The Hunt For Red October

In my continuation from my Patriot Games review, I am returning to my Tom Clancy reviews and watching its origins. Without this movie, Harrison Ford would not have the job he had with Patriot Games. This movie started the Jack Ryan Franchise in the 90s and to think it was all started by Alec freaking Baldwin. 

So what do I think of The Hunt for Red October?

This... is a long movie.

I don't think I ever understood the fascination with submarine stories, this and Crimson Tide never really made sense to me. I understand the symbolism of it, in that the Cold War was a sluggish standoff similar to a waiting game in a submarine. However, this lends itself to a really slow and really sluggish plot.

The Hunt For Red October follows the story of Jack Ryan, CIA analyst and Professor of Naval History at the US Naval Academy. He gets word of a Russian submarine called the Red October headed towards the United States. At first its a security concern because it has the capability of being able to not be detected.

The Captain of the submarine, Marko Ramius actually has the intention of defecting to the United States from the Soviet Union. He creates a plan to get him and his officers to the United States and defect.

Jack Ryan discovers this plan and needs to convince the Navy that Ramius is not intending to attack the United States and instead to rendezvous with the submarine and help them defect. That is the short explanation.

Like I said... Its a long movie!

Lets get one thing out of the way. Yes Sean Connery is a Russian Captain, and No, he doesn't have a Russian accent. Is it hilarious? Yes. Does it take away from the movie? No. Marko Ramius is an awesome character and Sean Connery brings it. There's a reason this movie always has Connery on the poster and not Baldwin.

Marko Ramius and his second in command, played by Sam Neil have a great conversation about how they are looking forward to seeking asylum in America and settling down in Montana and Arizona. But they're also vigilant as hell and know exactly when is the time to be commanders and when its time to dream about their lives after all of this is over.

He's also a commander during the Cold War. No Russian is going to unquestionably trust the American military and vice versa, so until the moment where they are on the same deck, Ramius is always suspicious and cautious. But at the same time, he's got this plan devised to the second.

Overall, Sean Connery is the highlight of the movie. Who cares if he doesn't speak with a Russian accent, I'll believe that Russia hired a Scottish Captain and now he's defecting just to see more of Sean Connery in this role.

And Alec Baldwin as Jack Ryan... well there's a reason Harrison Ford took on the role.

Baldwin isn't horrible in the role. He's clever and there is a cool dynamic between Connery and Baldwin. Now I think Harrison Ford and Connery would have been a better dynamic... if not a... father and son dynamic... like The Last Crusade.

Anyway, Baldwin is alright in the role. But he's not a really deep character. Lots of the background of his character is explained by others and the majority of his actions are focused on the task at hand. The main time he excels is the last act of the movie.

And that's really where the movie picks up. When there is finally a confrontation between American forces and Russian forces, that is when the movie gets really good and it starts to pick up.

And thats what really saves the movie. The first act of the movie was really slow. The movie is over two hours long and you feel it. Its very similar to Patriot Games in that its very dense with a good payout. I think that I liked Patriot Games a little bit more only because Harrison Ford is amazing and they do a little bit more of development of Jack Ryan, but The Hunt for Red October is still a solid movie.

So that's my review of The Hunt For Red October. Hopefully, I'll be reviewing A Clear and Present Danger soon, but until then have you seen this movie? What did you think? Where does it place in the Jack Ryan series? Comment and Discuss Below.

I'll leave you with this. Did you know Sean Connery was in The Avengers? Sort of. There was a movie called the Avengers that had nothing to do with the Marvel comics. Connery played the villain and produced one of the weirdest scenes ever put in a movie. Here it is. Enjoy!