My kids and I were at FNAC in Geneva, our usual place for basic audio, video, and computer gadgets, when we stumbled upon this film. I did a quick search on IMDb and it seemed like maybe, just maybe, it could be a decent French production. Aside from Louis de Funès comedies, which I really enjoy, I haven't found much to like. It ended up being a massive letdown, though. I should have done more research. For example, the fact that those “critics” at Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 100% rating should have been a warning sign. Or perhaps the vague and unhelpful description of the movie itself. It’s like buying a car from someone who describes it as "a cool car." I used to be really into submarine simulators, especially those set in World War II, so I guess I got taken advantage of. To begin with, the movie's basic idea—once you start watching, that is—doesn’t make any sense. One missile hits French territory, it’s assumed to be nuclear without much proof, and France decides to retaliate while the missile is still in the air. Seriously? That’s something North Korea would do, not a civilized nation. Even though France currently has what I consider to be the worst president in modern history, I'd still say it's a civilized country. Then the movie starts with some “action,” and we immediately see that the writer doesn’t know anything about military procedures, strategy, or… well, anything. A nuclear submarine surfaces, the captain—the actual CAPTAIN—goes up into the conning tower and fires a handheld SAM at a helicopter sent from a nearby destroyer. Oh, and he forgot to take the safety off on his first attempt. The destroyer doesn’t do anything during this whole thing. You've got to be kidding me? After that, the movie spends a lot of time with the main character feeling sorry for himself and being treated unfairly by those above him. It became pretty boring at that point. The only positive aspect is that the superior officers are actually the most capable characters in the film. When the action finally picks up again it’s… well, just as ridiculous as before. Completely unbelievable and totally unrealistic. Even President Macron would, I hope, realize that a nuclear strike can't be called off so easily. And when things finally come to a head, for some reason, the “enemy” submarine has all sorts of countermeasures while the “good guys” don’t launch any. As I mentioned earlier, the writer is clueless. It’s just an incredibly bad movie. That's it!

Source on TMDB