THE FILM:

The trailer for Black Sea had an almost supernatural vibe, so I was disappointed when Kevin Macdonald's (The Last King of Scotland) film turned out to be a slow-to-start drama. Set aboard a scavenging submarine, Black Sea is led by a scraggy Jude Law, who plays a salvage captain in search of Nazi gold thought lost on the seabed near the country of Georgia. Things take almost an hour to get rolling, and most of the tension involves the feuding British/Russian crew. There are some nice underwater dive sequences and a bit of deep-sea peril to keep things interesting. Macdonald shepherds an appropriately gritty cast, and Black Sea is passably entertaining if not especially memorable.

Recently divorced and freshly fired Robinson (Law) learns from a friend of a friend that a daring crew stands to make millions recovering gold bars from a German U-boat wreck. He agrees to lead the expedition, which is backed by a shady banker (Tobias Menzies) and supervised by that man's underling, Daniels (Scoot McNairy). The half British, half Russian crew is immediately at odds over stakes in the find and control of the submarine, and the Russians begin bullying the youngest Brit, Tobin (Bobby Schofield). An accident damages the sub and sends the warring parties to opposite ends of the vessel, and Robinson is tasked with both finding the treasure and making sure someone is alive to retrieve it.

Macdonald is a strong, utilitarian director with a good eye for natural talent and a knack for shooting adventurous dramas. His films are not flashy, but they make the nuts and bolts of life seem interesting. Black Sea is really a study of cultural unrest, and many of the early minutes are spent watching the crewmembers bicker and scheme, which is only sporadically entertaining. The Russians are relegated to the back burner, and Black Sea treats them with an ambivalence similar to that displayed by the fictional British crew. Law, with his fast-receding hairline and cigarette-loved teeth, at least looks like a down-and-out salvage captain, and his character's indifference for the crew is palpable.

Drowning or being burned to death in a submarine sounds terrible, and Black Sea dangles said fates effectively a time or two. A couple of crewmembers leave the submarine to board the U-boat in an efficiently nerve-wracking sequence. You already know what is going to happen, but it stills chills the blood. Black Sea might have left me more impressed had the gears been put in motion a bit more quickly. The breathe-out payoff is not necessarily worth the extended exposition before, and none of the characters is especially compelling. Black Sea is a decent heist/submarine thriller/character drama hybrid but nothing more.

THE BLU-RAY:

PICTURE:

Universal cranks out another winner with this sharp, highly detailed 2.40:1/1080p/AVC-encoded transfer. The neon glow of the onboard instruments never hides the terrific fine-object detail and texture, and the inky blacks of the darkest corners never crush. Skin tones are accurate, colors are nicely saturated and every drop of water, splash of blood and rolling instrument dial is visible. I noticed minor aliasing but nothing else of concern.

SOUND:

The 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio mix faithfully recreates the immersive soundtrack, which has all the expected trappings of a submarine thriller. The sub's metal hull bends in the rear speakers, an explosion rocks the subwoofer, and voices echo around the sound field. Dialogue is without distortion, and the musical score is rich and nicely spaced. English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles are available.

PACKAGING AND EXTRAS:

This two-disc set includes the Blu-ray, a DVD and codes to redeem UV and iTunes digital copies. A slipcover replicates the uninspired cover artwork. The Commentary by Director Kevin Macdonald is good, and he provides interesting insight into casting, filming on a relatively low budget, and shooting on location. A Dive Into the Black Sea (5:15/HD) is a throwaway EPK piece.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

This is neither the best submarine thriller nor the best heist movie on the market, but Kevin Macdonald's Black Sea is decent entertainment. Jude Law leads a salvage crew on a hunt for Nazi gold, and tensions rise aboard a crippled submarine. The requisite deep-sea thrills come after a lengthy build-up that tests the patience. Rent It.

William lives in Burlington, North Carolina, and looks forward to a Friday-afternoon matinee.