war movies. It’s also an odd time to release a movie that embraces collaborating with the Russians and painting bad and good guys with such broad strokes. This puts “Hunter Killer” in murky geopolitical waters I don’t think it knows how to navigate. Neither the movie or Butler is nearly entertaining enough to distract us.

Monica Castillo

Monica Castillo is a critic, journalist, programmer, and curator based in New York City. She is the Senior Film Programmer at the Jacob Burns Film Center and a contributor to RogerEbert.com .

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Film Credits

Hunter Killer (2018)

Rated R for violence and some language.

121 minutes

Gary Oldman as CJCS Charles Donnegan

Gerard Butler as Capt. Joe Glass

Common as RA John Fisk

Ryan McPartlin as Matt Johnstone

Linda Cardellini as Jane Norquist

Michael Nyqvist as Captain Sergi Andropoyov

Donovan Marsh

Writer (based on the novel "Firing Point" written by)

George Wallace
Arne Schmidt

Cinematographer

Michael J. Duthie
Trevor Morris

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Review: ‘Hunter Killer’ Explores the Depths of Geopolitics

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By Ben Kenigsberg

Oct. 25, 2018

In “Hunter Killer,” ordinary alliances are suddenly upended and the United States Navy must do whatever it can to protect the interests of the Russian president. No, it’s not a documentary; it’s a submarine movie.

Sent to find an American sub that appears to have sunk in Russian waters, Joe Glass (Gerard Butler), the captain of another American sub, quickly realizes that this was no ordinary sinking. A Russian vessel that plummeted alongside the missing American one was sabotaged, not torpedoed. Above ground, the Russian defense minister (Michael Gor) is staging a coup. He’s taken the Russian president (Alexander Diachenko) into custody and is intent on goading the United States into war.

So far, most of the principals are falling for it, but not Joe, who doesn’t follow those rules they teach at Annapolis and has been at sea his entire career. (He rattles off the number of elections and Super Bowls he’s missed.) Following a Hail Mary plan concocted back in the states (Linda Cardellini and Common are on his side, which means they get yelled at a lot by Gary Oldman), he sets out to rescue the Russian head of state.

The maneuvers through mines and sound sensors seem closer to a game of Battleship than “The Hunt for Red October,” but the director, Donovan Marsh, pulls off some solid suspense as the men make their moves and Joe, appealing to their common calling, wins the trust of the rescued captain of the Russian sub ( Michael Nyqvist , who died last year). However nutty its geopolitics, “Hunter Killer” does its job as popcorn thriller with brisk efficiency.

Rated R for salty seaman. Running time: 2 hours 1 minute.

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Hunter Killer review – Gerard Butler's sub commander is all at sea

Butler’s naval maverick investigates simultaneous torpedo attacks on US and Russian submarines in a long, loud game of Battleships

W hen we last encountered Gerard Butler , in the semi-enjoyably derivative Den of Thieves , he was rerunning Al Pacino’s old Heat moves. Tonight, Matthew, cinema’s loudest Scotsman will be impersonating The Hunt for Red October-era Alec Baldwin.

Swerving any lawsuit that might have followed from calling his character, say, Jack Bryan, Butler’s maverick sub commander has been assigned the no less no-nonsense name of Joe Glass. Joe has an intense rep. “He never went to Annapolis!” a Pentagon functionary gasps. “I heard he once punched his CO,” gossips a passing seaman. Glass is first seen tracking elk with manly bow and arrow; you’re surprised the filmmakers didn’t go the whole alpha hog and have a shirtless Butler best the poor creatures in an arm wrestle.

Yet, as with much else in this muddled, disjointed non-thriller, that intro proves misleading. Glass actually turns out to be a thinker and boat lover – two parts Cousteau, one-part Poirot – who finds himself plunged into choppy diplomatic waters while investigating the simultaneous torpedoing of US and Russian subs. Could it be the Russians themselves, as represented by noble seadog Captain Andropov (the late Michael Nyqvist )? Or might it relate to Berocca-swilling chief of staff Gary Oldman , who bellows something gruff about chess to his (female) president, then goes suspiciously quiet for an hour? Don’t invest too much: for all the military hardware, this long, loud game of Battleships will result in a terrible fudge.

Butler’s convoluted claptrap phase remains preferable to his louche bachelor period, yet at two hours, Hunter Killer is carrying a lot of undue timber, not least a very boring, Michael Bay B-plot involving a squadron of marines doing the on-the-ground chestbeating the star usually does. Elsewhere, indifferent cutting only heightens the weird artificiality of the sub scenes: the off-kilter footage of Cap’n Gerry sternly relaying orders seems to bear scant relation to the model shots of metallic phalluses running silent and deep through the studio fish tank.

Toning down his usual act in a manner that suggests he’s finally read his reviews, Butler gives it handfuls of dramatic ballast, but this vessel has been badly compromised: any interest seeps out by the frame.

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Hunter Killer Reviews

a beefy Tom Clancy-type thriller that takes no prisoners

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Apr 1, 2022

Military stories in particular have long gotten away with total homogeneity, but the U.S. military is much more diverse than Hunter Killer suggests.

Full Review | Original Score: F | Jul 29, 2021

[Gerard Butler's] in uniform again on screen and he does a wonderful job.

Full Review | Jun 16, 2021

A waterlogged thriller; a sopping wet excuse for Butler to grunt his way through another film that is beneath his talent.

Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/5 | Mar 1, 2021

It may be pure fantasy, but it's smartly paced, unexpectedly complex, action-packed, and thoroughly satisfying.

Full Review | Original Score: 6/10 | Dec 7, 2020

Hunter Killer is a dumb movie, but it's a fun dumb movie.

Full Review | Original Score: B- | Jul 9, 2020

There are surprises and thrills alongside truly moronic bits of music. Overall, the silliness works against the movie and whatever its ultimate point might be, even if its only goal is to entertain.

Full Review | Jul 1, 2020

Don't think for a second that I don't recognize Hunter Killer for the nearly uninterrupted series of clichés that it is. Yet ... it can be quite engaging.

Full Review | Jun 30, 2020

I am a simple man with simple tastes. Even so, Hunter Killer... is a bit too simple for me.

Full Review | Mar 18, 2020

More invested in setting up nonsensical action sequences and genre-specific pro-America Oohrah than constructing a story that makes a lick of sense.

Full Review | May 2, 2019

The film is too solemn to be a fun diversion without prejudice. [Full Review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Mar 4, 2019

A middling sea thriller giving off big explosions and no controversy despite the Russians and Americans involved in an incident at sea.

Full Review | Original Score: C | Feb 14, 2019

Hunter Killer just seems like a futile attempt at pitching action in a brand new playground, underwater.

Full Review | Feb 13, 2019

A cheesy, laughably simplistic and oftentimes ludicrous work that now feels like a musty relic from an era that has no great degree of nostalgia attached to it.

Full Review | Feb 7, 2019

The straightforward, solid storytelling makes this mainstream military submarine thriller one that's worth watching.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 22, 2018

If the new motion picture Hunter Killer were real life, it would merit four stars. Unfortunately, the film isn't a striking example of cinema verite but rather a complete piece of fiction. As such, it's a rampaging mediocrity.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Dec 21, 2018

Hunter Killer is long and dull, overstuffed despite having a woefully thin narrative. It should have been entertaining trash ... but instead, it's just a waste of your time.

Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/5 | Dec 6, 2018

Far from being earth-shattering but competent enough to be worth a glance on a weekend matinee.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Nov 17, 2018

It may closely follow the East-West Underwater Playbook but it's also exciting and fun (until the last quarter when everything falls apart). I was so involved I even used the buttons to tip my cinema seat back as Capt Glass took his submarine underwater.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Nov 9, 2018

This is the most boring and generic action movie I've seen in a while. [Full Review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 4/10 | Nov 5, 2018

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Film Review: ‘Hunter Killer’

Gerard Butler plays an American submarine commander in a U.S.-vs.-Russia thriller that drowns in ponderously out-of-date Cold War clichés.

By Owen Gleiberman

Owen Gleiberman

Chief Film Critic

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It’s no trick for even the most ham-fisted global action thriller to achieve a ripped-from-the-headlines “topicality.” Just throw in a terrorist from the right enemy nation, or an American president with the right haircut. So it’s a weird and musty Twilight Zone indeed that one enters to watch “ Hunter Killer ,” a grindingly ponderous and bombastic neo-Cold War submarine thriller — how ponderous is it? It stars Gerard Butler , and he’s the most lighthearted thing about it — that in every relevant detail seems three years, if not two decades, behind the times.

