HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER, THE - Blu-ray review

"The Hunt for Red October" was the first novel by novelist Tom Clancy and the first film adaptation of a Tom Clancy novel. Starring Alec Baldwin as Jack Ryan and Sean Connery as Russian sub commander Marko Ramius, the film was the first of a series of big screen adaptations of stories featuring the Jack Ryan character. As was the case with each of the four films produced by Paramount, "The Hunt for Red October" takes some liberties with the original story before translating it to the big screen. However, "Red October" stays truer to the novel than any of the successive pictures and remains today the highest praised of the four films. While "Red October" cannot dethrone the incredible Wolfgang Petersen film "Das Boot" as the benchmark ‘submarine film,' "The Hunt for Red October" is among the elite films about underwater warfare.

This maiden voyage of Jack Ryan finds Alec Baldwin in the lead role as a CIA analyst attached to gathering intelligence on the Russian submarine Red October that is believed to be equipped with an ultra silent caterpillar drive. The submarine is feared by American intelligence because it will have the ability to run silent enough to avoid detection and could launch nuclear warheads from the American coastline as a first strike weapon. Ryan and the CIA becomes alarmed when the Red October's first captain, Marko Ramius (Sean Connery) decides to defect with the nuclear boat and his actions spark a full deployment of Russian military might as they desperately try to find their lost submarine in a series of actions that places fear among American leaders that the Russian's may be preparing for war or Ramius is intending to launch his warheads against American targets.

The intentions of Ramius are unknown to the CIA, but Ryan feels strongly that the Russian captain wants to defect with the Red October and her caterpillar drive. CIA director James Greer (James Earl Jones) believes that Ryan could be correct in his assumption and sends the former Marine to the USS Enterprise, where he is reluctantly greeted by Rear Admiral Painter (Fred Thompson) and then transported by helicopter in rough seas to the assault submarine USS Dallas. The Dallas had been in pursuit of the Red October since their sonar operator Jones (Courtney B. Vance) noticed a peculiarity in noise that allowed him to track the silent running ballistic missile submarine. The Dallas' captain Bart Mancuso (Scott Glenn) is not happy with having to surface and pick up Ryan, but does so. Ryan talks Mancuso into ignoring Washington's orders to sink the sub and they make contact with Ramius and the crew.

Onboard the Red October, Ramius must concoct a plan to hand over the submarine to the Americans, but convince the crew that something is wrong with the sub so that they will evacuate her. He cannot let the crew into his intentions to defect in order to avoid a mutiny. However, a saboteur is onboard and does not intend to allow Ramius to follow through with his plan and hand over the Russian Navy's greatest prize to their enemy. Ramius is being followed by the Russian Navy, which has also been given orders to sink the Red October and the veteran captain must use all of his experience to escape his own Navy and the destruction of the sub. He must also work with Ryan to get the Americans onboard secretly with enough of a crew to set sail for a secret destination in America. Being chased by two superpowers and not sure of who to trust, the fate of the Red October becomes a thrilling adventure.

"The Hunt for Red October" is a thrilling affair that nicely balances the technological and strategically aspects of submarine warfare with a compelling storyline and convincing characters. The film does take some liberties with the storyline and I've never been fully comfortable with the film's plot turn which places Jack Ryan onto the Red October. After reading the novel, it feels hokey and places far more focus on the Ryan character than what should be. "The Hunt for Red October" was the first Clancy novel I had ever read and the book instantly hooked me and perhaps I feel betrayed by this change in the story, but I'll never be in complete acceptance of this change by screenplay writers Larry Ferguson and Donald Stewart.

Director John McTiernan proved he could handle directorial duties with "Predator" and his experience comes through as he is able to bring plenty of action to a film where technology and brains easily supplants brawn. He levels the playing field with "Red October" and brings to the camera enough intelligence to satisfy many that loved the novel, but never overburdens the audience with too much techno babble. The pacing of "The Hunt for Red October" is also a strong asset of the film and as the story continues, the suspense builds to a point where the climax is able to satisfy and not disappoint its viewers. Many films with this much strategic discussion and exposition tends to drag on for long periods of time and while there are a couple few yawn-inducing moments with "Red October," they are far and few between and provide a well deserved break from the strong story.

Aside from McTiernan, the cast and crew are at the top of their game with "The Hunt for Red October." Cinematographer Jan de Bont created a strong looking film that never felt confined to the innards of a nuclear submarine. He would later move on to direct films such as "Speed" and "Twister," but the cinematography work on "The Hunt for Red October" is among his best work in Hollywood. The primary actors of Sean Connery and Alec Baldwin are both very good. While I prefer Harrison Ford in the role of Jack Ryan, that is not because of Baldwin's performance, but my preference of actor. Baldwin may actually provide the best performance as Ryan and he is able to convey the intelligence and action required for the role. Sean Connery is a legend and while he doesn't give the best Russian accent in the film and sometimes doesn't seem to be trying very hard, his performance is very good.

