In the mid-Eighties, shortly before the Reagan/Gorbachev summit, there was a minor collison off the US East Coast between a snooping Soviet submarine and the US sub on its tail. The damage was thought to be minor - until fire broke out in the Soviet sub's missile bay... The majority of the action in this apparently fact-based drama takes place on the Soviet vessel, as Captain Britanov (Rutger Hauer) and his crew battle to prevent the missiles firing off and protect the nuclear reactor room from the advancing flames while, aboard the US sub, the commander (Martin Sheen) tries desperately to work out what the Soviet sub is up to. There's plenty of knife-edge tension, credibly done, and Hauer gives an authoritative and sympathetic performance as the Soviet captain. Not quite in the class of Das Boot, but still fascinating stuff.

©ipc tx. Film content from TVTimes