Consider its take on the U.S. president. The character, played by Caroline Goodall, is transparently modeled on Hillary Clinton. As a result, one watches her scenes utterly removed from the drama (I use the term loosely) and preoccupied, instead, with thoughts like, “Was this film really shot that long ago?” It was. Principal photography on “Hunter Killer” began in July 2016, and the producers clearly based their script on the presumption that a certain Democratic candidate would end up as “Madame President.” Arriving in the thick of the madness of the Trump era, however, the film, intentionally or not, seems to say, “Who cares if she didn’t win? Even reality won’t make us budge.”

The movie’s version of the Russian leadership is, if anything, even more jarringly out-of-date. “Hunter Killer,” which is named for its lead submarine, is about an underwater face-off between the U.S. and Russia, but the plot hinges on an attempted coup. The Russian leader, President Zakarin (Alexander Dianchenko), is no autocratic Putin figure; he’s a decent diplomatic dude who seems to have graduated from the Gorbachev school of constructive engagement. He’s taken down in a military sabotage led by Durov (Mikhail Gorevoy), the runt-bully Minister of Defense, who comes off as sort of…Soviet. He’s like the joyless Communist version of a Bond villain from the mid-’60s.

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There’s a lot to be scared of in the world today, but “Hunter Killer” summons all the topical urgency of a night spent re-watching “The Hunt for Red October” on Netflix. It’s a Cold War nostalgia movie, like something based on a Tom Clancy novel that long ago passed its sell-by date. Mostly, though, “Hunter Killer” will make you nostalgic for the era when people who made movies like this one actually knew what they were doing. It takes an entire hour for the movie to get to the coup attempt, and by the time that happens you realize that everything that led up to it has been a meaningless and over-extended set-up. Which is why it’s so dull.

Instead of launching the kind of countdown-to-doom excitement that has marked submarine thrillers like “Crimson Tide,” “Das Boot,” or “U-571,” “Hunter Killer” shifts over to a generic team of Navy SEALS (your heart will sink with tedium each time the film cuts to them), who have to bust into the Russian military compound where Durov has taken over. It’s their job to extract the Russian president, which they ultimately do. It’s then up to Butler’s tight-jawed, hardcore, battle-creased Capt. Joe Glass, commanding the USS Omaha, to give him safe haven and to defeat the Russian villain by refusing to get sucked into his game of chicken.

The twist, to the extent the movie has one, is that Butler, for all his terse swagger, is playing a good liberal. He’s the biggest bruiser on the submarine, but he’s got to teach the other men, like the ship’s fanatical XO (Carter MacIntyre), to get their torpedo-happy impulses under control. If the movie has a message, it’s this: Tough guys stand down.

But “Hunter Killer,” with its combination of rote action and “responsible” out-of-time schlock geopolitics, just left me wishing that it was a Steven Seagal movie. Butler showed flashes of unruly life in his last picture, the heist drama “Den of Thieves,” but here he’s back to his old granite scowl; he’s like the face of P.J. O’Rourke carved into a wooden nickel. Gary Oldman , in a performance given before he won the Oscar, shows up and goes blowhard hysterical as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Common, who seems to be carving out a career playing the kind of conservative establishment honchos you’d never expect Common to play, exudes a likable authority as a rear admiral in the situation room. Michael Nyqvist, in one of his last roles, has a mournful grace as a fallen Russian submarine captain. “Hunter Killer” has good enough actors, but it never figures out what to do with them. They’re stuck in an underwater vacuum, a submarine movie that submerges anything of interest.

Reviewed at Bryant Park Screening Room, Oct. 17, 2018. MPAA Rating: R. Running time: 121 MIN.

Production: A Summit Premiere and Millennium Media release of an Original Film, Relativity Media, Millennium Media, G-Base production. Producers: Neal H. Moritz, Toby Jaffe, Gerard Butler, Alan Siegel, Tucker Tooley, Mark Gill, John Thompson, Matt O’Toole, Les Weldon. Executive producers: Avi Lerner, Trevor Short, Boaz Davidson, Yariv Lerner, Douglas Urbanski, Lati Grobman, Christa Campbell, Arne L. Schmidt, Ryan Kavanaugh, Ken Halsband, Kevin King, Christine Otal.
Crew: Director: Donovan Marsh. Screenplay: Arne L. Schmidt, Jamie Moss. Camera (color, widescreen): Tom Marais. Editor: Michael J. Duthie. Music: Trevor Morris.
With: Gerard Butler, Gary Oldman, Common, Michael Nyqvist, Linda Cardellini, Zane Holtz, Caroline Goodall, Akexander Diachenko, Mikhail Gorevoy, Yuri Kolokolnikov.

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The Sub Thriller Hunter Killer Is a Satisfyingly Clichéd Throwback to Simpler Times

The new submarine thriller Hunter Killer is like a transmission from an alternate reality, one in which American and Russian presidents still act with some semblance of dignity, where high-level officials still regularly demonstrate professionalism, and where spittle-flecked, treasonous lunacy is still regarded as an aberration and not just, well, shrug, the way things are now. Of course, military movies like this have always trafficked in a kind of comforting fantasy: They present us with apocalyptic situations, but then reassure us that, no matter how close things come to the brink, someone, somewhere will eventually do the right thing at the last minute and save the world from calamity.

Well, inject that shit directly into my veins, man. Hunter Killer won’t win any awards for originality, but it may win a couple for the brazenness with which it stacks clichés upon clichés. Basically, it’s Crimson Tide meets Lone Survivor meets Under Siege meets a Russian variation on Olympus Has Fallen , with a bit of Geostorm thrown in. At least three of those movies are pretty good, so the overall math works in the film’s favor.

Hunter Killer follows the USS Arkansas , a submarine captained by working-class Navy lifer Joe Glass (Gerard Butler), as it’s sent to investigate the sinking of another sub by Russians in the icy waters of the Barents Sea, and finds itself in the middle of an international crisis. The Russian president (Alexander Diachenko) has been overthrown by his defense minister during a visit to the naval base on Kola Bay, in the country’s far northwest, and the traitors want to lure the Americans into a confrontation.

In order to stop them, a group of Navy SEALs, who’ve already infiltrated Kola Bay to observe suspicious goings-on at the base, are ordered by Rear Admiral John Fisk (Common) back at the Pentagon to save the Russian president from his captors by kidnapping him and stowing him aboard the Arkansas . But in order to get to the base, the Arkansas has to navigate the mine-strewn waters of the Murmansk Fjord. To do so, it must rely on … Russian submarine captain Andropov (the late Michael Nyqvist), whom it has saved from the wreckage of another sunken vessel and is holding as a prisoner of war.

Needless to say, this creates turmoil among the already-tense crew of the American submarine, most of whom are convinced these Russians killed their fellow sailors on the other sub. Meanwhile, back in Washington, D.C., Fisk is getting yelled at by chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (Gary Oldman, because why not), who thinks his kidnapping plan is insane. Which, to be fair, it is. But everybody seems to understand that they have to work together so we don’t all die.

Oh, and the president of the United States is a wise blonde lady, because this film was shot in the summer of 2016. She doesn’t get much to do, because in movies like this the commander-in-chief is mostly there to look stoic and thoughtful for a few seconds. Back in the day, such pro forma scenes often felt vaguely propagandistic; I remember groaning a little when stock footage of Bill Clinton showed up at the end of Crimson Tide . Now, it’s nice to spend a couple of hours in a fictional world where we don’t have to worry about the American president doing something ruinously idiotic and evil. It plays like a nostalgic fairy tale.

And it’s a fairly exciting one, despite being largely predictable and occasionally ridiculous. Most submarine pictures tend to confine themselves to the world of the sub itself — the better to exploit the tense, high-pressure environment — but Hunter Killer adds urgency by cutting back and forth between its different settings. Each plot point is seen from multiple angles: The bigwigs at the Pentagon watch through the SEAL Team’s surveillance cameras; the submarines and ships use periscopes and radars and radio transmissions; the bad guys who’ve taken over the Russian base look out through their windows. As a result, we can see the misunderstandings and provocations (both intended and unintended) pile up, like a slow-motion train wreck. It’s a clever way to provide dramatic and geopolitical context while remaining focused on the action. So what if this movie and Johnny English Strikes Again basically share the same ending?

