My Movie Review on The Hunt for Red October (Plus, a Bonus) · 5:25pm Sep 30th, 2022
Yo, what's up, Kemosabes?
This is your friendly film, TV show, and episode reporter here with another review.
Today, for my 3rd review on an installment of the Jack Ryan franchise, I'm gonna give you guys my take of "The Hunt for Red October".
Here's the rundown of it:
Marko Ramius is a Soviet submarine captain who was recently given command of the Red October, a new Typhoon-class ballistic missile submarine with a "caterpillar drive" that can help it be undetected by sonar. In spite of being given orders to conduct some submarine exercises, though, Ramius decides to defect from Russia in secret, using the Red October as transportation to America.
With reports of the Red October being sighted, and confirmation that Ramius is commandeering it, America and Russia are stirred into political restlessness and anxiety. The only person who's apparently willing to give Ramius the benefit of the doubt is one CIA intelligence analyst: Jack Ryan.
Prior to making this review, I saw this movie once a year or two ago and remembered not being entirely impressed with it. There were aspects I enjoyed, and others that I didn't like. I felt so critical of the film as a whole that I couldn't understand why it was considered the best of the Jack Ryan series.
But, I was interested in giving "The Hunt for Red October" a second look, especially since it seemed like something I'd want to see more than once. With my plans for reviewing the movie at an all-time high, seeing it a second time was a definite necessity.
Coming from a guy who saw "The Hunt for Red October" twice this year, I'm pleased to announce that the movie was better than the first time I saw it. However, there are still things involving the film that I wasn't particularly fond of.
Similar to my reviews of "Shadow Recruit" and "The Sum of All Fears", I wasn't pleased at all with the cussing this movie contained, especially the uses of the Lord's name in vain. Not only was the cussing usage too all over the place for my liking, it made me wonder why the movie couldn't be re-rated from PG to PG-13, which would honestly be the more fitting rating since there are moments of intensity and violence as well.
Outside of my complaints towards the cussing, I also wasn't a big fan of Alec Baldwin's casting and performance as Jack Ryan. Of all the performers featured in this movie, Baldwin was quite honestly the least engaging. Everything about his portrayal was flat with a capital 'F'. He neither invoked any sense of the rookie-relatability required for the character nor did he help translate Jack as a likable individual, and his comedic-timings and witty moments were hardly able to land. Compared to the rest of the cast members, Baldwin also seemed incredibly lost and unsure. Heck, even the guy playing the Red October's cook did a better job playing his character than Baldwin did for Ryan, and that's saying something.
Aside from these nitpicks, though, "The Hunt for Red October" was still a deeply enjoyable film.
For instance, the performances of the movie's other cast members, the characters, and the character development were marvelous.
I really can't lie, Sean Connery stole the show with his portrayal of Marko Ramius, and his presence throughout the movie grappled my interest hook, line, and sinker. In fact, despite being billed as a Jack Ryan movie, it was clear to me that Ramius was the real main character of this motion picture. Everything about the story particularly revolving around his underwater voyage to America, and Ramius had a greater amount of character growth and testing than Jack Ryan did.
Plus, Sam Neill was quite a showstopper with his portrayal of Vasily Borodin, and so were James Earl Jones as James Greer, Tim Curry as Dr. Petrov, and Stellan Skarsgard as Viktor Tupolev. Each performer gave their very best whenever they were on the screen, and their characters all had personalities and developments that helped them be as human as possible.
The direction by John McTiernan, and the screenplay by Larry Ferguson and Donald E. Stewart, were excellent as well.
Every step of the way, I noted that McTiernan was quite passionate about making this movie something worthwhile. It had a long runtime, yet it was evenly paced and didn't keep itself from providing a rollicking great time.
When it came to the political aspect revolving around the strained relationship between America and Russia, Ramius's voyage neatly tied that into the story.It ignited the oppositions against Ramius and eventually gain alliances, which is another reason for why he was practically the heart and soul of this film.
Along with this, the film had an emotional and dramatic resonance that made it something with heart, and the thrills and suspense it contained carried an unpredictable nature that put me on the edge of my seat. The action sequences were fun to watch as well, especially the ones that were happening underwater.
In conclusion, "The Hunt for Red October" is definitely not 100% perfect, and the flaws I pointed out at the beginning pretty much make that clear. But, it's still a wonderfully solid film regardless, and it manages to be something worth the price of admission.
So, I rate "The Hunt for Red October" 4½ out of 5 stars.
As a special bonus for you guys, I'm gonna share with you a paint-by-number that I worked on from May 10th, 2022 to June 29th, 2022:
So, what do you guys think? Of this review? And the painting?
