Tom Clancy's movies: Red October, Patriot Games, Clear & Present Danger

[Tycho]

I just watched Red October again. It's a great film. A little slower than some other subhunt films like U-571 or Crimson Tide. But Sean Connery is awesome. I was wondering how good I'd look with a beard while watching that?

It's funny, but the Cold War is drifting into our "ancient past" with time now. I mean most of that era took place before I was born and up through the time I was just a kid: 1945-1990 (or thereabouts) - with Korea and Vietnam sort of falling in there, but pretty much all before I was born.

Meanwhile, Alec Baldwin did pretty good in the movie as the young Jack Ryan. Later Harrison Ford would really make this role his own.

What did you think of The Hunt for Red October?

[Darth Jax]

hunt for red october was the best of the movie adaptations (because it's the weakest book). it also takes the fewest liberties with the story compared to the novel. connery did a good job as markos, but baldwin wasn't that great as ryan. for me the pace and action were just about the right tempo.

are you gonna include the affleck version of sum of all fears as well?

[Tycho]

I actually never saw "Sum of All Fears." I'll have to look that up on the IMDB. I totally forgot about that one. Do folks here think it's worth seeing?

[JediTricks]

I really liked Red October, it was incredibly entertaining and they knew enough to keep the action to appropriate levels instead of ramping it up the way they did with the sequels - none of which I care for. Red October plays really poorly on TV though because of how dark and murky the underwater scenes are, you need a large, high-quality image to really get the excitement out of it. I thought Alec Baldwin also played it appropriately low-key for most of the movie, subdued and thoughtful rather than Harrison Ford's angry action man.

[Blue2th]

I liked all of the above mentioned flicks I thought "Sum of all Fears" was excellent. Though some didn't like Ben (Aflack!) taking the role of Jack Ryan.

[Darth Jax]

I liked all of the above mentioned flicks I thought "Sum of all Fears" was excellent. Though some didn't like Ben (Aflack!) taking the role of Jack Ryan.

i didn't have a problem with affleck playing ryan. but for as much as they altered the storyline might as well name it something else. red october isn't bad, the rest of the movies are enjoyable for anyone that hasn't read the books. i'd definitely recommend sitting down and reading the books over any of the movies.

[Tycho]

I just watched Patriot Games and rather liked it very much - again.

There are moments when Mrs. Ryan is tied up on her car phone and Jack couldn't get through to reach her when Sean Miller was going to open fire on them that just play to very familiar fears. "What if I miss a call and it was important?" There was no more important phone call than that.

The end climax on the speedboats was very dramatic, though filmed in very dark, low visibility.

The terrorist girl with the red hair was hot. (Well she was actually a brunette). I would have loved the script to have worked in some more fantasy scenes for her

I think Harrison's performance in Patriot Games, being all out to protect his family, made him the top choice considered for The Fugitive later on, as he really shined as Dr. Richard Kimble.

Ford has actually had a few cruddy movies, but his performances as Han Solo (of course), Indiana Jones, Jack Ryan, and Dr. Kimble were each not one of them. Rather, Harrison is still probably my favorite movie star.

[Tycho]

I think I've always liked Clear and Present Danger the best. Such a good movie.

I also used to drive a white SUV and that movie made me paranoid about there being guys on rooftops with rocket launchers

There was a very complex plot to the movie with a lot of different angles and badguys - it made the whole film more stimulating on an intellectual level than a lot of movies - including the other Jack Ryan films.

Furthermore, Jack is an action hero, but he's not the guy who kicks butt and tallies up a body count like it's some video game. He's potrayed very believeably.

However, there was plenty of action, shooting, boats, helicopters, cars, and motorcycles in this flick to keep it very visually interesting. Oh - and I left off an aircraft carrier and F-18 fighter jet. Nice.