The Best of the Jack Ryan Films...

Author: MovieAddict2013 from UK
18 May 2003

"The Hunt for Red October" is taken off of military-expert Tom Clancy's gripping novel. Tom Clancy has a knack for the inner-psyche of our fears. He doesn't openly thrill us, but rather opens our minds to the potential hazards in the US government. Most government/military thrillers skim the surface and gather us a few good things to make us go, "Whoo," but Tom Clancy's books make us fall over in amazement. The man has an incredible knowledge of the government and its subsidaries, and his novels show this.

His film adaptations normally make good. All four are at least good, and one of them, "The Hunt for Red October," is taut, tense, and powerfully moving. The plot of the film is fictional, but it is right out of the headlines.It is about a submarine, a Russian, and an American. It sounds like the setup for a bar-joke, but it's not.The Russian man is named Ramius(Sean Connery)who,along with his crew, takes a Soviet submarine out to the North Atlantic ocean. The sub is the best-of-the-best, with an all-new propolsion system (it's faster than other submarines), and uses advanced techniques to literally disappear off radar.

After a few days out at sea, the submarine vanishes off radar, and the Russians, frantic, tell the American government that Ramius has taken the sub to America's mainland to launch a missile attack. However, CIA Analyst Jack Ryan (Alec Baldwin) thinks otherwise. He believes Ramius is defecting to the States along with his crew. Further, he believes the Russians don't want to admit this for fear of losing their best submarine.The film is directed by John McTiernan, who brought us "Predator," "Die Hard," "The Thomas Crown Affair"  (remake) and "Die Hard with a Vengeance." All of the preceding films are very good, most of them great, and "The Hunt for Red October" qualifies as "very good."

Sean Connery gives a commanding performance as the leading character, Ramius. His second-hand-man is played by Sam Neil, faking a Russian accent very badly. But Neil is lovable in his role, despite having the worst Russian accent ever. Tim Curry joins along for the ride on the misfortuned sub as well, and Alec Baldwin gives his best performance as Jack Ryan.As much as I don't like to admit it, Harrison Ford isn't the ideal Jack Ryan for me.(ben moi j'aime bien) He differs too much from the character in the novel. Neither Ben Affleck (peu crédible dans LA SOMME DE TOUTES LES PEURS))nor Alec Baldwin take the cake, either.

But if you look past the book persona, you will enjoy the performances in all the films much more.I don't tend to like military thrillers most of the time. Most likely because they are put together sloppily on the whole. But "The Hunt for Red October" isn't sloppy, careless, nor boring. It's thrilling, exciting, and entertaining.But the book is better.4/5 stars -

John Ulmer

Fasten Your Seat Belt, Comrade

Author: Bill Slocum (bill.slocum@gmail.com) from Greenwich, CT United States
12 January 2005

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Tom Clancy is a gearhead whose books I find nearly impossible to get into. So it's a surprise to find one of his novels, adapted on screen, is not only good but as enjoyable and riveting as is "The Hunt For Red October."

Sean Connery plays a Soviet sub skipper, Marko Ramius, who at the height of the Cold War is put at the helm of his navy's most advanced creation, the Red October, a nuclear-missile carrier with a propulsion system that enables it to elude sonar. After he puts out to sea, Ramius has a letter delivered to a senior Soviet official that sends the U.S.S.R. into panic mode. The U.S. wonders why. Has Ramius gone nuts? Will the U.S. be able to stop him before he has the ability to park his missiles along the Eastern Seaboard? Or is CIA analyst Jack Ryan (Alec Baldwin) correct in suggesting another reason for Ramius's aberrant behavior?

Some have speculated this story is not completely fictional. Watching this film, it's easy to understand why. "The Hunt For Red October," on screen, moves with uncommon verity for a spy yarn. With a zest for detail and the human equation, director John McTiernan examines the inner workings not only of the Red October but of the subs, ships, and helicopters chasing it as well as the corridors of power where the fate of the Red October and perhaps the world must be decided. You get the feeling at times you are not just watching an ace popcorn thriller but sitting in on some undocumented bit of history.

