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The Hunt For Red October

post #1 of 19
12/15/03 at 6:48pm
Thread Starter 
I'm just barely catching up on flicks I bought the past year. This has regretably been sitting under the stairs in the dvd bookcase for an age. I am a bad bad person now that I reflect upon that. First time for me seeing it in its entirety. Other times, I only caught maybe one or two parts (the Russian singing their anthem, and alec being dropped off onto the Dallas).

This movie is a classic. It knocked my socks off from start to finish. Everything about the story unfolding flowed just as well as the tale weaved in Smoke Signals, another movie that doesn't miss a narrative beat. Weirdly enough, I thought I knew the ending to this bad boy but I think I may have mixed things up with a Next Generation episode, or something.

The cast made this movie.

I'm not really a huge fan of Baldwin at all, but this movie has changed it. There wasn't a weakness at all during his performance as Jack Ryan. I never thought I was looking at the actor himself, every little bit of him was his character. I like Harrison Ford and all, but I wonder what Alec could have did had he been in the other two follow ups to October.

The rest of the cast, god damned they got lucky with all the other sons of bitches onscreen. Connery, great; Sam Neil, great even if not used enough; James Earl Jones, his chemistry with Baldwin was super despite their brief scene together; Skaarsgard, liked him in Unreal Tournament better, but he was good here as well...I could go on and on, but nearly every person in the movie made it all the better.

My only gripes? The dated score really. There were a few moments I found myself laughing at some seemingly inappropriate cues. Not even the slightly dated special effects took me out of the movie, it stood up to the sands of time.

This dvd roars with DTS. Though newer flicks like U-571 and that Harrison Ford one are louder and more expansive, the sound track held up...I liked the various moments you could hear off screen things occuring...even if they didn't seem as natural. Picture wise, it could have been a little cleaner, but what it got wasn't bad at all.

I'll have to make an appointment and see if the commentary track is any good. If not, I can just turn it off and watch this baby again.
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post #2 of 19
12/15/03 at 7:02pm
"You've dropped enough sonobuoys, that a man could walk from Greenland to Iceland to Scotland, without gettin' his feet wet."

Love this film. Love the book. Love the genre. Possibly the best Clancy adaptation so far. Great opening shot. Great casting job - even Alec Baldwin is able to shine through in this company. Props to the Russian engineer dude, always cleaning a part with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. McTiernan kicks ass. Another great non-english to english translation scene. It's the last of the great cold war movies I suppose <sniff>.

"Yah, yah."
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post #3 of 19
12/15/03 at 8:25pm
You're right, this movie kicks ass.


Love the opening scene. I could watch it over and over.

I also like the scene where the sub is rapidly rising and almost "jumps" out of the water and the Russian crew points and says "the Captain is scaring the Americans out of the water" or something like that.

Love the scene where Baldwin impersonates Connery.

I think Harrison was right for Patriot Games, but I wish Baldwin did Clear and Present Danger.

I hear that they are making Red Rabbit for the next movie.

I wish the would have went through with the Without Remorse movie that they had going a couple of years ago. Clark is the man!
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post #4 of 19
12/15/03 at 10:11pm
I only got to see this all the way through recently as well but I loved it. I think Baldwin is still probably the best Jack Ryan (Ford is the worst...oh yeah that's right I've just gone there, Ford was the worst one) but the only thing that annoyed me the most is Connery and his frickin' accent.

"Lishen Comrades"

I think I would've preferred it if they had written the character as Scottish but who was in the Russian Navy or something.
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post #5 of 19
12/16/03 at 2:27am
I'll take Ford as Ryan over Affleck anyday. This is one of my favorite films. Another great McTiernan film as well. Baldwin has never been better than he was here. When I saw Pearl Harbor for the first time last August I was blown away how horrid he was as James Doolittle. It made me want to throw in Hunt again to wash that pathetic performance away. This is just a brilliantly crafted film in opinion. It all comes together perfectly and peaks at all the right moments. I mean shit even Jeffrey Jones is brilliant here. Robert Jordan's little moment with Ryan after Ryan's smackdown of that general is classic. This film up and down the line is a thing of beauty. I was gonna buy the new dvd with the McTiernan commentary a few weeks back but it was out of stock
Great to see this terrific film get some love.
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post #6 of 19
12/16/03 at 9:27am
I meant the second dvd Paramount released. You know the one with the new anamorphic transfer and McTiernan commentary?
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post #7 of 19
12/16/03 at 11:23am
Quote:
Originally posted by Del Griffith
I wish the would have went through with the Without Remorse movie that they had going a couple of years ago. Clark is the man!
I'm glad they didn't do this before Sum. Willem Dafoe just didn't do it for me as Clark, but now with Liev Schreiber in that role, I think it would be a great movie.
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post #8 of 19
12/16/03 at 3:10pm
This movie remains one of my all time favorites. I have seen it too many times to count, atleast 30 times I'm guessing. It is quite an amazing movie, made from quite an amazing book.
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post #9 of 19
9/28/10 at 9:48pm
Haven't seen this film in years, but the main theme playing on the movie soundtrack net radio channel I listen to here at work inspired me to seek out this thread, and I now I really feel nostalgic and want to give this another spin.

This film was the first movie I saw more than once in the cinema. My pocket money was finally upped to a half decent level when I was thirteen and this film blew me away so completely I went and saw it 3 times at my local theatre. I was already a huge Connery fan at the time as well as a Tim Curry and James Earl Jones lover, but this film cemented my love for Alec Baldwin, Sam Neill and Scott Glen into the bargain. It's only reading this thread that I've made the connection that Tupelov was played by a young Stellan Skarsgård (duh).

