The Hunt for Red October (1990)

Absolutely loved it. It has Tom Clancy written all over it, and you could tell how good he is as a writer. Sean Connery does an amazing job.Brilliant stuff!

Sean Connery stars as Soviet Union submarine captain Marko Ramius in this action film, a story about Ramius captaining his country's newest sub but violating Russian orders, heading for the United States instead. As a result, U.S. officials attempt to track down the sub and discover the captain's true intentions.Though this is an action film, much of the movie's entertainment and intrigue stem from the built-up tension, character development, and suspense - from Alec Baldwin's Jack Ryan character trying to help the U.S. sub communicate with Captain Ramius to the subject of defection and warfare. The film has an all-star cast including Connery, Baldwin, James Earl Jones, Sam Neill, Scott Glen, Tim Curry, Stellan Skarsgård, and Fred Thompson. Their spot-on acting demonstrated a good mixture of drama and humor.The plot is well-paced and keeps you entertained from start to finish. It's a good movie that captures the tensions of the Cold War during its time. Grade A

'The Hunt for Red October' is a solid production all round. The cast is excellent, the script and writing very good, the whole film is constructed in a very effective way and it has no problem building suspense. It's one of those films that is very difficult to fault, yet doesn't leave much of an impression. Solid and effective but quite unremarkable and dare I say forgettable.It's a strange one when you sit through a film, seemingly enjoying it in the moment, only to feel underwhelmed on reflection. The only explanation I can think of for why I feel that way about 'The Hunt for Red October' is the somewhat bloated running time. While the film is effectively suspenseful and never in danger of becoming boring, maybe it would have been more viewer friendly if it hadn't exceeded the two hour mark.

Just by their very nature, submarine movies have that tension filled, claustrophobic atmosphere that usually guarantees putting viewers on edge. This one had a bit of a twist; unlike classics like "Das Boot" and "The Enemy Below", the rival sub commanders aren't in a life and death battle against each other. One thing you need to be prepared for is seeing Sean Connery in the role of a Russian (actually Lithuanian) military commander, so in effect he's fighting for the other side so to speak. Except he's not. His goal is to defect to the West with a newly designed Typhoon Class Russian sub with a silent propulsion system, making it virtually undetectable to other submarines.I don't know anything about submarines, but I have to acknowledge that the picture had a pretty impressive opening scene when it displayed the immensity of the Russian vessel. The picture gets into gear fairly quickly with Captain Marko Ramius (Connery) going rogue and killing the Soviet political operative assigned to the sub. The guy's name was Putin, and if the movie were made today, I'm pretty sure that name would have to be replaced by something else, seeing as how the Russian President might take offense.The story line creates intrigue with the back and forth political dealings between American and Russian officials, the Russians suggesting that the rogue captain of 'Red October' is of a mind to launch a nuclear missile strike against the U.S. In a real life situation, I fail to see how a Jack Ryan would ever be able to convince the Joint Chiefs of Staff that the Commander was about to defect instead, but the story line here makes it seem credible enough. I haven't read the Tom Clancy novel, but my understanding is that the book places these situations in a much clearer context.Anyway, this is a fairly good thriller with a competent cast. Things get especially tense at the finale when the Red October suffers a radiation leak and has to surface to ventilate. Boarding it, the Americans have to help Ramius thwart a sabotage attempt, a scene in which Tom Clancy's perennial hero Jack Ryan (Alec Baldwin) rises to the occasion.