Phantom

Phantom is a 2013 American submarine thriller film about a Soviet submarine during the Cold War in the 1960s. Todd Robinson wrote and directed the film. It stars Ed Harris, David Duchovny and William Fichtner. The film tells the story of a Soviet Navy submarine captain attempting to prevent a war. It is loosely based on the real-life events involving the sinking of the submarine K-129 in 1968. Plot Captain Dmitri "Demi" Zubov is a veteran Soviet Navy captain finishing up a career that failed to live up to the legacy of his legendary father. He is given an assignment by Markov to lead a top secret mission and given the command of his old ship. Due to mistakes he made during his service, involving the deaths of six of his past crew in a collision and fire, this will be his last assignment and his only opportunity to command any ship at all. Demi interrupts a party involving his crew, including Alex Kozlov, his up-and-coming executive officer headed for great success. However, as Demi leaves his home to lead Alex and his crew on the secret mission, the presence of a KGB contingent led by agent Bruni, and ominous portents, begin to alter the objectives of the mission, causing Demi and Kozlov to become concerned. Furthermore, Markov commits suicide at his office window while watching the submarine depart. Demi and Kozlov are wary of Bruni and his men and soon discover his mission: to use a device known as the Phantom to alter their ship's acoustic signature to make them appear to be a civilian merchant vessel, or a number of other ships. After a demonstration, Demi questions Bruni about the device and the mission's objectives. Soon after, Bruni's men hold Demi at gunpoint. Bruni eventually reveals to Demi that he and his comrades are rogue operatives and not here under orders from the Soviet government. He explains that the United States military has started a secret program called "Dark Star" that will make the United States invulnerable to the Soviet Union's nuclear weapons, and he and his fellow operatives fear for the safety of their homeland if its nuclear deterrent is rendered useless. Their plan is to start a nuclear war between the United States and China by disguising the ship as a Chinese vessel and launching a nuclear missile at the American Pacific Fleet off Midway.