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In the dark, cold waters near North Korea, a disaster awaits a US Navy fast attack submarine a hideous stealth submarine attacks it resulting in the sinking of the vessel while murder of the Executive Officer and Engineering Officer, Tom Palatonio. The vessel’s captain, Commander Burt Habley, Palatonio’s lover, gets a Naval Inquire’s court-martial. Habley is saved from this tragedy when he is designated to an underground mission of tapping the North Korean underwater communication cable. Commander Habley’s mission simultaneously is to conceal the boat and crew from the phantom submarine while completing the objective. Habley assumes that they have started being followed and alters the vessel towards the open waters for the mission. This action has an adverse effect as it puts him against the new Executive Officer who follows the book. Surprising to them all, with assistance from the mission special teams including Palantonio’s sibling, CLaire Trifoli, the new Executive Officer takes command of the sub as Habley is proved correct. The crew has now been assigned to the task of neutralizing the vile enemy before they eliminate the navy fleet and Habley.
As well as being very entertaining, “Tides of War” is a queer action film. It is just like “Deadly Skies”, another action film, in the sense that it gets so queer that you could take out a scene or two, change a line or two and VOILA! it is a movie about a heterosexual Commander! In fact, this film was released under at least two different titles, curated for the respective audiences. This was originally ridiculed as the launch film for Here! and the LGBT TV Network, but they ran out of money. So they hired the Japanese who wanted to make yet another submarine action flick, only they did not want the “gay” stuff in there. So just like my feelings towards “Deadly Skies”, I both enjoy this film because the fact that the main characters are homo is not central to the story, but equally, I dislike it because it so easily gets scrubbed off the gay content. But as far as an action film? It’s actually pretty decent! I do love Submarine movies because they are quite highly dramatic and put people in unusual situations away from any outsider.
Consider incorporating an undiscovered phantom sub that is assaulting submarines as tension escalates between North Korea and the US, there is a lot of drama and action to keep you on the edge of your seat. The film does have its shortcomings, however, as this queer action movie does. It was made during the height of the US military’s notorious “Do Not Ask, Don’t Tell” period of the 1990s to early 2000s, and even though the US Navy did not permit filming on the bases or ships, Tides of War does portray the US Navy and their submarines and boats. I would suggest that you check it out, even though Tides of War has a TV Movie vibe to it. Especially if you like submarine action movies or want a better idea of what life was like for gays during the DADT timeframe. Just temper your expectations.
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