Tides of War

Synopsis:

In the cold, dark waters off North Korea a U.S. Navy fast attack submarine meets with a mysterious disaster – it’s attacked and nearly sunk by an ominous stealth submarine resulting in the deaths of the Executive Officer and the Engineering Officer, Tom Palatonio. The sub’s captain, Commander Burt Habley, who was also Tom’s lover, faces a court-martial by a Naval Board of Inquiry. He’s rescued from this fate when he’s chosen to lead a top secret mission back to tap a North Korean underwater communications cable. Habley must protect his boat and crew from this phantom submarine while completing a successful mission. His instincts tell him they’re being followed and he begins to navigate the sub away from the original mission and into open waters drawing the phantom sub away from the U.S. fleet. This puts him at odds with his new by-the-book Executive Officer who eventually, with the help of the special missions team including Tom’s sister, Lieutenant Claire Trifoli, takes command of the submarine and navigates back on course just as they are attacked again. Validated, Habley and his crew come together to defeat this dangerous enemy before they can destroy them or the fleet.

Quick Thoughts:

“Tides of War” is an interesting queer action film. Just like a similar action film, “Deadly Skies”, it’s so queer that you could remove one or two scenes, cut a couple lines – and miraculously it’s about a straight Commander! In fact, this film was released under at least two different titles, curated for the respective audiences. Initially panned as the launch film for Here!, and LGBT TV Network, they ran out of funding. So they brought in the Japanese who were looking for a submarine action film – but didn’t want the “gay” content. So just like my feelings towards “Deadly Skies”, I both enjoy this film because the fact the main character is gay is not a crucial part of the plot, but equally I disklike it because of how easy it is to erase away the gay aspect. But as far as an action film? It’s actually pretty decent! I actually enjoy submarine films because they usually are rather dramatic and put everyone into unique situations outside the help of any outsiders. Throw in a mysterious phantom sub that no one knew about but is attacking submarines as tensions increase between North Korea and the US, there’s a plenty of action and drama to keep you hanging on. Unfortunately, this queer action film has a couple flaws. Because it was filmed during the height of the US military’s infamous “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, and even though “Tides of War” features the US Navy and their submarines, boats, etc, the US Navy did not permit any filming on the navel bases or ships! Even though “Tides of War” has a TV Movie feel, I recommend giving it a watch. Especially if you enjoy submarine action films or want to get a glimpse of what being gay was like during the DADT timeframe. Just don’t expect too much.