Butler has become a bit of a joke in recent years, as he’s tried to claim a cut-rate version of Harrison Ford’s old mantle as the grizzled, reliable Establishment hero called on to be tough and humble in moments of crisis. He’s well-suited for his part here, however, as all it really requires of him is that he stand and act authoritative. This is the fundamental irony of the submarine movie, which remains one of the more dependable of macho action subgenres: Most of the drama is built around people standing around and talking, usually about chains of command and tactics and strategy. Mainly because the setting itself — a crowded metal tube floating thousands of feet under the sea — is already an inherently tense one. The formula is hard to screw up, and while Hunter Killer may add a few variations, even a couple of silly ones, it knows not to mess too much with what works.

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‘hunter killer’: film review.

Gerard Butler plays the commander of a U.S. submarine attempting to rescue a Russian president in 'Hunter Killer,' a military thriller also featuring Gary Oldman and Common.

By Frank Scheck

Frank Scheck

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The new film starring Gerard Butler features a female American president, a moderate Russian president and American and Russian military officers working together to prevent a war. So when it hits the streaming market you should probably look for Hunter Killer in the fantasy section. But that’s not the only problem. When the coolest thing about a submarine thriller is the sight of the officers stiffly leaning forward as their vessel goes into a deep dive, you know there’s a problem.

Although clearly hoping to duplicate the critical and commercial success of such predecessors as The Hunt for Red October and Crimson Tide (forget about Das Boot , which is in a class by itself), this by-the-numbers military thriller chugs along like a submarine with a disabled engine. It runs a little longer than two hours, but feels more like two tours of duty. And it has enough plot elements to fuel an armful of Tom Clancy novels, but somehow manages to make none of them interesting.

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'Hunter Killer': Review

By Tim Grierson, Senior US Critic 2018-10-18T19:18:00+01:00

Gerald Butler and Gary Oldman unite to save the world

Source: Lionsgate

Hunter Killer

Dir: Donovan Marsh. US. 2018. 121mins.

Hunter Killer delivers its rah-rah, macho heroics with such simpleminded sincerity that it’s almost charming. A modern-day Cold War thriller in which one gutsy American submarine captain has to defy the odds (and sometimes his superiors) to rescue the kidnapped Russian president, the film boasts the tough-guy dialogue, over-the-top set pieces and square-jawed characterisations that will please the ageing ‘80s-action-movie fan in your life. For the rest, Hunter Killer is a ludicrous, clichéd mediocrity that valiantly refuses to acknowledge its own silliness.

Featuring hints of The Hunt For Red October , Crimson Tide and countless other submarine/military thrillers

The film opens October 19 in the UK and a week later in the US, hoping to benefit from the star power of Gerard Butler and Gary Oldman. The modestly-budgeted Hunter Killer doesn’t have the high profile or hip cachet of Halloween or The Girl In The Spider’s Web , but it could prove to be a solid theatrical performer during a time in the marketplace without any competing action-thrillers.

Butler plays Joe Glass, a lone wolf who has just been assigned his own submarine command, the USS Arkansas. His past shrouded in mystery, Glass is thrown into a high-stakes situation after a US and a Russian sub are both shot down in the Arctic Ocean. Glass and his crew investigate, only to discover that a rogue Russian contingent is behind the attacks and has taken the country’s President Zakarin (Alexander Diachenko) hostage, planning to start World War III by ramping up tensions between the two nations.

Based on the novel Firing Point by George Wallace and Don Keith, Hunter Killer follows along as the USS Arkansas tracks down the soldiers who have captured Zakarin. (Meanwhile, a lethal Navy SEAL team, led by Toby Stephens, is launching its own search by land.) With hints of The Hunt For Red October , Crimson Tide and countless other submarine/military thrillers, the film presents itself as a realistic depiction of a potentially catastrophic international incident that requires different American agencies to work together in a tight time frame to save the day. But whether it’s the meagre effects shots or the characters’ dopey quips, Hunter Killer feels entirely manufactured out of genre conventions, growing progressively more dim-witted the longer it goes on.

Nevertheless, director Donovan Marsh ( Avenged ) remains resolute in his quest to play this straight — especially the hero’s grizzled confidence in the face of so many impossible obstacles. Butler portrays Glass as a prototypically stoic straight-to-video action hero — no-nonsense, righteous, a bit of a drip — and the actor’s impassioned earnestness almost distracts from how threadbare the character is.

But Glass is in good company in Hunter Killer , which features a panoply of types we’ve seen in other movies of this ilk. Oldman plays the cranky US Admiral Charles Donnegan, Chairman Of The Joint Chiefs Of Staff, who is constantly pushing for war and demanding answers when it looks like Glass’ mission will fail. (Invariably, once Donnegan throws a fit, it soon turns out that Glass and his men have worked their way out of another fix.) And the late Michael Nyqvist brings dignity to the hammy role of noble Russian sub commander Andropov, who comes to respect Glass’ all-American gusto. (He’s also part of one of Hunter Killer ’s more laughable dramatic moments: Referencing their shared love of the deep blue sea, Glass solemnly tells Andropov, “We’re not enemies, we’re brothers.”)

On and on the clichés roll, and yet Hunter Killer ’s meat-and-potatoes execution does have its superficial pleasures. Marsh slavishly recalls the familiar thrills of submarine films of yore with their claustrophobic urgency and chess-match manoeuvres — even though no one would accuse this movie of either skilful or original storytelling.

Quite the contrary, Hunter Killer conjures up whiffs of entertainment value from its shameless but spirited derivativeness. The film resides in a fantasyland populated entirely with other decades-old action movies about brave Americans facing off with nefarious Russians as nuclear war hangs in the balance. But at a time when the two countries’ relationship is newly fraught, Hunter Killer ’s cloak-and-dagger nostalgia isn’t quite as politically archaic as one might wish — a sober fact that Marsh’s rock-‘em-sock-‘em escapism can’t come close to erasing.

Production companies: Original Film, Relativity Media, Millennium Media, G-Base

International sales: Millennium, [email protected]

Producers: Neal H. Moritz, Toby Jaffe, Gerard Butler, Alan Siegel, Tucker Tooley, Mark Gill, John Thompson, Matt O’Toole, Les Weldon

Screenplay: Arne L. Schmidt and Jamie Moss, based upon the novel Firing Point written by George Wallace and Don Keith

Production design: Jon Henson

Editing: Michael J. Duthie

Cinematography: Tom Marais

Music: Trevor Morris

Main cast: Gerard Butler, Gary Oldman, Common, Michael Nyqvist, Linda Cardellini, David Gyasi, Gabriel Chavarria, Caroline Goodall, Toby Stephens

Relativity Media
United States

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What 'Hunter Killer' Gets Right About Submarine Warfare

This submarine warfare film might be fiction, but its underlying action feels all too real.

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Four Navy SEALs covertly entering Russia, rescuing its Vladimir Putin-like president from a well-orchestrated coup, and then escaping in a submerged submarine definitely sounds like fiction. And while the sweeping brushstrokes of Hunter Killer , which hit theaters October 26, are indeed a fantasy, its depiction of submarine warfare is startlingly realistic.

From the accurate sets, to illustrating the chain of command, to conveying the very physics of submarine warfare, Hunter Killer checks all the boxes—and this is how they did it.

Employing Real-World Warriors

Wallace’s experiences in the control room of real nuclear submarines directly informed the ways the story clings to reality, though, as Wallace will readily admit, not all of his real experiences translate well into film.

Hunter Killer depicts an alternate reality in which a Vladimir Putin stand-in falls victim to a well-organized coup attempt. As the situation rapidly unfolds, it falls upon the crew of a single U.S. Navy Virginia-class submarine, helmed by Gerard Butler’s Joe Glass and four Navy SEALs, to save the Russian president and avert a global war.

The circumstances may be fictional, but Hunter Killer leans heavily on the reality of warfare, both deep beneath the sea and at the business end of a Navy SEAL’s FN Scar assault rifle.

Getting Inside the Submarine

Although the movie’s poster prominently features names like Gerard Butler and Gary Oldman, the Virginia-class nuclear attack submarine, where much of the film takes place, is a character all its own. The U.S. Navy currently employs 28 of these submersible vessels for operations ranging from intelligence gathering to shoreside force projection by way of its complement of Tomahawk cruise missiles. But the Virginia-class submarine's claim to fame is its ability to hunt and destroy enemy vessels, both on the surface and skulking beneath the waves.

