Phantom (I) (2013)

William Fichtner: Alex

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Quotes 

• Bruni : Your father was Nikolai Zubov. Commanded the 1st Submarine Brigade of the Baltic Fleet.

  Demi : That's right. Make your heading 1-7-5.

  Bavenod : 1-7-5, aye, sir.

  Bruni : This man's father wrote the book on submarine warfare.

  Pavlov : The legacy of the captain's family is very well known throughout the Navy.

  Bruni : Awarded a "Hero of the Soviet Union" for sinking the Kriegsmarine ship Goya during the war. Do I have that right?

  Alex : Gentlemen, we're in the middle of operations.

  Demi : He was decorated, yeah.

  Bruni : Sent 6,000 miserable Wehrmacht and Nazi sympathizers to the bottom of Gdansk Bay. If the acorn doesn't fall too far from the tree, our captain should be able to dodge a Yank sub or two.

• Alex : I'm always surprised it isn't harder to leave than it is.

  Demi : We all go the same way on a boat, I guess. You don't find that ashore very often.

  Alex : It's a sickness.

• Alex : Our replacements have no personal records. Name, ranks; that's it. Except for Bavenod, the navigator. He was on the K-27 when she had the reactor coolant leak.

  Demi : Yeah, I know the K-27.

  Alex : Did you know that he's listed among the dead?

  Demi : More precision from Squadron Command. I've heard they'll shoot people just to keep their paperwork straight.

  Alex : Sailors are superstitious. It's easy to spook a boat.

  Demi : Well, Bavenod better not tell anyone he's dead, then.

• Demi : You'd better take a look at this.

  Alex : [taking an envelope and removing the contents]  Listen up. We're to return to sea.

  Yanis : What?

  Alex : Take the ladies.

  Tyrtov : [the women with them are ushered away]  Take-take-take them. We're supposed to have three months back, not-not-not three weeks.

  Sasha : Captain, I'm getting married to Nadya.

  Demi : Say your goodbyes quickly and without explanation. You have until 1400 hours.

• Sonar Operator : Conn, surface contact, 11,000 meters, bearing 1-9-5.

  Demi : Very well. Classification?

  Sonar Operator : Big and slow. Probably a merchant.

  Demi : Five degree left rudder.

  Alex : [relaying the order]  Five degree left rudder.

  Bruni : Stop the drill, Captain.

  Demi : Why?

  Pavlov : 'Cause our orders require us to take tactical advantage of the testing opportunities for the classified onboard equipment.

  Bruni : Captain, I need you to put us under that ship.

  Alex : We have men below.

  Bruni : Then you should get them out.

• Pavlov : These are technicians from the Special Projects Institute. They'll be joining us on this cruise.

  Alex : They're testing some kind of prototype equipment.

  Demi : Have you ever been to sea before?

  Bruni : Oh, we've spent some time on ships, yes.

  Alex : Skimmer's a vacation, Mr...?

  Bruni : Bruni.

  Alex : Mr. Bruni. This ship barely accommodates the 86 men required to sail her.

  Bruni : We'll try to stay out of your way, then.

  Alex : Yeah, good luck with that.

  Demi : Mr. Pavlov will show you to your berths. Stow your gear. We'll sail with the tide.

  Bruni : Captain. It's good to see you again.

• Pavlov : Noisemakers blind the Americans, but they blind us, too.

  Alex : Captain, entering the thermocline.

  Pavlov : The temperature inversion reflects American sonar, so they won't be able to hear us.

  Garin : Won't they follow us?

  Demi : They'll pick a bearing and make a guess. Their chances are 1 in 360.

• Alex : I didn't think you could go backwards from a diesel, but we're gonna need an archeologist just to start this thing. Look at this thing. I mean...

  Demi : She was my first boat. We share a lot of history. Markov wanted me to have her last sail.

• Demi : What's on your mind?

  Alex : I think our technicians are OSNAZ commandos.

  Demi : Yeah, it looks that way.

  Alex : OSNAZ are KGB radicals. True believers and trained assassins, among other things.

  Demi : Which is why I don't want any of our crew getting between them and whatever the hell it is they're doing.

• Alex : [watching the Phantom being installed]  What do you think that is?

