Today we look back at two Michael Dudikoff starring submarine flavoured actioners from the 90s – Crash Dive and Counter Measures. They are both very similar movies and I wonder why Dudikoff would have agreed to do both, but I imagine it was for the paycheck. Anyway, let’s take a look at both movies and see which is better.
Crash Dive (1996)
Plot: When the American submarine “Ulysses” responds to a distress call, the Yugoslavian refugees they take onboard turn out to actually be Middle Eastern terrorists, led by Richter (Reiner Schone). They threaten to destroy Washington, D.C., using the sub’s nuclear capabilities if they do not receive $100 million in gold. Former Navy SEAL James Carter (Michael Dudikoff), now a submarine designer, is brought in by Adm. Pendleton (Frederic Forrest) to sneak aboard the ship and defeat Richter.
Crash Dive stars Michael Dudikoff as James Carter, a former SEAL sent to rescue hostages from a hijacked submarine; Dudikoff is as appealing as ever making for a lead we can root for (even if his kid is a bit annoying).
I wasn’t aware so many people hated this movie until recently as I’ve always enjoyed it for what it is. Reiner Schöne makes for a fun villain as (See you at the Party) Richter and he gets a rather awesome bad guy death too.
The film has enough fight scenes packed into the 90 minute runtime and the finale gets relatively tense. Admittedly, it isn’t anything new and is essentially Die Hard on a Submarine but I adore my Die Hard clones and this ticks the boxes for me. It’s predictable and you can see some of the twists and betrayals coming from a mile off but sometimes I just enjoy a straightforward actioner.
I really liked the music score too which was heroic and militaristic sounding which suits the tone of the film.
There are plenty of other, better submarine action movies out there and yet I still have a soft spot for Crash Dive despite its flaws.
Overall, Crash Dive isn’t anything new but I love my Die Hard clones and I’m a fan of Michael Dudikoff; the movie has several fight scenes and a cool bad guy death to make it an easy if unremarkable watch.
Counter Measures AKA Crash Dive 2 (1999)
Plot: When an elite Russian Nuclear Submarine carrying a doomsday weapon is hijacked, a submarine demolitions expert and the USS Springfield are deployed to obliterate the terrorists’ plan, and the sub, in a frantic race against time.
Also known in some places as Crash Dive 2, Counter Measures is pretty much the same movie to Crash Dive with Michael Dudikoff once again facing off against terrorists who have taken over a submarine. If I were Dudikoff I’d probably just avoid submarines in the future as they seem quite perilous for him.
It’s business as usual with our villain Petrov (James Horan) taking control of a Russian sub known as The Odessa with plans of firing 6 missiles in order to reignite the cold war. Sadly for Petrov he underestimated the medical officer AKA Capt. Jake Fuller (Dudikoff) who came on board with Lt. Swain (a rather badass Alexander Keith) who plan on stopping Petrov from completing his mission.
Counter Measures is another straight to video film and doesn’t quite have the budget for anything especially memorable (like a decent script) but Dudikoff and Keith make for a fun pairing and there’s enough action in the 90 minutes runtime to keep things moving. I’m pretty sure some of the submarine action scenes were stock footage or from other movies but we do at least get regular fight scenes and a couple of decent kills.
There isn’t much you’ll give too much thought to after the film is over and like Crash Dive there are better movies like Crimson Tide or The Hunt for Red October you could watch instead but this still makes for a diverting 90 minutes and I love watching Dudikoff taking out the trash.
Overall, Counter Measures is basically a retread of Crash Dive but it lacks any memorable dialogue and is generic stuff we’ve seen before; it’s hardly terrible tough and has enough action and fight scenes to keep most old-school action fans happy.
Verdict
For me neither film is a classic but I do think Crash Dive is superior with a bigger budget, fun one-liners and plenty of action; I don’t think Counter Measures AKA Crash Drive 2 is awful either, so it would make for an entertaining double bill of submarine-themed chicanery.
