The Hunt for Red October (1990)

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Powerful

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

"The Hunt for Red October" is a superb thriller that's just in time for the end of the Cold War and the USSR. When Tom Clancy wrote his first novel, "The Hunt for Red October," in 1984, no one could foresee the collapse of the Soviet Union. Certainly not within just seven years. But, when this movie by the same title and based on Clancy's best-seller was made in March 1990, the demise of the USSR had just begun. Talk about fortunate and opportunistic timing. Had the movie been delayed another year or two, it would have been after the collapse and likely would not have drawn as much interest. But one could not find a period of more attention and higher interest for a film such as this than during the first months that the Iron Curtain began to crumble. The Berlin Wall collapsed in November of 1989. Soviet bloc countries began to seek their independence. Within three months of this film's release (May 1990), the first free election of the Soviet Federative Socialist Republic took place. By Dec. 25, 1991, all the former member states of the USSR had gained independence. And, on that day, Mikhail Gorbachev resigned as leader of the USSR, thus ending its existence. The recently elected Boris Yeltsin was now the sole leader of the new republic of Russia. It's worth recounting these events from history for considering the significance of this movie. Because a few decades down the road, when there will be little memory left of the Soviet Union, there should always be a reminder of what it was. And beyond that time, when only the history books will have accounts of the USSR, this movie will remain as a testament of the time and the world threat of global warfare that existed because of the USSR. Perhaps it may have a future role in helping to divert major warfare between nations. This is a superb film, based on a superb book. It's a tremendous military thriller of the Cold War period. The craft put into the movie is outstanding -- from a first-rate cast to sets, props, submarine design and reconstructions of the Neptune class Soviet sub, photography, direction, etc. Here are a couple of favorite lines from the film. For more dialog, see the Quotes section under this IMDb Web page of the movie. Marko Ramius, "A little revolution now and then is a healthy thing, don't you think?"Jeffrey Pelt, "Listen, I'm a politician, which means I'm a cheat and a liar, and when I'm not kissing babies I'm stealing their lollipops. But it also means that I keep my options open."

Movie Review: "The Hunt for Red October" (1990)The very first Tom Clancy (1947-2013) Hollywood movie adaptation is a rocking blast of a motion picture.Director John McTiernan fully focuses on bringing the essence of an 387-page strong novel from 1984 to the screen, righteously turning down the job at "20th Century Fox" concerning "Die Hard 2" starring Bruce Willis.Thanks to leading actor Sean Connery as Russian submarine Captain Ramius and sublime supporting cqst from Sam Neill, Scott Glenn to James Earle Jones as U.S. Admiral, "The Hunt for Red October" is motion picture entertainment throughout.Actor Alec Baldwin pushes pencils and envelopes as soon-after iconic character of C.I.A. clerk turning operative Jack Ryan gets his moments of suspense in central usually interior meeting room ambience.Then Jan de Bont as director in charge of photography, including magnificient intense submarine interiors, when Hollywood major "Paramount" gratefully thanks producer Mace Neufeld of creating a modern action-thriller classic.Copyright 2018 Cinemajesty Entertainments LLC

The Russia House (1990) Plot In A Paragraph: In November 1984, Marko Ramius (Connery) the Soviet Union's best submarine captain in their newest sub violates orders and heads for the USA. Is he trying to defect, as CIA analyst Jack Ryan (Alec Baldwin) says or has he lost his mind and is about to start a war??I thought this was brilliant when it was first released. Now less so, I fell asleep the other night watching it, and at times, I was even bored this time around.The Movie is filled with a great cast, all in important roles, with important things to say. Of these, Sam Neil, Tim Curry and of course James Earl Jones are the best. Scott Glenn, Joss Ackland, Stellan Skarsgard and Arnold Schwarzenegger's friend Sven Ole Thorsen are here too. Baldwin may be my least favourite Ryan, he is just dull and lifeless, and worse ridiculous when the script turns him into an action hero, steering the Russian Submarine whilst Connery stood giving him orders, and then taking down a saboteur single handedly. Connery, wearing a $20,000 silver wig (his first hair piece since Highlander some 6 pictures before) is capable of murdering a KGB officer with a single blow, was always totally in command, his performance is full of authority and even speaks the occasional line Russian. Truthfully I think Connery is the only real reason to see this long winded adaptation. Although that is a tad harsh on Neil, who is brilliant.The hairpiece was actually controversial on set. After consulting with the wardrobe and make-up departments behind McTiernan's back, arrived on set for his first day of shoots, with his hairpiece incorporating a ponytail. Many years later, (once Connery had retired and his influence in the business had waned) McTiernan stated in an interview that he was "f***ing livid" with Connery, and that he used his considerable weight with the studio, going over the director's head to pass the alteration with producers. Connery got his way, until midway through the second day's shooting, when Director of Photography started laughing while reviewing the dailies, remarking to Connery that his ponytail looked like "a limp, swinging d**k." Connery was so annoyed, he told makeup to remove the alteration, and they re-shoot the footage. McTiernan said that the reported cost of the hairpiece, was mainly down to the cost of those subsequent re-shoots, and that the hair seen in the final movie, was merely "a ten dollar bargain from a thift shop." It certainly does not look like a $10 dollar wig.The Hunt For Red October grossed $122 million at the domestic box office, to end 1990, the 6th highest grossing movie of the year. It finished above both Arnie movies (Total Recall and Kindergarten Cop) Die Hard 2 and Back To The Future 3. When you look at the 5 movies that finished above it Ghost, Home Alone, Dances With Wolves, Pretty Women and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles..... errr OK ignore the last one, lol it shows you how well this movie did.

A very average film that never ventures into bad territory but never really ventures into enjoyable territory either. John McTiernan's film looks well made, and it is competently directed, but there was nothing memorable or involving about the story, till the climax, and the plot device is questionable, as the culprit of this twist certainly had no motive nor was there an explanation for why he decided to turn on everyone on board, and I'm of course not talking about Connery, I'm referring to the cook who seemed to just pick up a gun and open fire, see who he could shoot, and that was perhaps the most interesting moment of the film, excluding one or two brilliant scenes of acting from Connery and a cool sequence involving a fairly tense loose missile underwater, but all in all I was not too impressed, and found the film fairly boring a lot of the time, with its clichés, safe narrative and passable performances from the rest of the cast, among it were Alec Baldwin, Sam Neil and Stellan Skarsgaard. The Hunt for Red October just didn't leave me feeling impressed, it's slow pace constantly shows, the story and writing were routine and uninspired and dialogue like "When I'm not kissing babies, I'm stealing there Lollipops", doesn't help the films case. This is safe, mediocre filmmaking that doesn't offer much in terms of entertainment or freshness.