Denzel Washington He remains one of the most solvent Hollywood stars of recent decades. Even today, at his 69 yearsit is very rare that he is not right in his characters and on specific occasions he is especially inspired, both in films with a more artistic vocation and in others more focused on the commercial. Today we have to focus on one of the second group, more specifically on ‘The Red Sea‘ (‘Crimson Tide‘, 1995).
It is well known by all that Tony Scott He was a director with whom Washington felt very comfortable, to the point that the actor led the cast of his four of his last five films, including the excellent ‘Man on Fire’, 2004 ). ‘Marea Roja’ was their first collaboration and the magic did not take long to emerge to shape one of the best action thrillers of the 90s.
Someone who contributed their grain of sand to make ‘Red Tide’ a classic of Hollywood cinema was Quentin Tarantinowho uncredited rewrote the film’s dialogue. Unfortunately, His work was not liked by Denzel Washingtonwho complained about his job for “racist dialogues added to the script“This dispute lasted for several years until, in 2002, the actor contacted the director of ‘Pulp Fiction’ to make peace.
This is how Washington remembered it in an interview with GQ in 2012:
“I buried the hatchet. I contacted him ten years ago. I said, ‘Look, I apologize.’ You have to let it go. Are you going to deal with that for the rest of your life? He seemed relieved.”
Un thriller impecable
However, this confrontation between the two stars remains a curious anecdote about this gem of submarine cinema. The story focuses on the dispute that arises between the characters of Gene Hackman y Denzel Washington when it comes to whether a Russian threat justifies launching nuclear missiles.
Dialectical confrontations, riots and high tension are some of the ingredients that Scott enhances to carry out a memorable thriller that also pays special attention to its characters (probably Tarantino’s fault). And be careful, Washington and Hackman are the big stars, but on board the USS Alabama we can also see Viggo Mortensen, James GandolfiniSteve Zahn, Matt Craven or George Dzundza, among others.
The first-class entertainment that ‘Marea Roja’ offers helped it become a great success with the public, achieving a worldwide box office collection of 155 million dollars (its cost had been only 53 million dollars). It is never a bad time to (re)see it, that is why we suggest you see it hoy and, if you don’t have it at home, you can find it streaming through Disney+.
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