SAINT PETERSBURG -- Russian submariners whose story forms the basis of the latest Hollywood blockbuster "K-19: The Widowmaker" are angered at what they see as the movie's portrayal of them as "a bunch of alcoholics and illiterates."

Released in the United States Friday and starring Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson, the film depicts the dramatic events aboard the Soviet nuclear submarine K-19 in July 1961 when eight seamen had to intervene, at the cost of their lives, to prevent a meltdown in the Atlantic.

After reading the scenario, some of the men involved at the time said they felt insulted. Kathryn Bigelow, the director, "promised us we'd be portrayed as heroes, but we're shown as a bunch of alcoholics and illiterates," said Yury Mukhin, 71, a former lieutenant-commander. "We don't look like sailors so much as pirates."

Bigelow and Ford travelled to Russia last year to meet some of the K-19 seamen. But for Mukhin, "We felt insulted after reading the screenplay, it was nothing like the reality."

The story of the K-19 is well-known in Russia as one of self-sacrifice, the eight seamen venturing into the sub's nuclear section to avert the ultimate disaster knowing full well that the dose of radioactivity they would receive was bound to kill them. But for the Russian veterans, the film was "full of swear words" and "disgusting and unrealistic scenes."

They were offended in particular by the portrayal of an officer drinking secretly when alcohol is banned on submarines.

Igor Kurdin, a former frigate captain and president of the Veteran Submariners' Club in Saint Petersburg, was less critical of the film, having attended part of the shooting in Canada.

"This is not a film about the Russians but about the way the Americans see Russians," he told the daily Izvestia.

The film's distributor in Russia, Georg Nersesyan, quoted by the Interfax News Agency, said one percent of the proceeds would be donated to the K-19 survivors and the widows of those who died.

The film will probably be released in Russia in the autumn, he said.

In November 1969, while on exercises in the Barents Sea, it collided with a U.S. submarine, the Gato.

The last and most deadly incident occurred in February 1972 when a fire broke out at depth of 120 meters (400 feet) under the Atlantic, causing the death of 28 seamen.

The K-19 was finally scrapped in 1991.