Back when men were men and Russia was still the major part of the Soviet Union, some manly men on both sides were convinced that the only way for their country to survive the destructive power of the other was to develop a weapon so overwhelming that it could be used while sustaining only minimal damage to itself. Fortunately for us all those men never got a chance to test their fever dreams.
Released in 1990, The Hunt for Red October was a fictionalized version of what mighted have been, if the Soviets had developed a nearly undetectable submarine engine and built a huge MIRV launching system on top of it. Since this is an American made movie, from Tom Clancy’s first huge hit novel, the captain of this first strike weapon is a man perfectly suited to defect.
Sean Connery is Ramius, the iron man running this show, the senior captain of the Soviet nuclear submarine fleet, and he takes the Red October out on its first cruise, with Sam Neill as his number two who dreams of Montana’s open skies and a fat round American wife. Alec Baldwin (replaced by Harrison Ford and then Ben Affleck in later flicks) is American intelligence analyst Jack Ryan, the man who figures out what Connery’s up to. Scott Glen is Bart Mancuso, the American sub captain tailing the Soviets out onto the open seas, and he teams up with Ryan to enable the plan.
Directed by John McTiernan, a top action man, Hunt is an excellent thriller that marches through twists and turns better than Connery’s sub does through the ocean bottom. The first two thirds are filled with the separate races Ryan and Ramius run just to meet up and the final act notches the tension tighter through several false endings. The cinematography and editing are totally sharp.
I’m not writing this well. It’s a holiday, so cut me some slack.
recommended
BillSaysThis 