Butler and the film’s director, Donovan Marsh, spent three days at sea aboard one of the Navy’s Los Angeles–class attack subs before filming just to gain a better appreciation for what life is like operating hundreds of feet below the ocean's surface.

.css-2l0eat{font-family:UnitedSans,UnitedSans-roboto,UnitedSans-local,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif;font-size:1.625rem;line-height:1.2;margin:0rem;padding:0.9rem 1rem 1rem;}@media(max-width: 48rem){.css-2l0eat{font-size:1.75rem;line-height:1;}}@media(min-width: 48rem){.css-2l0eat{font-size:1.875rem;line-height:1;}}@media(min-width: 64rem){.css-2l0eat{font-size:2.25rem;line-height:1;}}.css-2l0eat b,.css-2l0eat strong{font-family:inherit;font-weight:bold;}.css-2l0eat em,.css-2l0eat i{font-style:italic;font-family:inherit;} "I asked them to do all the maneuvers from the film, as though they were being chased by a torpedo..."

In fact, it was Marsh’s time aboard the USS Houston that led him to make a dramatic (and expensive) decision regarding the film’s production: He built an entire submarine set atop a massive gimbal that would allow actors to move around in much the same way a real submarine's crew would while maneuvering in a combat environment.

“I asked them to do all the maneuvers from the film, as though they were being chased by a torpedo or had to make sudden evasive maneuvers,” Marsh told Popular Mechanics. “They did this thing where they angled the submarine down to 30 degrees, and literally, everyone had to lean back and hold on or they’d fall over. It was very dramatic, and I thought, ‘Man, I’d really like to do this for real.’”

Armed with blueprints provided by the U.S. Navy, Marsh and his team set about building replicas of the interior quarters of a Virginia-class submarine that they proceeded to mount on a massive, hydraulically powered platform they then programmed to approximate the way a real sub would shift and turn. The result is a sort of nuanced realism on the big screen you have trouble putting your finger on. The crew aboard the USS Arkansas (Butler’s sub in the movie) aren’t leaning and shaking like Captain Kirk on Star Trek —they’re really holding on.

A Dash of Movie Magic

Electronics, Technology, Audio equipment, Photography, City, Metal, Night, Machine,

But not everything depicted aboard the USS Arkansas is true to life. Sometimes, elements had to be changed for the sake of operational security, but other changes helped tell a more compelling story.

“The biggest differences between what they showed on the big screen and reality were the distances involved, where you saw everything in terms of a few hundred feet maybe, and where you’re seeing everything in very fast ‘real time,’” former sub commander and the book’s co-author George Wallace explained. “We deal in, in some cases, hours, but certainly multi-digit minutes.”

The speed and distances shown on screen, according to the film’s director, were all for the sake of clean, coherent storytelling. But there’s one thing both author and director agreed on that the movie really did get right—terror. The sense of foreboding of hunting, or being hunted, in a metal can deep beneath the ocean’s surface.

As Wallace put it, the old axiom “alone and unafraid” isn’t appropriate for submarine commanders. You may be alone, but fear is a part of the job.

Yes, Navy SEALs Are That Badass

Water, Night, Soldier, Darkness, Space, Action figure, Military, Games,

While much of Hunter Killer takes place aboard the USS Arkansas , the film also focuses heavily on U.S. military personnel operating in the Pentagon and on a four-man team of Navy SEALs sent into Russia to conduct reconnaissance.

The SEALs enter into Russia on foot, after conducting what’s commonly referred to as a HALO drop (High Altitude Low Opening) near the border. HALO operations are intended to limit the visibility of the operator by jumping at altitudes in excess of 30,000 feet (more than twice a normal skydiving altitude) and waiting until the last possible moment to open the parachute. It’s a technique employed almost exclusively by the special-operations community, with its invention widely attributed to the U.S. Air Force in the 1960s.

While the film's execution of tactics and the loadouts conveyed a sense of accuracy, would the U.S. really insert a four-man SEAL team into Russian territory?

“The likelihood that we would use them to insert a four-man team into Russia for anything really depends on the political leadership,” Jeff Butler, former Navy SEAL and CIA officer, told Popular Mechanics. “That would be a decision made by policymakers, but it’s certainly possible, if not currently plausible, in the case of Russia.”

Once the SEALs are on the ground, they quickly find themselves tasked with the seemingly impossible. They need to infiltrate a secure Russian military facility, extract the Russian president, and make their escape via the inbound USS Arkansas .

Submarine, Ballistic missile submarine, Cruise missile submarine, Vehicle, Navy, Watercraft, Ship, Boat, Deep-submergence rescue vehicle, Submarine tender,

It’s not at all uncommon for Navy SEALs to conduct operations that involve America’s fleet of nuclear submarines. Many subs, like the Virginia-class USS John Warner , have what are called “lockout trunks” that can be flooded with water and opened to allow SEALs to exit the submarine without it surfacing.

The USS Jimmy Carter , a Seawolf-class fast-attack submarine, was modified to add an additional 100-foot-long, 2,500-ton section referred to as the Multi-Mission platform that is used specifically to deploy unmanned underwater drones, SEAL submersible vehicles, or even dozens of Navy SEALs themselves.

"SEALs operating in and under the water is what separates us from other SOF units, especially our SEAL Delivery Vehicle (SVD) Teams that work clandestinely from submarines routinely.” Former Navy SEAL and New York Times bestselling author Brandon Webb told Popular Mechanics. “This type of exfil would be a tap-in for the SVD guys.”

A Closer Look at Russia

Hunter Killer 's depiction of a highly capable and efficient Russian Navy is, perhaps, its greatest departure from the reality of today’s world.

Russia’s struggling economy has forced the nation to pick and choose its military investments. While the Kremlin places a large emphasis on its submarine fleet, acquisition and maintenance funding for its surface fleet has been stifled in recent years by the nation’s financial woes.

Some technology depicted on screen, including Russian missile defense systems, performed as they’re claimed to by Russian military officials, though the jury is still out as to whether they truly are as capable as what's been reported.

Nonetheless, Hunter Killer works through its narrative to frame the story in a way that leans away from America’s naval strengths and into Russia’s longstanding defensive posture. The Russian Navy may not actually be a formidable threat to America’s massive seaward fleet, but it could certainly be to a single submarine.

An Army of One

But the larger truth behind Hunter Killer 's narrative is that huge, potentially world-altering decisions can often be thrust into the hands of a single individual, like Butler's Joe Glass.

And also like the very real Stanislav Petrov, a lieutenant colonel in the Soviet Air Defense Force who chose to ignore warnings about incoming American ICBMs and disobeyed a direct order to launch retaliatory nuclear strikes in 1983. Petrov believed the incident to be a false alarm, and stood by his call. That decision, which could have potentially cost the lives of everyone he knew, ultimately averted a global nuclear war that could have killed millions. Thus far, we’ve been lucky enough to have men like Stanislav Petrov manning their posts, placing the greater good above all else.

Warfare, whether real or fictional, is really about the individuals who wage it, and ultimately, that's what Hunter Killer gets right.

Alex Hollings is the editor of the Sandboxx blog and a former U.S. Marine that writes about defense policy and technology. He lives with his wife and daughter in Georgia.

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Hunter killer, common sense media reviewers.

Violence, language in passable military/submarine thriller.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

It's important to put differences aside, trust one

Soldier characters are generally well-represented,

Extremely strong battle violence with lots and lot

Fairly strong language, with uses of "f---ing," "p

Background smoking.

Positive Messages

It's important to put differences aside, trust one another, work together toward common goal. Honor, teamwork, loyalty are generally celebrated, rewarded.

Positive Role Models

Soldier characters are generally well-represented, respectful. Even the supposedly rebellious lead character, Joe Glass, seems to make the right decisions based on what he thinks is right. Only one notable female character.

Violence & Scariness

Extremely strong battle violence with lots and lots of guns and shooting, high-powered missiles and torpedoes, explosions. Many dead bodies are shown. Bloody wounds and injuries. Lots of arguing. Bow and arrow shown.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Fairly strong language, with uses of "f---ing," "p---y," "a--hole," "son of a bitch," "ass," "hell," "damn," and "goddamn."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Hunter Killer is a thriller involving submarines, Navy SEALs, and Russians; it's based on a 2012 novel by George Wallace and Don Keith. The biggest issue is violence: You can expect lots and lots of battle action, with guns and shooting, high-powered missiles and torpedoes, bloody wounds and injuries, and dead bodies. Language is also strong, with many uses of "f--k," "s--t," "son of a bitch," "p---y," and more, and there's some background smoking. On the other hand, sex and consumerism aren't issues. The movie starts stiffly and seems like it's going to be another not-too-good Gerard Butler movie, but it eventually begins to work in a passably entertaining way, and it's clear that teamwork is important to the characters and their story. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

Videos and photos.

