Due to mistakes he made during his service, involving the deaths of six of his past crew in a collision and fire, this will be his last assignment and his only opportunity to command any ship at all.

Demi interrupts a party involving his crew, including Alex Kozlov, his up-and-coming executive officer headed for great success.

He explains that the United States military has started a secret program called "Dark Star" that will make the United States invulnerable to the Soviet Union's nuclear weapons, and he and his fellow operatives fear for the safety of their homeland if its nuclear deterrent is rendered useless.

Demi, Kozlov and the loyal crew plot and execute a plan that eventually takes back the ship and alerts another Soviet submarine that they are in distress.

From the nearby dock, Demi's wife and daughter praise his actions while Alex, now a captain, salutes the sub, paying respects to his former commanding officer.

[4] Richard Roeper gave the film 2/4 and praised Harris's acting while criticizing the film around him, saying: "Harris delivers a nomination-worthy performance in a movie with a throwaway title, an abundance of closeups that provoke unintentional laughs, a few bizarre supernatural touches and one of the loopier endings in recent memory.

"[5] The New York Times panned the film calling it a "cold war howler" and "a yarn of unpardonable monotony.