Chris Warren | Through the Shattered Lens

It’s Die Hard On A Submarine in 2008’s Depth Charge!

Dying of a brain tumor and passed over for a promotion (and wow, you thought your week sucked), Commander Krieg (Eric Roberts) and a band of mercenaries take over a nuclear submarine. They force off all of the actual crew of the sub but they somehow miss the doctor (Jason Gedrick) and an electrician (Chris Warren). The mad commander announces that unless he is sent a certain amount of money, he will launch the nuclear missiles. While the President (Barry Bostwick) dithers and an admiral (Corbin Bernsen) searches for the sub, the doctor and the electrician beat up mercenaries and work their way to the bridge.

“Get off my boat!” Gedrick growls several times.

Yeah, dude, we get it. Air Force One. Good movie.

This on the other hand …. well, let’s be positive here. This movie provides Eric Roberts with a substantial role and he does a good job as the villain, even if his motives never quite make sense. (He’s got a year to live so what exactly would he have done with a promotion or any of that money that he’s demanding?) But this movie asks us to believe that a bunch of mercenaries could not only sneak onto a submarine but also defeat almost the entire crew without a single bit of trouble. And then for submarine’s doctor to just happen to turn out to be a former boxer or UFC fighter or whatever he’s supposed to be (“He was a fighter,” a presidential aide explains) is just a bit too much of a coincidence.

That said, you get Eric Roberts, Corbin Bernsen, and Barry Bostwick, all in the same movie. All three of them deserve better but at least they all gave it their best here!

Previous Eric Roberts Films That We Have Reviewed: