Marko Ramius is a senior Lithuanian submarine Captain, whose plans to defect are met with strong opposition by his own Soviet Navy, and American misconceptions of his intentions. C.I.A. analyst Jack Ryan (Alec Baldwin), the one man who sees the defection, must convince most of the U.S. Navy he is correct. The action climaxes with an amazing naval battle, but who will win The Hunt for Red October?
Military thrillers tend to rely on stereotyping and large, crude motivations to move their stories along but what this movie has is more fun because it suggests how easily men can go wrong, how false assumptions can seem convincing and how big consequences are just around the corner. Sean Connery is great in this. He isn’t portrayed as a typical movie Russian villain and Alec Baldwin’s not far behind Sean Connery’s performance. They’re both really good. I’m going to give this movie 8/10* because it does drag kind of a lot, but, the performances from the two main characters and the fact that the movie feels different from everything else out there, I think it deserves that grade!
Director: John McTiernan
Written by: Tom Clancy, Larry Ferguson, Donald E. Stewart, David Shaber
Starring: Sean Connery, Alec Baldwin, Scott Glenn, Sam Neill, James Earl Jones, Tim Curry, Stellan Skarsgård
Runtime: 135 minutes
