Plans for a Hollywood submarine film starring HARRISON FORD and LIAM NEESON have been slammed by the survivors of the real-life tragedy that inspired it.

Survivors of the disaster - one of Russia's worst submarine tragedies - are so furious at the script for the movie they held a news conference in Moscow on Friday (02FEB01) to protest. K-19: THE WIDOWMAKER is based on the real-life events on the K-19 nuclear submarine 40 years ago which ultimately claimed 28 lives.

Survivors of the accident were initially enthusiastic about the project, even meeting Harrison Ford in person when the actor paid a visit to Russia a few months ago. But according to Russia's independent NTV television, the mood changed when the survivors saw the film's script. The report claims, "Even the untranslated copy provoked unpleasant feelings among the survivors: in the script one comes across the words 'vodka' and 'drink' almost more often than the words 'sea' or 'submarine'. "When they saw the translation, they decided to do all they could to stop this film from seeing the light of day." The sub's navigator, VALENTIN SHABANOV, claims the script portrayed him and his comrades as "technically ignorant drunken morons". (MCM/WNWCCB)

Source: WENN