The Hunt for Red October (1990)

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?

Director:

John McTiernan

Writers:

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

Stars:

Sean Connery, Alec Baldwin, Scott Glenn

Won 1 Oscar. Another 2 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

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

Storyline

Soviets create a new nuclear submarine that runs silent due to a revolutionary propulsion system. Russian sub captain defects, goal of taking it to the U.S.A. to prevent the Russians from using the sub to wreak nuclear (missile) war against the U.S. Lots of plot turns and twists in this high-tech thriller.

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Plot Keywords:

cia | submarine | analyst | navy | soviet navy | 

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Taglines:

The hunt is on.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Russian

Release Date:

2 March 1990 (USA)

Also Known As:

Jagd auf 'Roter Oktober'

Filming Locations:

USA

Box Office

Budget:

$30,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$122,012,643 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures, Mace Neufeld Productions, Nina Saxon Film Design

Technical Specs

Runtime:

134 min

Sound Mix:

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

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

For the purposes of filming the underwater model of the Red October, only the left side of the sub was detailed to appear as an authentic submarine. The effect of showing the right side of the boat was achieved by simply turning the frame and reversing the image.

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Goofs

When Ryan is flow to the carrier, the interior shot is a C-2 COD, carrier-onboard-delivery aircraft. The exterior shot of the aircraft landing on the deck is the more common E-2 Hawkeye.

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Quotes

Capt. Bart Mancuso: Central Intelligence Agency... Now, there's a contradiction in terms.

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Crazy Credits

Stanley (Sally Ryan's stuffed bear) is credited as "Himself"

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Connections

Featured in Siskel & Ebert: Villains: So Bad, They're Good (1995)

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Soundtracks

"Payoff"
By Basil Poledouris
Courtesy of Orion Pictures Corp.

User Reviews

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.