  Demi : That, Mr. First Officer, is the shortest distance between here and your own command. You haven't gone unnoticed by Fleet, Alex. You're gonna get an atom smasher. Markov told me himself. So we'd do well not to screw this up.

• Alex : [reading their orders to the crew]  From Squadron Commander Vladimir Markov: "To the crew of B-67: proceed south to patrol box Lima-Foxtrot and monitor American naval activities. When conditions permit, commence systems testing of classified equipment for operational readiness, maintaining alert status. Returning to Rybachi on or about June 6th." This is the executive officer.

  Demi : Greg, you may post the orders in the enlisted men's mess.

  Pavlov : Aye, sir.

  Alex : [as Pavlov leaves]  What conditions?

• Demi : Navigator, plot us a course for blue water. We're going deep.

  Bavenod : Aye, sir.

  Demi : Who the hell are you?

  Bavenod : Bavenod, sir.

  Demi : Where'd Command scrape you up from?

  Bavenod : I came off a November.

  Demi : Really?

  Alex : You traded a nuke for a smoker?

  Bavenod : I heard the best crews in the Navy sail diesels. I wanted the chance at one before they're all gone.

  Alex : [sarcastically to Demi]  You see? Dreams do come true.

• Demi : Panamanian flag. Tanker.

  Bruni : Good. She can't shoot at us, then.

  Demi : No, but she can report our position.

  Bruni : Put us beneath her keel. You can do that.

  Alex : The noise from her screws will blind us, Captain.

  Demi : [picking up the radio]  Engineer, time on the batteries?

  [getting a response of 30-35 minutes] 

  Demi : All full ahead. Make your depth 30 meters. Put us in her wake.

• Alex : Maybe you'd like to tell us what we're risking 86 lives for?

  Bruni : [placatingly]  Hey, hey, hey...

  Pavlov : For our patriotic duty, Mr. Kozlov.

• Pavlov : You realize this is supposed to be your patrol.

  Alex : Well, if it was supposed to be mine, I'd be the captain.

  Pavlov : Well, as far as we know, the Party already knows about this and wants to see how you perform under pressure.

  Alex : Oh, yeah? How am I doing?

  Pavlov : That man has a nuclear firing key.

  Alex : And you and I have the other two.

  Pavlov : Captain Kozlov...

  Alex : [pushing him against a bulkhead]  If you're ready to relieve the commanding officer of a Soviet ballistic missile submarine, your captain and your friend, because he fainted... then you go right ahead. I'll be in Sonar.

• Bruni : Why are we slowing?

  Alex : We've had contact with an American sub. Tommy, come right full rudder.

  Bruni : Surface the ship and start the diesel engines.

  Alex : Why would I do that?

  Demi : Yeah. Why would he do that?

• Bruni : Put us under that ship.

  Alex : Sir... we don't know who that is.

  Demi : Mr. Bavenod, plot an intercept for that ship. Put the moon on our stern.

  Bavenod : Aye, Captain.

  Alex : Sir...

  Demi : Level the boat. Make our depth ten meters.

  Alex : [relaying the order]  Level the boat, depth ten meters.

  Demi : We'll take a look before we get any closer.

  [to Bruni] 

  Demi : If that's all right with you.

• Pavlov : [after Demi has a seizure]  He just collapsed.

  Dr. Semak : It's all right.

  Pavlov : What's wrong with him?

  Alex : [coming in and shutting the door]  He's epileptic.

  Pavlov : He's epileptic?

  Dr. Semak : Yes, from a brain trauma years ago. Only happens once or twice a year.

• Pavlov : [learning Demi is epileptic]  If it gets back to the Party that we knew about his condition... we could be spending the rest of our careers scraping paint.

  Alex : I'm not gonna tell 'em.

• Sonar Operator : It's a skipjack, sir. And he's going someplace in a big damn hurry.

  Alex : Have they seen us yet?

  Sonar Operator : I don't think so. She's moving too fast to hear anybody, that's for sure.

• Sonar Operator : [as the Phantom is engaged]  What the hell are we doing?

  [an alarm sounds] 

  Sonar Operator : Son of a... conn, sonar. American is turning to intercept.