The movie's chief strengths are its moody lighting, its unrelenting pace, and especially its deep bench of acting talent. Connery suggests a note of uncertainty to Ramius that keeps the audience on its toes. For the longest time, we don't know what he's up to. Baldwin plays Ryan in a very realistic way that establishes his basically gentle, bookish nature but underscores the depths of his heroism as he pursues an increasingly dangerous path no one else believes in. Scott Glenn is terrific as a crusty U.S. sub commander, while Stellan Skarsgard glowers effectively in-between cigarette puffs as a cagey Soviet. Richard Jordan, in one of his last roles, steals every scene he's in as the National Security Adviser.

There's a nice bit of business between Ryan and Jordan's Jeffrey Pelt where Ryan sticks his neck out and Pelt pounces, telling the analyst that if he believes Ramius is defecting, he should go out there and try to collect him. Pelt's no humanitarian, understand, he just wants to keep his options open: "Listen, I'm a politician, which means I'm a cheat and a liar, and when I'm not kissing babies I'm stealing their lollipops." That's the best thing about the movie. Even as it ups the ante on what's at stake, and feeds you with outlandish moments of humor and drama, the motivations of the characters, and their reactions to increasingly hypertense situations, are kept grounded in reality.

The ending comes off a bit pat, and the behavior of Capt. Ramius and his officers seems at times questionable, but the film doesn't slip in any discernible way, unless you're Russian and notice Connery's Lithuanian "brogue." In fact, it's a rare techno-thriller that not only holds up with repeat viewings, but manages to be even more exciting the more one understands what is going on.McTiernan is making a guy film here, but he does a nice job providing some brain food, too. Notice how the transition on having the Soviet characters speak Russian to English turns on the word "Armageddon," or the clever interplay between Ramius and his questioning crew. There's a lot going on here, and it makes the film worth treasuring.