Community Reviews

Parents say (7)
Kids say (3)

Based on 7 parent reviews

Solid Thriller With Good Themes

One of the best modern war thrillers available, what's the story.

In HUNTER KILLER, an American submarine is torpedoed near Russia, and unorthodox, street-smart Captain Joe Glass ( Gerard Butler ) is called in to investigate. He discovers that a nearby Russian sub has been sabotaged, and he chooses to rescue its captain ( Michael Nyqvist ) from the ocean floor. Meanwhile, a team of U.S. Navy SEALs uncovers a coup within the Russian government: A rogue general has locked up the president (Alexander Diachenko) and taken over. The SEALs successfully snatch the president, while Glass must trust the Russian captain to help navigate the treacherous waters to get to the rendezvous point. But can the Americans and the loyal Russians trust each other long enough to prevent the bad guys from starting another world war?

Is It Any Good?

This military thriller starts stiffly, and not everyone seems fully committed, but as the pieces come together, it becomes a passably tense entertainment for fans of huge explosions. Based on a novel by George Wallace and Don Keith and directed by Donovan Marsh, Hunter Killer kicks off with thick, clunky military dialogue and many cookie-cutter scenes, especially the ones that establish Butler as a rebellious outsider (he never went to Annapolis, he's first seen hunting with a bow and arrow, etc.). Actors like Common and Gary Oldman appear uncomfortable at best, and it looks for a while as if Butler forced everyone at gunpoint to help make this movie.

But, surprisingly, Hunter Killer eventually turns into a multi-character piece, with many moving parts; Butler is, happily, not the center of everything. The story allows Marsh to logically cut back and forth to several locations, and the breaks effectively boost the storytelling style; it builds suspense. Best of all, the movie becomes less focused on specific military-type relationships and concentrates instead on simpler, more universal bonds of loyalty and teamwork. Characters seem to behave in the best interests of their comrades, rather than at the service of the plot. The wonderful Linda Cardellini has virtually the only female role, looking tense inside a situation room, and she seems to relish the opportunity. Yet Hunter Killer is also overrun with gunfire and explosions. It's hardly a classic, but it should satisfy a reasonable number of sub thriller fans.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about Hunter Killer 's violence . How intense is it? Do you think it's intended to be shocking? Scary? Thrilling? How can you tell? How does the movie achieve this effect?

How is teamwork shown in the movie? What's the difference between teamwork and loyalty?

What's the appeal of submarine movies? How does this one compare to others you've seen?

Do you think movies about the military should always show soldiers and servicepeople in a positive light? Why or why not?

Movie Details

In theaters : October 26, 2018
On DVD or streaming : January 29, 2019
Cast : Gerard Butler , Gary Oldman , Linda Cardellini , Common
Director : Donovan Marsh
Inclusion Information : Female actors, Black actors
Studio : Summit Entertainment
Genre : Action/Adventure
Character Strengths : Teamwork
Run time : 121 minutes
MPAA rating : R
MPAA explanation : violence and some language
Last updated : March 28, 2023

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DVD & Streaming

Hunter Killer

Content caution.

In Theaters

October 26, 2018
Gary Oldman as CJCS Charles Donnegan; Gerard Butler as Cmdr. Joe Glass; Carter MacIntyre as XO Brian Edwards; Common as RA John Fisk; Linda Cardellini as Jayne Norquist; Toby Stephens as Bill Beaman; Michael Trucco as Devin Hall; Ryan McPartlin as Matt Johnstone; Zane Holtz as Paul Martinelli; Alexander Diachenko as President Zakarin; Yuri Kolokolnikov as Oleg; Michael Gor as Admiral Dmitri Durov; Michael Nyqvist as Captain Andropov; Ilia Volok as Captain Vlade Sutrev

Home Release Date

January 29, 2019
Donovan Marsh

Distributor

Movie review.

All it takes is one evil madman to ruin it for everyone. Then again, it only takes one hero to save the day.

Joe Glass spends most of his time hunting and living a low-key life off the grid. He’s very good at what he does: stalking his prey. But when the U.S. military calls, he’s ready to respond.

Glass is the government’s somewhat unconventional choice to command the USS Arkansas, a hunter killer submarine—the kind of vessel that stealthily stalks others of its kind. His mission? Discover what became of an American sub that vanished in the Arctic.

That task is hard enough. But Glass and his crew soon swim into a much bigger mission as this sub story unfolds. And it’s not long before they’re working with Navy SEALs to extract the embattled Russian president from a coup … risking everything to prevent the next world war.

Positive Elements

When we first meet Joe Glass, it’s clear that he’s considered a nobody. A loner. But the choice to promote him to commander of the USS Arkansas proves a wise one. Glass has what it takes to get the job done: character, loyalty, resilience and tactical smarts.

Glass is brave, determined and capable, calling difficult shots when others won’t take necessary risks. He gradually wins his crew’s trust, even though some of his choices seem reckless. Glass also models what it means to serve sacrificially. When confronted with difficult choices involving the enemy, he admirably seeks to preserve human rights and to tear down racially charged barriers.

We see other sailors and soldiers who risk their lives to accomplish their increasingly complex mission. That’s especially obvious when some characters return for men who are left behind at one point. And at least some members of the United States and Russian governments are willing to work together and seek peace … though that’s not true of all of them (hence the rest of the movie).

Spiritual Elements

Sexual content.

Sailors are briefly seen shirtless and in their boxers as they rush to prepare for battle. Someone jokes about incest.

Violent Content

As you’d expect in a movie like this, we see quite a bit of combat and warfare. Submarines, military vehicles and buildings get blown up. Torpedoes reverberate through the ocean; bullets tear through surfaces; bombs and mines detonate. At one crucial point, battles ensue on land and in water simultaneously, with both sailors and soldiers involved. We also hear death threats and witness standoffs that threaten to unleash an apocalyptic nuclear conflagration.

U.S. Navy SEALs practice with firearms for a top-secret mission. When the actual mission begins, they kill and injure many Russian soldiers. Multiple soldiers and officials die in combat. Blood splatters as men are killed, and some of that brutal combat is depicted quite realistically and graphically.

An evil Russian warlord has his own people executed; we see them shot in the head from afar, and their bodies are then dumped into the water. Dead bodies float in the ocean as well. A paratrooper soldier is injured during his jump. A sailor is nearly crushed as a torpedo falls onto his body and traps him underwater. Some sailors suffer from hypothermia.

An evil admiral attempts to dispose of any Russian operatives who stand in his way (executing violent orders and trying to kill his own sailors in order to spark a war). Sailors admit that they’re afraid to die and feel isolated as they engage in underwater battles. Cmdr. Glass talks to his crew about missing his father’s funeral and working alongside many men who have died.

Crude or Profane Language

God’s name is misued about 10 times, most of which uses are paired with “d–n.” Jesus’ name is misued at least three times. The f-word and s-word are both used four times. Other vulgarities include frequent uses of “a–,” “jacka–,” “a–hole,” “p-ssed,” “h—,” “d–n,” “d–mit,” “b–ch,” “p—y” and “nuts.”

Drug and Alcohol Content

Cmdr. Glass tells a sailor to look for fellow sailors in nearby pubs.

Other Negative Elements

In an attempt to control and frame the Russian president, an evil admiral blocks all means of communication and sequesters various officials.

Cmdr. Glass technically makes some decisions that violate his orders; that said, the film also invites us to see those choices as necessary to prevent war.

Have you ever thought that a movie was both too long and too short? As this one got underway, I wanted more backstory, more details, more understanding of what motivated these guys—especially Cmdr. Glass, played by Gerard Butler.

But about halfway through, something else happened: I started to think about when Hunter Killer was going to be over. That’s because once the main plot pieces are set in motion, you wonder how many explosions and expletives you’re going to have to endure before the credits finally roll.