Just a brilliant, gripping political thriller from start to finish, easily the most successful Clancy adaptation yet put to screen (frankly the rest leave me pretty cold) and the third in what I have to consider as one of the great directorial hat tricks of all time from Mr.McTiernan. God damn was that man on fire from '87 to '90.

As was mentioned earlier too, this was definitely the last great cold war film as well - and a great send off for the sub-genre.
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post #10 of 19
9/29/10 at 12:08am
Quote:
Originally Posted by David Manning
Now, if they can just get around to making RED STORM RISING before the Red Army completely rusts away.
There's not a budget big enough for that one. And trying to get a through-line in script form would make L.A. Confidential look like a Bronte novel.
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post #11 of 19
9/29/10 at 12:12am
I still get goosebumps when the Russian soldiers sing their national anthem.

"The singing, sir?"

"Let them sing."

Probably in my all-time Top 30. So many great actors doing amazing work here, from Baldwin and Connery (despite the accent) down through Glenn and Neill and Skarsgard. When this shows up on pay cable, I put the remote down and watch. Simple as that.
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post #12 of 19
9/29/10 at 6:43pm
Love this, too.

You know what never gets praised? Connery's hairpiece. It's outstanding. Seriously.

Hunt is also one of those rare occasions where an adaptation surpasses it's source. While I dig the novel a lot (it's in Clancy's top three), the film streamlines much of the second and third act into a much tighter and effective narrative. In the novel, Ryan is dropped aboard the Red October (not the Dallas), deals with the KGB saboteur, then the Dallas arrives and they deal with the other Russian sub. In the film, Russian sub attack occurs simultaneously with the final showdown with the saboteur.
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post #13 of 19
9/29/10 at 9:29pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jefelee View Post
Love this, too.

You know what never gets praised? Connery's hairpiece. It's outstanding. Seriously.

Hunt is also one of those rare occasions where an adaptation surpasses it's source. While I dig the novel a lot (it's in Clancy's top three), the film streamlines much of the second and third act into a much tighter and effective narrative. In the novel, Ryan is dropped aboard the Red October (not the Dallas), deals with the KGB saboteur, then the Dallas arrives and they deal with the other Russian sub. In the film, Russian sub attack occurs simultaneously with the final showdown with the saboteur.
That ending had me gripping my cinema seat so tight I nearly tore it off at thirteen. The way McTiernan builds the tension overlaying one scenario over the next - first the Dallas crew enter the Red October, then the saboteur attacks and needs to be hunted down, THEN Tupelov turns up AND THEN the Dallas joins the fray.

Then we get the epically great punchline "Andrei, you've lost another submarine?"

My god at thirteen it was just about the best shit ever. No wonder McTiernan had nowhere to go but down after that.
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post #14 of 19
9/29/10 at 9:36pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by The Rain Dog View Post
My god at thirteen it was just about the best shit ever.
It's still pretty great at 36.

Quote:
Originally Posted by The Rain Dog View Post
No wonder McTiernan had nowhere to go but down after that.
Yeah, but the guy once made PREDATOR, DIE HARD and RED OCTOBER back to back to back! Talk about an amazing run.
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post #15 of 19
9/29/10 at 10:50pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jefelee View Post
Hunt is also one of those rare occasions where an adaptation surpasses it's source. While I dig the novel a lot (it's in Clancy's top three), the film streamlines much of the second and third act into a much tighter and effective narrative. In the novel, Ryan is dropped aboard the Red October (not the Dallas), deals with the KGB saboteur, then the Dallas arrives and they deal with the other Russian sub. In the film, Russian sub attack occurs simultaneously with the final showdown with the saboteur.
If I remember correctly, the book comes right out and says Ramius is defecting, while the film leaves some doubt until the moment Ryan is standing on the Red October. Granted, it's Connery, it's hard to believe he's gone rogue and is going to nuke the US, but they at least attempt to keep it ambiguous.
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post #16 of 19
9/29/10 at 11:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by The Rain Dog View Post

My god at thirteen it was just about the best shit ever. No wonder McTiernan had nowhere to go but down after that.
It was the best then, and still is to me.
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post #17 of 19
9/29/10 at 11:51pm
Every time I watch this I curse Baldwin's name for letting the franchise go to Harrison Ford. In HFRO, Ryan's an actual character with a definite humanity. And the supporting cast...fuck yeah.

It's also, as has been said above, perhaps the textbook example of the film far surpassing the source material. Clancy's novel is incredibly clunky, and at times nearly impenetrable. McTiernan & Co. took the beating heart of the story and gave it great visual presentation.

"Today we sail into history!"
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post #18 of 19
9/30/10 at 12:24am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Richard Dickson View Post
If I remember correctly, the book comes right out and says Ramius is defecting, while the film leaves some doubt until the moment Ryan is standing on the Red October. Granted, it's Connery, it's hard to believe he's gone rogue and is going to nuke the US, but they at least attempt to keep it ambiguous.
Gotta be honest Rich, between Ramius sending the letter to his father-in-law outlining his intentions, to his announcing to the crew what he's done, to the scene where he and Borodin sit and talk about what they want to do once they reach America, I don't really see the ambiguity.

I always felt the tenseness came from whether the Americans would believe Ryan that he was defecting rather than the audience.
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post #19 of 19
10/7/10 at 7:31pm
Great movie. Yeah, no ambiguity about Connery's intentions. I wash Baldwin hadn't let the success go to his head. Ford was an ok Ryan, but Baldwin brought an energy and humour that Ford mostly lacked.

The Russian-English switching scene was very effective. VALKRYIE did a similar thing. As I understand it the audience is hearing English but you're supposed to imagine the characters are still speaking Russian, or German in Valkriye. Works well.
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