A Movie Review on “Hunter Killer” (2018)

Have you ever been put in a situation wherein you had to choose between two difficult

alternatives without knowing which of them would have been the right one? We get to see this

exact situation occur throughout the entirety of Hunter Killer (2018) which is a sort of Neo-Cold

War-inspired movie which mainly focused on an underwater face-off between an American

attack submarine and Russian forces. Here, we follow the different perspectives of various

characters who are thrusted into their own forms of dilemma as the Americans attempt to rescue

the Russian president (Alexander Dyachenk) after his Minister of Defense, Admiral Dmitri

Durov (Mikhail Gorevoy), instigates a coup d'etat. Specifically, the main protagonist,

Commander Joe Glass, which was portrayed by Gerard Butler, had to encounter hard choices

that could easily make a man act on impulse out of fear or anger. Nevertheless, Cmdr. Glass

maintains a calm demeanour throughout the movie and always chooses the route of a

humanitarian despite the pressure from orders from above to engage in a near-blown out nuclear

war. At the end of the movie, the possibility of a World War III to happen was prevented by

these three values that the main character embodied as he faced the perils of being in the

crossroad of a brink of war: 1) Open-mindedness, 2) Flexibility, and 3) Judiciousness.

Maintaining a broad perspective played a very big role in how Cmdr. Glass handled his

crew, the struggles they faced, and the enemies-turned-allies that they encountered. In real life,

when we are blinded by rage and hatred, we often tend to see things through a horse’s view and

become very stubborn. According to Jini Li, the author of Radiant Acquiescence, open-

mindedness can help a person be tolerant of the circumstances of others and avoid ignorance at

all costs (Li, 2017). In the movie, the Hunter Killer’s crew were adamant in not wanting to save

the Russian survivors in a sunken submarine because of the fact that they were enemies and also
because of the possibility that the Russian navy may be responsible in sinking one of the

American submarines before them and killing about a hundred soldiers. Cmdr. Glass, however,

was able to calmly set aside his personal feelings of loss and look past the perspective that his

crew currently had of the Russian soldiers. With this, he was able to decipher another possibility

that the Russian soldiers in the submarine were merely given orders to engage with an American

attack submarine after Cmdr. Glass and his crew were able to gain physical evidence to prove

that the Russian submarine was sabotaged from the inside. Due to Cmdr. Glass’s ability to be

more aware and open of his internal external environments, he was able to not just save the lives

of a few soldiers, but he was also able to gain temporary allies.

Being able to adapt quickly to whatever situation is a basic prerequisite to survive daily

living, and in the life of a soldier, the ability to be flexible enough to make a compromise is

given ten times more of importance compared to a normal civilian. It has always been

emphasized that once we are on the field, we should always expect the unexpected, we should

always be on high alert, and that even though we have been trained, prepared, and simulated to

know how to handle certain predicted outcomes, there will be incidents wherein we will be

thrown into an unforeseen battle. The Hunter Killer crew in the movie, as well as the four-man

rescue force tasked to retrieve the Russian president, were continuously bombarded by

unpredictable obstacles. Despite all of this, they were still able to push through and persevere,

even going as far as to sacrifice their own lives in order to ensure that their mission would be a

successful one. Being organized and being prepared will always be a good and ideal thing, but

once things start to get out of the comfort zone, we must not be trapped in a panic of trying to

follow all the preparations. When things do not go according to plan, we must always look for

alternative solutions rather than try the ones that did not work initially. In a battlefield wherein
facing the unknown is common, it is important to keep in mind that change will always be a

constant thing in the world.

It is already a given that a soldier must always have a good sense of judgement especially

those who are in a position of leadership and authority. To somewhat describe the main character

of the movie and how he was judicious is a quote from Leo Tolstoy saying, “The two most

powerful warriors are patience and time.” If one is patient enough and uses his time wisely, most

of your decisions would bring about incredibly favourable outcomes. Indeed, being brave, being

physically strong, and being willing to immediately charge into the midst of a battle can be good

things at the right place and at the right time, but patience and being wise with your time, your

forces, and your resources can tip the balance of winning or losing battle. In the film, there were

so many cases wherein Cmdr. Glass could have been overwhelmed by the impulsiveness of his

crew members, but he chose to be more patient, to be more insightful, and as a result, they were

able to successfully rescue the Russian president and prevent a nuclear war.

In conclusion, the movie is a thrilling and action-packed story that conveys the message

of always choosing peace over war. The three values that were mentioned above are core values

that we should remember when being stuck in a dilemma. As soldiers, we must be open-minded

to myriad possibilities, flexible to change, and judicious in our perception. These acts are the

bridge to connect all pioneers in the field of peace-building for a more integrated and

understanding world (Moix, 2019). Hence, in order to build a world of peace and love, we must

continue to reinforce the mind-set that choosing not to impulsively engage in acts of aggression

can save lives, and that strong and wise men know when and how to stand down.
 REFERENCES

Brovich, J., (2017). “The two most powerful warriors are patience and time” – Leo Tolstoy.
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Dukeengage.duke.edu. Retrieved June 27, 2021 from:

https://dukeengage.duke.edu/two-powerful-warriors-patience-time-leo-

tolstoy/

Li, J., (2017). Why open-mindedness is important. Radiantacquiescence.com. Retrieved June

27, 2021 from: https://radiantacquiescence.com/why-open-mindedness-is-

important

Moix, B., (2019). Choosing peace: agency and action in the midst of war. Rowman.com.

Retrieved June 27, 2021 from:

https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781786609779/Choosing-Peace-Agency-and-

Action-in-the-Midst-of-War