  Demi : Battle stations.

  Alex : Battle stations. Aye. Rig for battle stations. This is not a drill.

  Demi : Rear torpedo, stand by on tubes five and six. Sonar, conn. What's that ship doing?

  Sonar Operator : She's falling in behind us, sir.

  Demi : Has she opened her doors?

  Sonar Operator : Not yet, sir.

  Demi : You ever start a war, Mr. Bruni? Because if she even blinks, I'm gonna put a fish into her. Any ROE I need to know about before I sink this son of a bitch?

  Bruni : That's "rules of engagement."

  Pavlov : I know what an ROE is. Any hostile action may be with force at your discretion.

  Demi : Well, at least we agree it's hostile.

• Pavlov : [after the Phantom is tested]  So the Americans thought they were following the Panamanian tanker.

  Bruni : Yes.

  Garin : We've turned their own technology against them.

  Pavlov : Perfect countermeasure.

  Bruni : Any ship equipped with the device becomes a phantom. Soon, we'll have acoustic signatures from ships all over the world. The Americans will run in circles.

  Alex : Our engines were running. We were making noise, too. Besides, the strength of a sonar echo is directly proportional to the size of a ship. And, uh, we're not exactly a freighter.

  Bruni : The Phantom magnifies the echo, making us appear any size we want.

  Bruni : The genius of the algorithm is how it makes us invisible to active sonar and enables us to mask ourselves as any ship we like. We should all be very proud of what we've accomplished here today, gentlemen.

  Pavlov : [raising his drink]  To the Phantom.

• Pavlov : I suppose you think it's sporting to embarrass me in front of the KGB.

  Demi : It wasn't personal, Greg.

  Pavlov : Why did you feel the need to say so?

  Demi : You give me a direct answer, and I won't have to guess at what you mean.

  Pavlov : What was the question?

  Demi : If you agree we should report to Fleet.

  Pavlov : What are you worried about? This is an historic moment.

  Demi : Well, nonetheless, as officers of a ship that could trigger the end of the world, I think we should consider all scenarios.

  Pavlov : What scenarios?

  Alex : If the Americans can't track us with all their money and technology... then our boats can't track us, either. It means it wouldn't be hard to alter the purpose of this ship.

  Pavlov : So you're saying they're some rogue Spetsnaz force?

  Demi : I'm saying a message from Fleet would answer a lot of questions.

  Pavlov : Well, as political officer on this boat and as your friend, it's my duty to tell you that if you even imply treasonous intent of elite KGB officers without proper evidence or cause, you will be put up for charges of misconduct of the Code of Military Justice.

  Demi : Sometimes a man has to pick a side, Greg.

  Pavlov : Well, then you should pick wisely. Because if you're wrong... this will haunt you and your families... for the rest of your lives. And it won't matter who your father is.

  Alex : [Pavlov leaves]  Well, that was uncalled for.

  Demi : It's not his fault. He was trained to fear everything.

  Dr. Semak : Yeah, still, I think we should take him at his word.

  Demi : How so?

  Dr. Semak : OSNAZ don't work for the military or the central government. Their orders come from the most zealous elements of the KGB. They can destroy you, Demi. They can destroy all of us.

• Demi : Radio, conn. Prepare to send microburst transmission.

  Bruni : Our orders are to proceed to our patrol box.

  Demi : Well, as soon as we make our position report and confirm our orders, we'll do that.

  Garin : Sending a transmission will alert the Americans of our position.

  Alex : 50 meters.

  Demi : Continue. You can turn your gadget on and we can run away again. We seem to be pretty good at that.

  Bruni : The Phantom device can't mask a radio broadcast. Our mission objectives would be compromised.

  Demi : What are our mission objectives?

  Pavlov : To remain undetected, of course.

  Alex : We have countermeasures, procedures to ensure our stealth. 30 meters, Captain.

  Demi : Continue.

  Bruni : This is an unacceptable risk.

  Demi : Protocol dictates encrypted progress transmissions are sent to Fleet Command at predetermined waypoints.

  [Pavlov begins to argue] 

  Demi : Are you saying something to me?

  Pavlov : You have authority to make status reports at your discretion.

  Demi : In a time of war, yes, I do. You know something I don't?