The supporting cast in the film is full of other familiar faces and each add to the overall value of the film. Gates McFadden of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" fame plays a grounded Mrs. Ryan in the film, but has very little screen time. Richard Jordan takes on the role of National Security Advisor Jeffrey Pelt and makes the decision in the film to send Jack Ryan to the Red October. Veteran actor and former Presidential hopeful Fred Thompson does a great job as a Rear Admiral. Jeffrey Jones is best known for "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," but as Naval Academy Instructor and Jack Ryan friend Skip Tyler, Jones shows he can handle a serious role. The chameleon-like Tim Curry portrays Russian naval officer Yevginy Petrov. He doesn't have a large role, but I enjoyed seeing him in the film. Sam Neill and Stellan Skarsgard are two other actors who handle a Russian accent and provide depth to the film. It shouldn't be forgotten that James Earl Jones and Scott Glenn give great performances in memorable roles as well.

"The Hunt for Red October" is a stunning film. It is not my personal favorite of the Tom Clancy series, but I'm not afraid to swallow my pride and say that "The Hunt for Red October" is the best of the four films. Everything in the movie is solid, aside from the plot point where Jack Ryan is placed upon the Russian submarine. The film looks absolutely amazing and provides some of the best underwater scenes ever filmed. The story and pacing of the film are both top notch and while I wish Connery had a slightly stronger accent, his performance is very good and as I've already stated, Alec Baldwin has given the truest performance of Jack Ryan. The movie runs for two hours and fifteen minutes, but it is a lean feeling 135 minutes. I always wonder of how I would view the series had Baldwin remained in the title role and I tend to feel I would have loved those films and this would be my favorite all-time.

Video:

"The Hunt for Red October" finally arrives in high definition form on retail shelves on a very good AVC-MPEG-4 encoded 2.35:1 transfer. The film was to originally appear on HD-DVD, but a problem with packaging and lack of supplemental materials canned that release and this Blu-ray disc is the first time the film has been available in glorious 1080p. The film is now a catalog title and no longer a recent big budget blockbuster. The near twenty-year age of the film starts to show and "The Hunt for Red October" looks a little washed out at times, there is a minor but ever-present amount of film grain and a few flaws from the source materials can be spotted. Regardless of its flaws, "The Hunt for Red October" still looks very good. Detail is generally quite strong and coloring is solid. I absolutely loved how well the underwater scenes turned out. The breaking down of gradients and posterization that was present with the DVD release is gone and detail remains strong during the darkest moments. While identical to the unreleased HD-DVD version of the film, this is a huge step up over the previous DVD version.

Audio:

The Russian themed score by Basil Poledouris is one of the most memorable elements of "The Hunt for Red October" and thankfully the Dolby Digital TrueHD 5.1 mix delivers the goods for both the film and its patriotically haunting score. There is plenty of usage from all six channels in this multi-channel surround mix and each sonar blip, metallic ping from water pressure and the churning of water in screws sounds strong. The film understands the power of simplicity, but is able to become an aggressive beast with a wall of sound at other times. There are some very nice explosions heard in the film and while "The Hunt for Red October" cannot compete with "U-571" in the sound department, it delivers a wonderful sounding undersea experience through its five main channels. What I did notice that caused a little disappointment was the relative timid nature of the .1 LFE channel. The bass wasn't nearly as strong as the film demanded and that was the only true flaw in the TrueHD mix.

Extras:

Three supplements are provided with the Blu-ray release of "The Hunt for Red October." The disc begins its bonus offerings with a Commentary by Director John McTiernan. McTiernan provides a nice mixture of information and personal insight into the film, but his delivery is dry and full of dead air. While the commentary is interesting and informative, it is not something you want to listen to if you feel tired in the least. The making of documentary Beneath the Surface (29:00) touches on most of the elements of the filmmaking process for "The Hunt for Red October" and with the exception of Sean Connery, most of the principal members of the cast and crew are present. This was full of talking-heads interviews and a little back-patting, but I found it to be pretty good and easily sat through its half hour running time. Finally, the films Theatrical Trailer is presented in high definition.

Closing:

I greatly enjoy "The Hunt for Red October" and while Alec Baldwin is not my favorite choice as Jack Ryan and this film is not my favorite entry in the Jack Ryan franchise, it is perhaps the best film from a critical standpoint and Baldwin may have been the correct choice as Ryan. "The Hunt for Red October" provides a fairly faithful and strong story based upon Tom Clancy's award winning film. With solid acting, wonderful filmmaking and plenty of suspense, "The Hunt for Red October" is a film that is easy to watch repeatedly. The new Blu-ray release of the film provides good visuals and sound with a few nice supplements. It isn't perfect, but it is the best release yet for this classic and highly entertaining movie. I'm a big Harrison Ford fan, but if I had to recommend any of the Jack Ryan films as an introduction to Tom Clancy and Jack Ryan, it would have to be this film.