Don’t misunderstand me: Gerard Butler, his crew and the enemies are fairly compelling. Tangible suspense hangs in the air, and characters make heroic, praiseworthy and sacrificial choices. And it’s nice that the filmmakers chose not to toss in any gratuitous sexual content, either, as so often happens in R-rated films. Overall, the film gave me a renewed sense of thankfulness for those who fiercely protect our country.

But the plot wasn’t as convincing as I would have liked. And this underwater actioner definitely didn’t need to be rated R. If the moviemakers could have dialed back the harsh language and bloody violence just a couple of notches, perhaps more potential viewers would consider taking the plunge with Hunter Killer .

Kristin Smith

Kristin Smith joined the Plugged In team in 2017. Formerly a Spanish and English teacher, Kristin loves reading literature and eating authentic Mexican tacos. She and her husband, Eddy, love raising their children Judah and Selah. Kristin also has a deep affection for coffee, music, her dog (Cali) and cat (Aslan).

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Screen Rant

Hunter killer ending explained.

Hunter Killer is a 2018 submarine warfare movie about Captain Joe Glass and the USS Arkansas trying to save the Russian president and avoid WWIII.

Hunter Killer is not based on a true story and takes liberties with its depiction of submarine operations.
Andropov trusted Glass because he risked his crew's lives to save him and showed him evidence of the coup.
Glass gave Andropov his lucky coin as a sign of respect and gratitude for their successful mission to prevent World War III.

At the end of Hunter Killer , Captain Glass makes the bold move to trust Russian Captain Andropov and together they help avoid the beginning of World War III. Directed by Jonathan Marsh and based on the novel by Don Keith and George Wallace, Hunter Killer is a 2018 movie featuring performances from Gerard Butler, Gary Oldman, Common, Linda Cardellini, Toby Stephens, and more.

When a United States submarine is mysteriously destroyed in the ocean near Russia, the United States military and the NSA send Captain Glass (Geard Butler) and a Hunter-Killer submarine, the USS Arkansas to discover what happened. It turns out the Russian Admiral Dmitriy Durov (Michael Gor) staged a coup and kidnapped the Russian President Zakarin (Alexander Diachenko) and attacked their own submarine in the process. The United States military leaders and President begin preparing for war, but Glass is determined to stop the war before it happens, teaming up with Russian submarine captain Andropov (Michael Nyqvist) to extract the president and stop the coup.

Related: Every Gerard Butler Action Movie, Ranked Worst To Best (Including Hunter Killer)

Is Hunter Killer Based on a True Story?

How accurate is it to real-life submarine warfare.

Hunter Killer is not based on a true story, although it is based on the novel Firing Point (not to be confused with Tom Clancy's book by the same name) by Don Keith and George Wallace. Wallace was in the Navy and served on a nuclear submarine, which largely influenced the stories of his novels, all of which are about submarines and submariners. Hunter Killer follows mostly the same story as Firing Point , although it slims down a much more complicated plot from the book, including completely cutting a side-plot about Russian hackers manipulating the US stock market during Durov's coup.

While Hunter Killer has elements of accuracy in its depiction of Naval operations and submarines, it equally stretches reality, particularly in the speed and maneuverability of the submarine, such as a moment where Captain Glass outmaneuvers and outruns an incoming torpedo. Additionally, the capabilities of much of the technology employed, military or otherwise, is often exaggerated or misrepresented in a way that borders on science fiction. Real-life submarines move much slower and combat isn't nearly as fast-paced, which wouldn't translate well to a thriller like Hunter Killer , so the movie takes a few liberties with its depiction of submarine operations.

Why Adropov Helped Glass

How did he know glass could be trusted.

After Glass realized there were still men inside the sunken Russian sub, he sent a crew to get them out, and one of the survivors was the ship's captain, Andropov. As Glass tried to navigate the USS Arkansas closer to the Russian base at Polyarny, he encountered an impenetrable field of acoustic mines and requested the help of Andropov despite the objections of some of the crew, including the XO. Andropov was initially reluctant, but after Glass showed him the images showing the Konek was sabotaged, and told him risked the lives of his crew to save him, Andropov knew he could trust Glass.

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Instead of navigating through the acoustic minefield, Andropov guided Glass and the USS Arkansas into what appeared to be a cave with a dead end. Glass trusted Andropov and ordered the Arkansas crew to follow his guidance and the cave opened up and the Arkansas emerged into Russian waters. While many of the higher-ranking officers on both sides went to naval academies, Glass took pride in the fact that he came up through the ranks doing grunt work on submarines, which helped him earn the respect and trust of Andropov since the two men were cut from the same cloth.

Why Glass Gave Andropov His Coin

The wichita coin was glass' lucky coin..

While he was the newly installed captain of the USS Arkansas, Glass rejected the Arkansas crew coin, instead holding onto his coin as a former crew member of the USS Wichita. He initially says he'll keep that instead since it's his lucky coin, but at the end of the movie, after he'd worked with Andropov to prevent WWIII, the two men shake hands and Glass slips his USS Wichita coin into Andropov's hand. Glass' reluctance to give the coin up previously shows how special it was to him, but after the events from the movie, it was the strongest way to show Andropov the respect he had for the Russian captain.

Andropov and Glass had a previous run-in, and while the movie doesn't go into details, clearly both crews in that situation also successfully avoided conflict. In fact, Glass had read up on Andropov and knew his experience and style, which is why he knew Andropov would be willing to help him navigate the minefield. In the end, because Andropov earned such a high degree of respect from his men, they refused to fire on the Arkansas, averting WWIII. Thanks to his time on the Arkansas, Glass may be ready to swap his coin out for a new lucky Arkansas crew coin, but he certainly thinks Andropov deserves his Wichita coin as a memento.

Hunter Killer Ending and True Meaning Explained

Why glass defied orders and the russians attacked themselves..

The action of Hunter Killer was split primarily between two groups, the officers and politicians, the latter of whom were located far away from the action. Rear Admiral John Fisk (Common) and Jayne Norquist (Linda Cardellini) from the NSA are working together at the Pentagon to try and prevent the conflict from escalating, sending Captain Glass and the USS Arkansas as well as a team of Navy SEALS led by Lieutenant Bill Beaman (Toby Stephens). Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Charles Donnegan (Gary Oldman) and other politicians are a little less risk-averse.

At the end of Hunter Killer , Donnegan orders Glass to strike the Russians before they destroy the USS Arkansas, but Glass stands down, knowing even a strike in self-defense would start WWIII, depending on the respect Andropov has from his trainees aboard the Russian ship. Likewise, the Russian sailors defied a direct order from Durov to fire on the Arkansas. Not only do they defy orders, they also intercept missiles Durov fires at the Arkansas from Polyarny. The Russian ship then fires back and destroys the Polyarny command post, killing Durov and ending the coup.

While Donnegan and President Dover (Caroline Goodall) certainly aren't attempting to create a war like Durov is, their approach to the situation would have certainly ended with calamity, while Captain Glass, Andropov, and Lieutenant Beaman, and the Russian sailors were far more prepared to do what was needed to prevent the war. Because these men actually work on the ground, face to face with the soldiers who would die in the war, they had a stronger investment, and know-how, to take care of the situation. Additionally, each had the respect of the men they commanded, ultimately resulting in a successful mission.

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‘Hunter Killer’ Review: Gerard Butler’s Submarine Thriller Is Even Worse Than His Usual Bad Action Vehicles

David ehrlich.

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“If it doesn’t suck, we don’t do it.” That’s one of the only memorable lines of dialogue from the latest of Gerard Butler ’s impressively bland action vehicles, but at this point it might as well be the inscription on a plaque that’s mounted behind his agent’s desk. Between “London Has Fallen,” “Geostorm,” and “Den of Thieves” — all real movies, this critic is tragically able to confirm — it’s beginning to seem as if the rugged Scotsman is just waiting by Nicolas Cage’s mailbox and stealing all of the most boring scripts before he can read them. On the plus side, that would leave Cage no choice but to continue starring in wildly eccentric fare like “Mandy.” On the minus side, it might result in Butler hosting a lot more press conferences at the Pentagon, where — in keeping with current custom — the actor recently fielded questions about what it’s like to pretend to serve the American people.

Truth be told, it’s hard to imagine that shooting a third-rate Tom Clancy knockoff like “ Hunter Killer ” has endowed Butler with any sort of authority on attack submarines; while the film’s brief fits of underwater action are undeniably tense (and seem to be informed by a well-researched degree of realism), those sequences are adrift in a ridiculous story, and torpedoed by ultra-forgettable characters. Adapted from a 2012 novel called “Firing Point,” and more than a little out of step with the carnival-esque politics of today’s global climate, the story begins with an effective sting of intrigue: A U.S. military sub is playing hide-and-seek with a Russian vessel somewhere near the Arctic Circle when the latter suddenly explodes without warning. The Americans don’t have time to figure out what happened before they’re blown out of the water as well.