• Bruni : Stop the ascent.

  Demi : Continue.

  Pavlov : Stop the ascent, Captain!

  Demi : Mr. Pavlov, if you contradict me again, I'll have you chained to the forward head.

  Alex : Ten meters.

  Demi : Stand by for microburst transmission.

  Bruni : I can't allow you to do that.

  Demi : Officer of the deck, escort Mr. Bruni to his cabin and lock him to his bunk.

  Garin : [cocking a pistol]  Somebody dive the boat or I'll shoot the captain.

  Alex : Dive the boat. Bow planes 20 degrees down.

  Pavlov : Gentlemen, I'm sure if we let the captain think...

  Demi : I don't have anything to think over.

• Bruni : Dmitri Zubov is an epileptic who uses drugs and drink to medicate his neurological malady. The result of a brain injury he sustained when he collided with Vladimir Markov's boat... killing how many sailors?

  Garin : 36 injured. Six lost souls. All on this very ship.

  Bruni : You also boast one of the lowest scores to ever come out of the Officers Training School. Well, you don't deny it, anyway. The real mystery is how you were never run out of the Navy altogether.

  Alex : And I'm sure you're going to tell us why.

  Bruni : Pedigree, influence, and advanced skills in bribing duty officers, ship surgeons, and political officers.

  Demi : That's a lie.

  Bruni : So much shame, you tried to take your own life, but even at this you failed. But I'm sure you knew all that.

  Alex : No, actually I didn't.

  Bruni : Those of you who wish to remain in the service of your country may stand your posts. Those who do not may join your captain in a court martial. What about you, Mr. First Officer? Your loyalty in exchange for a hero's welcome home and your first command?

• Demi : We need to disable the warhead.

  Alex : They can't launch without the codes.

  Demi : They have the codes. I'm sure of it.

  Alex : We can navigate the ship through the bilges.

  Demi : Is Tyrtov with you?

  Alex : He's right here.

  Demi : He knows that warhead better than anybody. Can you rig a transmitter?

  Yanis : Aye, captain.

  Demi : Quietly. Listen, if we can rearrange the firing triggers, we should be able to create a single-point detonation. It'll still launch, but it won't start a nuclear explosion. Maybe.

  Alex : Well, I can't argue with "maybe".

  Tyrtov : It's possible.

  Alex : This ship's full of OSNAZ. We need to get to the weapons lock-up. It'd be best to take back the boat than to test a theory.

  Demi : Can you get below decks?

  Sasha : We can do that.

  Demi : Yeah, roger that. Get back to me.

• Demi : Do you have any authority for doing this? Secretariat, the Central Committee, anyone?

  Bruni : Politicians have no stomach for anything but self-preservation.

  [indicating Pavlov cowering on the ground] 

  Bruni : This man proves that.

  Demi : What's our target package?

  Bruni : We will create the conditions necessary for our leaders to seize absolute...

  Demi : What's the target?

  Bruni : The Pacific Fleet at Midway. Once the Phantom is engaged, and the Americans are fooled into believing that the Chinese launched a nuclear strike against them, they will have no choice but to retaliate. We will step aside as our enemies destroy each other. We will emerge on the right side of history.

  Demi : [spotting Alex and Bavenod]  You give me no recourse.

  Bruni : Recourse for what?

  Demi : To take back my ship.

  Alex : [coming in]  Drop your weapons.

  Bruni : Mr. Bavenod.

  [Bavenod turns his gun on Alex] 

  Bruni : [taking Alex's rifle]  Contingencies, Captain. You didn't think I was gonna leave you alone to plot our defeat, did you?

  Garin : [seeing a panel light clicking]  They're trying to get to the missile.

• Alex : Salt water's in the battery deck.

  Demi : Get into the egress suit.

  Alex : If I'm going to die, I'm going to do it here, with my crew, with you.

  Demi : Listen to me. Gubin's up there somewhere. You're the only chance we have for... a rescue. Or to explain that this was the work of madmen. Not our country. Not these men.

  Alex : If the Americans find me?

  Demi : Tell 'em everything.

  Alex : And if the missile detonated?

  Demi : Then it'll be a beautiful sunrise.