Azorian: The Raising of the K-129 (2011)
In 1968 the Soviet ballistic missile submarine K-129 sank in the Central North Pacific. American intelligence located it within weeks of its demise. The CIA crafted a secret program to raise the submarine in 1974. Now after much secrecy, this story can be told, by the men who made it happen and with never-before-seen footage of the actual salvage attempt, and new evidence of the project's successes and failures.
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Too much of everything
Absolutely Fantastic
It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional
This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.
I loved this story on all levels, as an engineering achievement, as a fan of submarine spy antics, and as a general US-USSR Cold War saga. The engineering feat of building a ship to lift a sub in that depth of water, alone, is unbelievable.
In 1968, Soviet submarine K-129 sank in the middle of the Pacific with three advanced nuclear missiles. The Americans hear the explosion through a series of sea-floor listening devices that are designed to hear underwater nuclear tests. The Soviets have none of that advantage and hopeless to locate the wreck. By 1974, the CIA has located and photographed the wreck. The President approves a daring secret CIA operation called Project Azorian. That's when the secretive Howard Hughes' role become invaluable.I write this review because I remember a documentary about Hughes' Glomar Explorer doing underwater mining. It is one of those incidences that proves that conspiracy theorist aren't alway wrong or crazy. As a kid, I bought it hook, line, and sinker. This documentary itself is rather dry but informative. It covers all the technical aspects.
Wow. Such a great documentary. Fantastic visual recreations of the unfilmable. Incredible old photos found and shown. Phenomenal interviews and insights with the players. All done with skill and pacing that keeps you on the edge of your seat dying for more. The subject matter is beyond exciting for the history or naval or Cold War buff. The awe about what the US was able to accomplish, with the amazing mustering of government, private industry, and simple individuals, feels great. I can't praise this highly enough. I'm at a loss as to why this isn't more widely known. I happened to find it by chance one night and started the stream with no intention to sit for 2 hours. Some of the best movie experiences come from that scenario.
I suppose this documentary aired on PBS in the last year but apparently it is not well known as this is the first review here on IMDb. I thought it was outstanding and should be of interest to any cold war history fan, submarine fans and especially to any engineering project geeks. It reminds me most of films about the building of things like the Hoover Dam or the Brooklyn Bridge. The story is about the attempted recovery of a Russian submarine that went down in 1969 in the center of the Pacific by the Americans. The Americans knew the location but the Russians didn't so there was the secrecy issue but mostly the incredible engineering involved makes for a very compelling story.