The Hunt for Red October (1990)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

John McTiernan

Writers (WGA):

Tom Clancy (novel)
Larry Ferguson (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

2 March 1990 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Thriller

Tagline:

Invisible. Silent. Stolen.

Plot:

In 1984, the USSR's best submarine captain in their newest sub violates orders and heads for the USA. Is he trying to defect, or to start a war?

Plot Keywords:

Soviet | CIA | Submarine | Navy | Jack Ryan

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 2 wins & 6 nominations

Cast

Sean Connery	...	Marko Ramius
Alec Baldwin	...	Jack Ryan
Scott Glenn	...	Bart Mancuso
Sam Neill	...	Captain Borodin
James Earl Jones	...	Admiral Greer
Joss Ackland	...	Andrei Lysenko
Richard Jordan	...	Jeffrey Pelt
Peter Firth	...	Ivan Putin
Tim Curry	...	Dr. Petrov
Courtney B. Vance	...	Seaman Jones
Stellan Skarsgård	...	Captain Tupolev
Jeffrey Jones	...	Skip Tyler
Timothy Carhart	...	Bill Steiner
Larry Ferguson	...	Chief of the Boat
Fred Dalton Thompson	...	Admiral Painter

Runtime:

134 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Russian

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Dolby SR (35 mm prints)

Certification:

Canada:G (Nova Scotia) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | Iceland:12 | Australia:PG | Netherlands:6 | South Korea:12 | Brazil:12 | New Zealand:PG | Germany:12 | West Germany:12 (f) | Argentina:13 | Chile:14 | Finland:K-12 | Ireland:12 | Sweden:11 | UK:PG | USA:PG | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

The dual-beeping sound effect of the Red October moving on the USS Dallas' sonar screen was also used in Patriot Games (1992) as the sound of Jack Ryan's EKG.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Admiral Painter tells Jack that if he needs him or Captain Davenport, they'll be in the CIC (Combat Information Center). However, on aircraft carriers this area is called the CDC (Combat Direction Center).

Quotes:

[telling young Sonarman Beaumont about Jones's most embarrassing moment]
Watson: Seaman Jones here is into music in a big way, and he views this whole boat as his own personal, private stereo set. Well, one day he's got this piece of Pavarotti...
Seaman Jones: It was Paganini.
Watson: Whatever.
Seaman Jones: It was Paganini.
Watson: Look, this is my story, okay?
Seaman Jones: Then tell it right, COB. Pavarotti is a tenor, Paganini was a composer.
Watson: So anyway, he's got this music out in the water, and he's listening to it on his headsets, and he's just happy as a clam. And then all hell breaks loose. See, there's this whole slew of boats out in the water...
Seaman Jones: Including one WAY out at Pearl!
Watson: Including one way the hell out at Pearl. All of a sudden, they start hearing, Pavarotti...
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Amazing Race: You're Gonna Get Me Killed (#13.10)" (2008)

Soundtrack:

Payoff

Cold War hokum, but hey, it's Hollywood...

It's been argued that "any viewer knowing anything about navies, the Cold War or the Russian language" will be disappointed by this movie. Well, that's rather like saying that anyone who knows anything about the fine-details of cartoon animation or the biology of rodents will be disappointed by 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit'.'Red October', an emaciated version of a chunky Clancy novel, is a tight, sweaty thriller supported by a sterling cast;I mean, with the exception of maybe 'Beetlejuice' where else can you watch Alec Baldwin without wanting to slap his fat mug? McTiernan cuts all the flab from the base novel to present a lean little movie, and who in their right mind can possibly reprimand Connery for his accent? The man's played a British spy, an Irish cop, an Eygptian immortal and a Russian submarine captain all with the same brogue- who cares? He still portrays the role with all the nobility and world-weariness the part deserves.