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There are very few of Hollywood’s so-called “blockbuster” films that I can watch every now and then and still manage to get something out of them…whether it’s from an entertainment point of view or an artistic one. One such movie in particular is The Hunt For Red October, the first of four (to date) Jack Ryan features and a remarkably well made (if somewhat loose) adaptation of Tom Clancy’s best-selling novel of the same name.
Former James Bond actor Sean Connery dons his best toupee and shines like a smile from a newborn baby whose lips are made of 24-carat diamonds as Captain Marko Ramius, the commander of the Red October, Russia’s new multi-million dollar high-tech atomic toy with a remarkable stealth feature that could very well threaten the delicate balance that the Cold War already has!
After taking the Red October out on her inaugural mission, Ramius begins to play a giant game of chess with both the Americans and his fellow Russians when he murders his political consort and sets out towards the United States with his own hidden agenda in mind. Soon, the entire Russian fleet is after him and, when news of the Red October and her maverick captain hits American Intelligence, several of their ships join in on the hunt, including the Dallas, helmed by Captain Bart Mancuso (Scott Glenn).
Amid all this tight Capitalism vs. Communism fun, moviegoers were first introduced to Clancy’s character Jack Ryan, a (then) analyst for the CIA who believes that Ramius is attempting to defect and winds up hopping from vessel to vessel throughout the North Atlantic. A young and relatively unknown lad by the name of Alec Baldwin was the lucky man chosen to take on the role of Ryan, a casting decision that catapulted the actor to “star” status…a rank from which he would soon fall after making The Shadow (1994).
Casting the entire (wonderful) film aside, I simply can not get over the great supporting actors that The Hunt For Red October has (some of whom weren’t exceptionally well known at the time) such as Sam Neill, James Earl Jones, Tim Curry, Courtney B. Vance, Jeffrey Jones, and Stellan Skarsgård to name a few (also look quick for cult fave Andrew Divoff as well as a brief glimpse of “Star Trek: The Next Generation” crewmember Gates McFadden as a suspiciously-semi-British-sounding Mrs. Ryan). But the most fascinating, useless tidbit of all (my specialty), is that Scott Glenn claims the inspiration for his Bart Mancuso character came from Captain (now Admiral) Tom Fargo of the USS Salt Lake City, with whom he studied and trained for his role. So where am I going with this? Well, if you take the first name of Glenn’s fictional sub captain and the last name of the real-life sub captain you get Bart Fargo, the main character of Il Raggio Infernale (aka Danger!! Death Ray to you MST3K fans), a badly made Euro rip-off of Sean Connery’s James Bond films! But it doesn’t end there: Bart Fargo was played by none other than the late Gordon Scott, who played the lead in Tarzan’s Greatest Adventure (1959) opposite a young Sean Connery (as one of the bad guys) - file that for the next time you play Six Degrees of Separation!
Presentation
Paramount’s 1080p widescreen transfer (2.35:1) of The Hunt For Red October is a lovely sight to behold (only to have it on Blu-ray if nothing else) but there is still a minor amount of (deliberate) grain and a few “soft” spots here and there that may or may not detract the overall experience for some viewers (I could care less, personally). It still beats those old red, pan-and-scan VHS cassettes we had when the movie first came out.
Accompanying the picture are three soundtracks: an English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless surround and both a Spanish and French Dolby Digital 5.1. All I can really say here is that the TrueHD track is fucking awesome and I loved every second of it.
Subtitle-wise, we have English, English (SDH), French, Spanish, and Portuguese.
Extras
OK, I should point out now that all of the Special Features included on the Blu-ray Jack Ryan movies are the same bonus features that were available on the previously released DVDs…so if you’re looking for anything new in this department, forget it. Bonus items carried over from the 2003 Special Edition DVD include the Audio Commentary by John McTiernan; the Beneath The Surface Featurette (29:00) which interviews various members of the Cast and Crew; and the Theatrical Trailer (1:41). Only the Trailer is presented in High Definition.
The Bottom Line
Originally, all four Jack Ryan films were supposed to be part of a set (which was canceled). I can only assume that studio execs at Paramount changed their minds when they realized how poorly the decidedly un-special Jack Ryan Special Edition HD-DVD Box Set sold (which was recalled!) and figured they’d make more money selling these individually than together…who would willingly want to own The Sum Of All Fears anyway, right?
Says the guy who proudly shows off his bootlegged copy of Wheeler Dixon’s UFO: Top Secret (1978).
Oh, by the way, Sam Neill was once in line for the part of James Bond (another degree of separation should you need it).
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