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Trivia

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-During filming, several of the actors portraying USS Dallas crewmen took a cruise on a real submarine. To train for his role as the Dallas' commander, Scott Glenn was installed as a "co-commander" of the real sub. The real commander ordered his crew to first give report to him, then give the same report to Glenn. Glenn was so impressed with the commander he basically played that man in the film. Always giving orders in a calm quiet voice even in tense situations.
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-The underwater model of the Red October has never been in the water. This effect was achieved using smoke on the 'underwater' set and a few digital touch-ups. The sub was hung by 12 wires from an overhead grid which gave the ability to tilt and turn the model as needed.
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-After being faxed the script, Sean Connery initially turned the role down on the basis of the plot being unrealistic for the post-Cold War era. Whoever sent the fax neglected to include the foreword explaining the movie as historical; once he received the foreword, Connery accepted the role.
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-When the movie was first released on VHS in 1991, the tapes were red.
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-The film starts out in Russian, then switches to English in an early scene as the political officer reads the passage from the Bible. The switch occurs on the word "Armageddon", which is the same in both languages.
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-Sean Connery spent time underway aboard the USS Puffer (SSN 652) preparing for his role. He was given Commander status and allowed to give commands while underway (with the captain beside him.).
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-The scene where Jack Ryan was lowered onto the USS Dallas was filmed in the parking lot of the Mole Pier at Long Beach Naval Station on a beautiful sunny day. Editing made it look like it was the ocean.
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-Klaus Maria Brandauer was originally cast as Marko Ramius, but broke his leg prior to filming. It was Brandauer who suggested his friend Sean Connery for the role, having known him since they appeared together in Jamais plus jamais
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-$20,000 was spent on Sean Connery's hairpiece.
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-The dual-beeping sound effect of the Red October moving on the USS Dallas' sonar screen was also used in Jeux de guerre as the sound of Jack Ryan's EKG.
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-For the purposes of filming the underwater model of the Red October, only the left side of the sub was detailed to appear as an authentic submarine. The effect of showing the right side of the boat was achieved by simply turning the frame and reversing the image.
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-To help the audience quickly grasp which sub's interior they were seeing as the movie jumped from scene to scene and sub to sub, the filmmakers created a subtle lighting scheme: red for Red October, green for the Alpha class "V.K. Konovalov" and blue for Dallas.
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-The name of the frigate that rescues the Red October's crew, the Reuben James, is from another of Tom Clancy's novels, 'Red Storm Rising'.
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-At the end of the film, Ramius quotes a poem that is attributed to Christopher Columbus. According to director John McTiernan the poem was actually written for the film by screenwriter Larry Ferguson.
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-The film footage of the crash aboard the carrier is actually that of an F9-F Panther of Korean War vintage.
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-Two of the submarine captains in this film have actual Navy experience. Sean Connery was in the Royal Navy before becoming an actor. Scott Glenn spent three years in the United States Marine Corps, which falls under the Department of the Navy.
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-Coincidentally, while the real U.S. Warship Reuben James participated in the movie, it also plays a pivotal role as an escort vessel in the Tom Clancy novel "Red Storm Rising".
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-Larry Ferguson, who wrote the screenplay that the movie is based on, plays the role of COB (Chief (Petty Officer) of the Boat) on the USS Dallas.
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-Kevin Costner was originally cast as Jack Ryan.
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-"Lt. Cmdr. Mike Hewitt" is the torpedo operator on the surface ship who calls out the range of the torpedo fired on the Red October, only for it to be remotely detonated by James Greer (James Earl Jones) just prior to impact (to fool the Red October's crew being rescued on the surface). He is not referred to by name in the movie, but his character and the actor's name is listed in the credits. "Mike Hewitt" is a real person, although at the time of filming he was Captain [error] (now retired - he was Captain of the USS Fulton, a "sub-tender" ship stationed at the Naval Base in Groton, CT). He was a technical advisor on the film and they gave his name to the character as thank you.
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-Robert Garland, John Milius and David Shaber all did uncredited work on the script.
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-The crew of the U.S.S. Dallas adopted the tagline "The Hunt Is On" as an unofficial ship's motto.
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-Sean Connery joined the cast after turning down the role of The Player in Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz & Guildenstern sont morts.
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-Rip Torn was announced for this film
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-While preparing for his role in the film, Scott Glenn met the captain of the U.S.S. Salt Lake City. Glenn then composited the captain into Bart Mancuso.
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-Two torpedoes are dropped from the air at the Red October. One from a Bear-Foxtrot bomber and the other from a Seahawk helicopter. There was only one actual torpedo drop which was incorrectly reported here as: "filmed from two different angles for the attacks". By watching carefully the two sequences, played at the same time, it can be easily seen that the splash pattern around the torpedo of the second sequence is just the mirror image of the first sequence.
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-During filming in 1989, the USS Houston, which was used as the USS Dallas in the movie, snagged the tow cable between the commercial tugboat Barcona and a barge sinking the tugboat, 10 miles off Long Beach, California. One crewman drowned and two more were rescued.
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-Most of Gates McFadden's role as Cathy Ryan was deleted from the final print.
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-Due to his obligation to this film, director John McTiernan had to pass up the opportunity to direct 58 minutes pour vivre, the sequel to his big hit Piège de cristal.
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-The bible verses that Putin reads at the beginning of his conversation with Ramius come from Revelation 16:15-17.