Read More: Review: ‘London Has Fallen’ Starring Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman, Angela Bassett, Robert Forster, More

Watching from the peanut gallery some 5,000 miles away in the Pentagon, hawkish Admiral Charles Donnegan ( Gary Oldman , in a pre-Oscar paycheck role) and the more level-headed Rear Admiral John Fisk (Common, who can’t have spent more than six hours on that set) have no choice but to brace for World War III. When Oldman drops a couple of Alka-Seltzer tablets into a glass of water, you know shit just got real.

Enter Joe Glass (Butler), a hunter killer in his own right who’s ordered to steer a crew towards the wreckage and see what they can find. He’s introduced stalking a buck across the wilderness with a bow and arrow, but the grizzled submarine commander doesn’t have the heart to shoot the animal in front of its family. Don’t hold your breath for Joe’s merciful nature to resurface later on, as screenwriters Jamie Moss and Arne L. Schmidt appear to have forgotten about it by the next scene, when their transparent protagonist is redefined as a rogue vet who plays by his own rules. Nevertheless, that’s more than enough to make Joe the most complex character in “Hunter Killer,” the entire supporting cast of which can effectively be divided into “sweaty young sailors,” “Russian who are totally evil,” “Russians who might not be totally evil,” and Linda Cardellini (playing an NSA agent whose only lines are variations of “I’m from the NSA!”).

The plot thickens when Joe’s submarine arrives at the scene of the crime and is immediately targeted by a Russian vessel that’s hiding just beneath the ice. The why of it all is best left for audiences to discover for themselves, but rest assured that the enemy aggression has less to do with the United States than it does a Russian military coup involving a Bond villain (Michael Gor), a “Mission: Impossible” villain (the late Michael Nyqvist, who may still appear in Terrence Malick’s “Radegund”), and the weak Prime Minister caught between them (Alexander Diachenko as President Zakarin).

While there are, combined, exactly zero interesting things about any of these characters, they might inspire bored audiences to wander down some interesting mental side streets as they zone out. Chief among them: The viability of broadscale political thrillers at a time when the evening news is more captivating and absurd than anything you’d ever be able to find in the pages of an airport novel. “Hunter Killer” isn’t all that absorbing to begin with, but the spell is completely broken every time the film cuts to its female U.S. President, or its fictional Russian PM (which is made even more jarring by the fact that Indiana Jones nemesis and Putin lookalike Igor Jijikine plays one of his disloyal henchmen). This isn’t a criticism of the movie, per se, but it doesn’t lend any credence to a story that already hinges on the benevolence of world leaders, and the nefariousness of the deep state that churns beneath them. Even if Joe’s submarine is state-of-the art (it sure is a lot roomier than the claustrophobic movie subs of yore), and even if the film speaks fluent U.S. military lingo, the whole thing might as well be a period piece, or take place in an alternate universe.

And yet, given how exciting it can be whenever Joe’s submarine exchanges fire — director Donovan Marsh fails to put much of a unique visual stamp on “Hunter Killer,” but the maritime action is shot with clarity, and filled with moody shots of subs emerging from gray clouds of debris — it’s a shame the whole thing doesn’t take place underwater. On the contrary, the film devotes an entire parallel narrative to the meathead team of marines who airdrop into Russia and try to rescue the Prime Minister from the generals who are holding him hostage.

“I don’t know shit about politics,” one of them boasts while cocking his rifle. Every frame of this hoo-rah hogwash is a waste of time, as Marsh severely overestimates how much fun it might be to watch four generic beardos reenact cut-scenes from the “Goldeneye” video game. At least the sets look nice.

This turgid side-plot eventually overlaps with Joe’s storyline, but much of “Hunter Killer” feels like watching an interminable mash-up between two unrelated movies that someone bought off the rack at a gas station. If only Marsh were as determined to broker a peace between those two parts as Joe is between the film’s two warring governments, then perhaps there might be any momentum behind this waterlogged bore. Even among Gerard Butler vehicles, this one sinks right to the bottom.

Lionsgate will release “Hunter Killer” in theaters on Friday, October 26.

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Hunter Killer Parent Guide

The plot is simple and the special effects are uneven, but between the gripping undersea battles and the politics in the pentagon, there's always something to grab your attention..

Rookie American submarine captain Joe Glass (Gerard Butler) is tasked with saving the Russian president.

Release date October 26, 2018

Run Time: 121 minutes

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The guide to our grades, parent movie review by keith hawkes.

When an American submarine in the Barents Sea goes missing, presumed destroyed, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Charles Donnegan (Gary Oldman) and Rear Admiral John Fisk (Common) dispatch the submarine USS Arkansas to discover why. When it arrives on the scene, Commander Joe Glass (Gerard Butler) finds that the missing sub was torpedoed, and a nearby sunken Russian boat has been blown apart from the inside. Immediately thereafter, the Arkansas is fired on by a second Russian vessel. Will Commander Glass start a war as he protects his crew? Or is there a bigger picture unfolding above the waves?

If you think this story sounds familiar, you are correct. But if you are expecting the same level of intrigue and spycraft as The Hunt for Red October , you will be disappointed. The plot is much simpler, and quite straightforward. To balance this, Hunter Killer takes the audience through one intense scene of sub-aquatic action after another, from a tense torpedo battle under the icebergs to silently navigating a mined inlet. Commander Glass’s use of very creative military tactics ensures that these scenes remain interesting even when they are visually somewhat repetitious.

This isn’t a movie for young children, as the R rating and moments of extreme peril would indicate. However, due to the almost total lack of sexual content and alcohol or drug use, this may be a good film for older teens with an interest in military or espionage thrillers. The violence is frequent but not nearly as graphic as found in many films in the same genre. Profanity is a major issue in this picture, with four sexual expletives and another 18 curse words – but again, this is still lower than other similar movies.

Even though it’s a little difficult to justify a two-hour run time for a film with such a simple premise, it’s a fun ride, and you won’t be bored for most of it. From the gripping sub chases and fights, to an unsanctioned military action in foreign territory, to the political maneuvering in the Pentagon, there’s always something happening to keep your attention firmly on the screen. If submarine movies are your kind of thing, make sure to set a course for this one. Just watch out for some poorly rendered torpedoes.

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Keith hawkes, watch the trailer for hunter killer.

Hunter Killer Rating & Content Info

Why is Hunter Killer rated R? Hunter Killer is rated R by the MPAA for violence and some language

Violence: Multiple individuals are shot, including blood spraying from the wound. Several individuals are executed and dumped in the sea. A man is killed when a door explodes into him. A dying man pulls the pin on several grenades he is holding to kill the people approaching him. Two individuals are stabbed in the dark. Sexual Content: Brief mention of “a hot piece of a**”, but with no detail beyond that. All characters are fully clothed at all times. Profanity: Frequent use of mild and moderate language, as well as terms of deity. Four uses of extreme profanity. Alcohol / Drug Use: A single instance of a character smoking.

Page last updated January 30, 2019

Hunter Killer Parents' Guide

How do we respond to situations in which other’s motivations are unclear? How do we put aside preconceptions when dealing with people or groups with whom we have a history of conflict?

Are there situations in which the violent overthrow of a government is appropriate? Many countries have a history of revolution (violent or otherwise) - the United States was founded after a rebellion against Great Britain, the People’s Republic of China resulted from a Communist revolution against a corrupt monarchy, Colombia gained limited and then full independence after street protests and riots, India gained independence after Mahatma Gandhi led non-violent demonstrations and a campaign of civil disobedience against the British Raj. Do you think these revolts were all justified? Why or why not?

The most recent home video release of Hunter Killer movie is January 29, 2019. Here are some details…

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The movie tells the story of Zuko Khumalo, a man whose mission to save his family escalates into a battle to prevent a corrupt politician from becoming President, and features critically acclaimed character actor Bonko Khoza ( Necktie Youth , Collision , The Woman King ) in the lead role alongside a who's who of iconic South African actors.

