Black Sea (2015) - 6/10 (Liked it)
An underwater salvage expert (Jude Law) and a ragtag skeleton crew of Brits and Russians take a rust bucket submarine to find a sunken Nazi U-boat beneath the Black Sea that supposedly holds a fortune in gold, but things do not go smoothly. It takes a little bit of time to get going, but it has some good drama and a twist or two. It's a bit different than your usual submarine movie, since there's no global conflict going on and no torpedoes (but, of course, they do approach crush depth; it's simply not a submarine movie without maxing out gauges and springing leaks). The majority of the conflict comes from between the crew. The plot may be a bit implausible, but not really any more so than most thrillers of this style. Jude Law has to carry the film by himself and does a pretty good job. The Russians in this actually speak Russian, which helps the authenticity. Overall, it isn't memorable or exceptional in any way, but it's a solid thriller to fill a couple of hours.
Phantom (2013) - 6/10 (Liked it)
Set during the Cold War and inspired by a real incident, a Soviet missile submarine goes missing and almost starts a war. It has the look of a slightly higher budget film than Black Sea, thanks to slightly better cinematography, effects and star power. It stars Ed Harris, David Duchovny, William Fichtner and Lance Henriksen (in a small role), and the performances are pretty good, especially from Harris. The problem, and this is the biggest issue with the film, is that all of these American actors play Soviets without bothering to do even the slightest of accents. This is exacerbated a bit by the make-up, hair and wardrobe units not making much effort to make them appear Soviet, either, as well as by frequent comments about "the Americans" (which feels odd coming from American actors who sound American). It's all awfully immersion breaking. If you can manage to look past that, though, it's a pretty decent thriller. It's a bit silly in places, but the overall plot is interesting. It reminded me a lot of a cross between The Hunt for Red October and Crimson Tide, just without the same energy, tension or soundtrack. Those are two of my favorite submarine films, and though this isn't nearly as good, I liked it. It's also a lean 95 minutes long. If you're a sucker for submarine movies and can look past the American accents, you may find it a worthwhile watch.