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-Several employees that designed and built submarines from the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company (now known as Northrup/Grumman Newport News) were set design advisors for the submarine interiors on the Dallas and Red October. Some of the interiors actually contain real submarine items - mostly things like hatches, lights, etc, to add realism.
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-Director John McTiernan replaced his original editor, Peter Zinner, because Zinner found McTiernan's shooting approach difficult to work with given his classical, more traditional film background. However, Zinner has a bit part in the film as a Soviet admiral.
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-Richard Jordan was second choice for Dr Jeffery Pelt, the national security adviser. The role was first offered to an Irish actor.
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-In the opening credits, Red October is escorted by two tugs and a US Coast Guard 180 foot class bouytender, clearly seen off its starboard quarter.
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-Average Shot Length = ~7.2 seconds. Median Shot Length = ~6.9 seconds.
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-In the scene with the frigate "Ruben James", a second frigate was used during the filming. The USS Wadsworth FFG-9 was also used to depict the Ruben James. The Wadsworth's hull number 9 is clearly visible in a couple of scenes.
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-A US Navy yard oiler was used to escort the sub at the beginning of the movie. It was in Long Beach CA, and the Red October was built to look like it submerged by using two articulated barges and flooding the front one while being towed.
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-Alec Baldwin was succeeded in his role by Harrison Ford; with whom he appeared in Working girl - Quand les femmes s'en mêlent; Ben Affleck; with whom he appeared in Pearl Harbor; and Chris Pine; with whom he appeared in Les Cinq légendes.
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-It is a manly film: Gates McFadden with Louise Borras (as Jack Ryan's wife and daughter) and Denise E. James as a flight attendant have the only credited female speaking roles, and all of their dialog scenes are over before the end of the opening credits. There is an uncredited female engineer speaking in the background at Skip Tyler's dry dock and another (non-speaking) flight attendant appears at the end, but apart from that there are no other women in the film.
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-Alec Baldwin accepted the role of Jack Ryan because Harrison Ford turned it down. Cast member Sam Neill also benefited from Ford's refusal three years later, by being cast in the lead role of Jurassic Park.
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-Factual errors: The Typhoon is a NATO designated name so the Russians are unlikely to use it. The Russian name for the class is "Akula class". This is not to be confused with name "Akula class" that the NATO used to designate the Russian Project 971 Shchuka-B class attack submarine.
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-According to both Sean Connery and Peter Firth the scene where Putin is murdered was watched by high ranking Russian Goverment VIPs who were visiting the set that day.
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-The US Naval Institute, a private nonprofit professional military association located on the grounds of the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, has been publishing books and magazines related to naval strategy and maritime history since 1874. A copy of the Naval Institutes's monthly magazine 'Proceedings' is seen in Ryan's London apartment. In 1984, the USNI published a work of fiction for the first time in its history, 'Tom Clancy''s first novel 'The Hunt for Red October.'
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-Sean Connery's conversation with Sam Neill in the captain's quarters of the Red October has a similar feel as the conversation between Mr. Starbuck and Captain Ahab from Chapter 132 ("The Symphony") of Herman Melville's 'Moby-Dick'.3 Ahab and Ramius both spent forty years at sea and share the line "I widowed her the day I married her" concerning their wives.
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-The fire seen on the flight deck of Enterprise was real. It occurred on 14 Jan 1969. Enterprise was undergoing ORI (Operational Readiness Inspections) prior to going to Vietnam. The fire took the lives of 23 men.
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-Director John McTiernan was unable to direct 58 minutes pour vivre due schedule conflicts with filming Red October but returned to the series to direct Une journée en enfer - Die Hard 3. The motto of the USS Reuben James (FFG-57) which appears and is mentioned by name is "Back With A Vengeance".
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-Filming started in 1989 with Cold War still in progress but when it was released in 1990, the Soviet government announced that the Communist party no longer was in charge of everything. Producers found this obstacle irrelevant and went on with the release but using a disclaimer telling that the story takes place in 1984 (same year Tom Clancy's novel was published) during the Cold War.
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-The ship escorting the Red October out of port is the USCGC Blackhaw (WLB-390), a buoy tender stationed in San Francisco California at that time.
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-The frigate shown when the Red October surfaces is not the real USS Reuben James, an Oliver Hazard Perry class frigate with hull number 57. USS Gary, hull number 51, portrayed Reuben James and also provided some of the engine room shots of Red October. The crew also participated on some scenes.
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-À la poursuite d'Octobre Rouge was released in March 1990, just as Major League Baseball was entering spring training. Lou Pinella and the rest of the Cincinnati Reds used this movie all season for motivation and swept the Oakland A's in the World Series that October.
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-The body count of this movie is debatable because of the sinking of the V. K. Konovalov - the Alfa class submarine was intended to be operated by a crew of only 30 - 32 (all Commissioned Officers) but in actual deployment would mostly have some 23-24 officers, as well as 4 petty officers and a cook on board. Apart from the crewmen of the Konovalov, the count is five: - Victor Putin, the political officer, the pilot and navigator of the F-14 crashing onto the Enterprise, Red October XO Vasilij Borodin, and cooks assistant/saboteur Loginov.
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-Navy recruiters set up booths in some theater lobbies for people to sign up to join the service, or to at least look into it.
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-Jack Ryan mentions that he wrote a book about Adm. William F. Halsey. This is appropriate, as Ryan is also a professor of military history at the U.S. Naval Academy, as shown in Jeux de guerre.
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-USS Reuben James (FFG-57) was commissioned 22 March 1986 and decommissioned 18 July 2013.
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Director Trademark
John McTiernan:  [teddy bear]  Jack Ryan takes a teddy bear home with him at the end of the film. McClane has one at the start of Piège de cristal (it's the same bear).