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This stripped-back survival thriller takes a simple and perhaps over-familiar premise – a woman becomes the obsession of a terrifying man in a place almost as dangerous as the man hunting her – and delivers an exceptionally tense drama that dispenses with cheap tricks such as jump scares, unreasonably proficient protagonists or far-fetched coincidences: Alone feels real, and that makes it all the more frightening. As Thrillist puts it: "The cat and mouse premise may be somewhat familiar, but the presentation is top-notch. Scary, suspenseful, and altogether compelling."

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You may know Aubrey Plaza from her roles in comedies such as Parks and Recreation , but here she's playing it straight as a young woman exploring the LA underworld. Thanks to her ever-spiralling debts she's desperate for cash and soon becomes a scammer, with all the excitement, adrenaline and danger that entails. The Daily Beast loved her performance, saying that " Emily the Criminal is just the latest in a decade’s worth of iconic, perfect, unforgettable dramatic roles for the queen of deadpan", while Ready Steady Cut writes that " Emily The Criminal is a brilliant piece of art that’s particularly relevant to today’s world. It’s almost terrifyingly realistic and shows how far a person is capable of going when society turns its back on them."

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Writer, broadcaster, musician and kitchen gadget obsessive Carrie Marshall ( Twitter ) has been writing about tech since 1998, contributing sage advice and odd opinions to all kinds of magazines and websites as well as writing more than a dozen books. Her memoir, Carrie Kills A Man , is on sale now. She is the singer in Glaswegian rock band HAVR .

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COMMENTS

Hunter Killer movie review & film summary (2018)
A war movie starring Gerard Butler as a naval commander who rescues a Russian president from a Russian coup, but faces challenges from his own government and the Russians. The reviewer criticizes Butler's performance, the parody moments, and the uneven treatment of the characters and the geopolitics.
Hunter Killer
Aug 04, 2019. A rote B-movie, Hunter Killer is a fairly entertaining yet mediocre action film. When a US submarine is sunk in Russian waters while conducting an exercise an emergency mission is ...
Review: 'Hunter Killer' Explores the Depths of Geopolitics
2h 1m. By Ben Kenigsberg. Oct. 25, 2018. In "Hunter Killer," ordinary alliances are suddenly upended and the United States Navy must do whatever it can to protect the interests of the Russian ...
Hunter Killer review
W hen we last encountered Gerard Butler, in the semi-enjoyably derivative Den of Thieves, he was rerunning Al Pacino's old Heat moves.Tonight, Matthew, cinema's loudest Scotsman will be ...
Hunter Killer
Hunter Killer is a dumb movie, but it's a fun dumb movie. Full Review | Original Score: B- | Jul 9, 2020. There are surprises and thrills alongside truly moronic bits of music. Overall, the ...
Hunter Killer (2018)
Hunter Killer: Directed by Donovan Marsh. With Ethan Baird, Jacob Scipio, Dempsey Bovell, Corey Johnson. An untested American submarine captain teams with U.S. Navy Seals to rescue the Russian president, who has been kidnapped by a rogue general.
Film Review: 'Hunter Killer'
A submarine thriller starring Gerard Butler as a U.S. commander who faces a Russian coup attempt. The film is outdated, clichéd and tedious, with a political message of teamwork and diplomacy. Read the review by Owen Gleiberman, who calls it a "grindingly ponderous and bombastic neo-Cold War submarine thriller".
Hunter Killer: Movie Review
Hunter Killer. Is a Satisfyingly Clichéd Throwback to Simpler Times. The new submarine thriller Hunter Killer is like a transmission from an alternate reality, one in which American and Russian ...
Hunter Killer (2018)
Newcomer writers Arne Schmidt and Jamie Moss did a fantastic job with the screenplay. Gerard Butler and Gary Oldman nailed their roles and the rest of the cast were also on point. At 122 mins length, the pacing was excellent with the non-stop action and suspense, that time flew by. The Visuals and SFX were outstanding.
'Hunter Killer': Film Review
It runs a little longer than two hours, but feels more like two tours of duty. And it has enough plot elements to fuel an armful of Tom Clancy novels, but somehow manages to make none of them ...
Hunter Killer (film)
Hunter Killer is a 2018 American action thriller film directed by Donovan Marsh, written by Arne Schmidt and Jamie Moss, and based on the 2012 novel Firing Point by Don Keith and George Wallace. The film stars Gerard Butler and Gary Oldman with Michael Nyqvist (in one of his final film roles), Common, Linda Cardellini and Toby Stephens in supporting roles, and follows a submarine crew and a ...
'Hunter Killer': Review
US. 2018. 121mins. Hunter Killer delivers its rah-rah, macho heroics with such simpleminded sincerity that it's almost charming. A modern-day Cold War thriller in which one gutsy American ...
What 'Hunter Killer' Gets Right About Submarine Warfare
The Best (and Worst) War Movies of All Time; Hunter Killer depicts an alternate reality in which a Vladimir Putin stand-in falls victim to a well-organized coup attempt. As the situation rapidly ...
Hunter Killer Movie Review
Our review: Parents say ( 7 ): Kids say ( 3 ): This military thriller starts stiffly, and not everyone seems fully committed, but as the pieces come together, it becomes a passably tense entertainment for fans of huge explosions. Based on a novel by George Wallace and Don Keith and directed by Donovan Marsh, Hunter Killer kicks off with thick ...
Hunter Killer
An evil Russian warlord has his own people executed; we see them shot in the head from afar, and their bodies are then dumped into the water. Dead bodies float in the ocean as well. A paratrooper soldier is injured during his jump. A sailor is nearly crushed as a torpedo falls onto his body and traps him underwater.
Hunter Killer Review
Considering all the ludicrous moments in Hunter Killer, I was longing for the film to lean into Roland Emmerich-esque self-awareness. But through po-faced monologues, intense eye-acting and gung ...
Hunter Killer Ending Explained
At the end of Hunter Killer, Captain Glass makes the bold move to trust Russian Captain Andropov and together they help avoid the beginning of World War III.Directed by Jonathan Marsh and based on the novel by Don Keith and George Wallace, Hunter Killer is a 2018 movie featuring performances from Gerard Butler, Gary Oldman, Common, Linda Cardellini, Toby Stephens, and more.
Hunter Killer 4K Blu-ray Review
We reviewed the UK Ultra HD Blu-ray release of Hunter Killer on a LG 55B7 Dolby Vision 4K Ultra HD OLED TV with an LG UP970 Dolby Vision 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray player. Both above and below water, Hunter Killer's 4K image offers up superior detail, lapping up the snowy environmental nuances in the first act of the film, doing well under what could ...
Hunter Killer movie review: dead in the water
I could also Hulk out about the fact that Hunter Killer star Gerard Butler held a press conference at the Pentagon this week — was allowed to hold a press conference at the Pentagon this week — in order to promote this movie. The US military has a long tradition of supporting Hollywood as long as the movie-product makes it looks good, but I've never before heard of anything like this.
Hunter Killer Review: This Gerard Butler Submarine Thriller Sinks
Gerard Butler's lifeless submarine thriller is so dull that you'll be praying for a geostorm to show up and blow everyone off the screen. By David Ehrlich. October 18, 2018 10:43 am. "Hunter ...
Hunter Killer
Kinda feels like a throwback to those 90s action movies with submarines, special forces, and a president being kidnapped. Here's my review for HUNTER KILLER!...
Hunter Killer Movie Review for Parents
The R rating is for violence and some language Latest news about Hunter Killer, starring Adam James, Gerard Butler, and Gary Oldman and directed by Donovan Marsh. The plot is simple and the special effects are uneven, but between the gripping undersea battles and the politics in the Pentagon, there's always something to grab your attention.
Official Discussion: Hunter Killer [SPOILERS] : r/movies
Director: Donovan Marsh. Writers: screenplay by Arne Schmidt, Jamie Moss. based on the novel "Firing Point" written by George Wallace, Don Keith. Cast: Shutup Buttwad as Commander Joe Glass, commanding officer of USS Arkansas. Gary Oldman as Admiral Charles Donnegan. Common as Rear Admiral John Fisk.
Heart of the Hunter is Netflix's most-watched movie
The movie tells the story of Zuko Khumalo, a man whose mission to save his family escalates into a battle to prevent a corrupt politician from becoming President, and features critically acclaimed ...
New horror movie about killer spiders debuts to strong Rotten ...
Horror's latest spider-themed movie has landed and it's getting rave reviews, with fans calling it a must-watch for lovers of creature features. Sting, which premiered in US theatres on April ...

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