Soviet Submarine Captain Marko Ramius takes heads for The coast of Maine in his undetectable Submarine, his aim, defection. Assigned to sort out the delicate situation is Jack Ryan.
I have just finished Tom Clancy's fantastic novel, and I wanted to see the film while the story was so fresh in my mind. A writer with an almost perfect ability to write captivating political/military thrillers, this remains one of his best.
Despite being a fairly long film, it moves on fairly quickly, it is very well paced, and packed full of atmosphere. It truly is a remarkable game of chess, an almost mirror image of the cold war itself, with one side trying hard to counter the other.
It's tense, it's gripping, there is a real feeling of claustrophobia in that Submarine. Production values are truly great, it is still a fantastic looking film, the team clearly went to great lengths to achieve real accuracy.
There are some very meaningful moments, I particularly enjoyed the scenes where Captain Borodin and Ramius discuss their view of The American dream, it's a great scene.
Powerhouse performances from Sean Connery and Alec Baldwin, the pair are terrific, Baldwin takes some beating as Ryan. A tremendous supporting cast with Sam Neill, Joss Ackland and Tim Curry to name but a few.
I think Das Boot remains my all time favourite Submarine movie, but this is not too far behind it.
A War with no battles.
9/10.
The Hunt for Red October
1990
Action / Adventure / Thriller
The Hunt for Red October
1990
Action / Adventure / Thriller
Plot summary
A new technologically-superior Soviet nuclear sub, the Red October, is heading for the U.S. coast under the command of Captain Marko Ramius. The American government thinks Ramius is planning to attack. Lone CIA analyst Jack Ryan has a different idea: he thinks Ramius is planning to defect, but he has only a few hours to find him and prove it - because the entire Russian naval and air commands are trying to find Ramius, too. The hunt is on!
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A captivating movie.
Seen it 8 times -- and it never gets old
Let's talk about some of the things that make a movie a classic.
Acting? Check. Just look at the stars.
Script? Check. Based on book by Clancy back when people read books (and dinosaurs walked) and Clancy OWNED his niche.
Cinematography? Direction? That it takes place on a sub means it is distinctive and memorable from the getgo. Something about the claustrophobia of a submarine reflected in the claustrophobia of a movie theatre.
Most of important of all is the pacing. There are few films that I have seen this many times and the reason is that the story builds so beautifully. With such a great payoff. Story telling at its finest. So tricks, so attempt to sucker punch the viewer, not even any pretty girls to distract from the weak scenes. Because there are none.
A classic. And under-rated.
Still as Good the 10th Time You See It
The best techno-thriller ever made, and the best of the Tom Clancy adapted-novel movies, 'The Hunt For Red October' is nearly perfect.
Director John McTiernan successfully translates Tom Clancy's first book to the screen, taking his 'Die Hard' expertise to an even higher level of film art, and we get the privilege of climbing aboard a ride that begs to be ridden over and over again. McTiernan is (arguably) the all-time best action-thriller director, and this is his overall finest film.
Red October is full of memorable scenes and lines, from the opening scenes to the closing credits.
The cast is headlined by Sean Connery in one of his best and most memorable film roles.
Alec Baldwin sails on Connery's wake, and similarly puts forth one of his best roles in film - no small feat is following in Harrison Fords footsteps as the original big screen Jack Ryan. Baldwin pulls it off, creating his own younger version of Jack Ryan that fits this story well.
James Earl Jones is back in the role he seems born to play of Retired Vice Admiral / CIA Deputy Director James Greer - Hard to imagine anyone else in the part.
Scott Glenn, Sam Neil, Courtney Vance, Richard Jordan and Fred Thompson all superb in critical supporting roles. If the entire ensemble cast didn't work synergestically in the close quarters setting inherent in submarines (most of the scenes were actually filmed aboard a sub), the movie would have sunk... It sailed perfectly, and bravo to all