The Hunt for Red October (1990)

In November 1984, the Soviet Union's best submarine Captain in their newest sub violates orders and heads for the U.S. 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 & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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 Thompson	...	Admiral Painter (as Fred Dalton Thompson)

Storyline

In November 1984, at the height of the Cold War, the Soviet Union creates a new nuclear submarine that runs silent due to a revolutionary propulsion system. The Russian submarine Captain, Marko Ramius (Sir Sean Connery), defects. His goal is taking it to the U.S. to prevent the Russians from using it to start nuclear war against the U.S.

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Plot Keywords:

soviet submarine | cold war era | submarine | defection | navy | 

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Taglines:

The hunt is on.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

Gates McFadden, who is American, plays Cathy Ryan with an English accent. The role was subsequently played by Keira Knightley, who is English, with an American accent.

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Goofs

Near the end as the Red October sails up the wide, deep Penobscot River in Maine, Marko claims that there is a river very much like it near Vilnius in Lithuania. There is no river of that size anywhere near Vilnius.

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Quotes

Ambassador Lysenko: It seems that the initial reports that one of our submarines was missing were not completely accurate. The submarine in question... is commanded by Captain Marko Ramius. Apparently he's suffered a kind of mental or nervous break down. Just before he sailed, he posted a letter to Admiral Yuri Padorin, in which he announced his intention to, to fire his missiles on the United States.

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Crazy Credits

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

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Alternate Versions

SPOILER: In its original theatrical run, Jack Ryan (Alec Baldwin) says "A fucking cook!" upon discovering the saboteur. However, on subsequent home video releases, the word "fucking" is replaced by "Goddamn." "Goddamn" is heard in at least some 35mm prints.

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Connections

Featured in Lost in Adaptation: Dagon (2016)

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Soundtracks

Payoff
By Basil Poledouris
Courtesy of Orion Pictures Corp.

User Reviews

A great submarine movie

Fortuneately, this movie is not entirely true to Tom Clancy's vision and book. Tom Clancy is an American superpatriot and nationalist. He loves to gush about the superiority of the American military establishment and its high technology. This movie puts a more sympathetic face on the Russians and the commoner's point of view. Sean Connery plays a very likable Russian Submarine Commander. Of course, Sean Connery is always going to steal the show in any movie. He's kind of like the John Wayne of the last twenty five years. But the supporting actors are also engaging as well. Scott Glenn, Fred Thompson, and James Earl Jones all do very well at commanding our attention. These actors always give strong, interesting, and dynamic performances. With all the high technology and military hardware in this movie it is interesting to note how a simple seaman(an enlisted man at that!) solves the great technical puzzle in this movie. All the officers, admirals, computers, aircraft carriers, nuclear submarines and what have you are clearly stumped. But, Jonesy, with simple reasoning and a keen intuition, solves the riddle that is the Red October. Yes, he uses a computer to help him, but most importantly, he uses his mind! The strength of this movie is that with all the gadgetry and high technology, the human element is not lost but is always on top. Plus, it does not degrade into pro-American propaganda. Because of this, I think that people who know nothing about the military or who don't even like war movies will find this movie enjoyable.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Russian

Release Date:

2 March 1990 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Hunt for Red October

Filming Locations:

USA

Box Office

Budget:

$30,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$17,161,835, 4 March 1990

Gross USA:

$122,012,643

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$200,512,643

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures, Mace Neufeld Productions, Nina Saxon Film Design

Technical Specs

Runtime:

135 min

Sound Mix:

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

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1