Chillin' in the 90's V: It's a Pleasure to Be Aboard!

They just don't make action films like they used to. I'm not saying there are no good action films anymore, on the contrary there have been some excellent ones this decade (see: Iron Man, Sahara, Indiana Jones IV, Batman Begins/The Dark Knight, Spider-Man 2, Casino Royale, and anything with the word "Bourne" in the title). What I mean when I say they don't make action films like they used to is, simply, that they don't make action films like they used to. The action of the current decade has a completely different flavour, style, and, often, message than the action of the 90's. When I want to sit down for an entertaining afternoon of things going boom, The Bourne Identity will never fit that bill - I'll pop in my special edition of The Rock, or go rent The Saint (which I used to own - did you borrow my copy and never return it?) or, most recently, The Hunt for Red October (also not in vogue anymore: action films involving submarines, or Russian villains. Too bad, really).

Starring Alec Baldwin, Sean Connery, Sam Neill, and featuring most of the small army of guys seen in virtually every action film of the time - as well as appearances from Gates "Dr. Crusher" McFadden and James Earl Jones, and that rarest of all 90's film creatures, Tim Curry not playing a villain - The Hunt for Red October is based on Tom Clancy's novel of the same name, and is not only a fantastically entertaining picture but also one of the best literary adaptations to date. It's the mid-80s and those crazy Russians are playing underwater cat-and-mouse again, and photos of an unidentified new technology on the Russian nuclear sub Red October land in the lap of young naval historian-turned-CIA analyst Jack Ryan (Baldwin) to puzzle over. To make matters more pressing, the Red October is heading, in defiance of Moscow, straight for U.S. waters. Moscow knows the October is defecting, thanks to a letter mailed prior to setting out by her captain, Marko Ramius (Sean Connery), but is content to cover up the shame of this loss by encouraging the U.S. Navy's belief that Ramius has gone rogue and is planning to fire missiles on the East Coast - a belief that will most likely result in the sub's destruction. Ryan's job is to analyze, and in the process of analyzing he soon comes to the independent conclusion that Ramius is defecting, which creates a series of problems. The sub is far too valuable to risk destroying if Ryan is right; however, proving or disproving his conclusions will require both tricky diplomacy and tricky military manoeuvering. On top of that, the Russian navy is on standing orders to destroy the Red October on sight. The Americans want to find her. The Russians want to sink her. The Americans want the Russians to think they want to sink her. The hunt is on.

The Hunt for Red October is smooth, smart, and packed with great performances, solid action, and memorable moments. Ryan's boarding of the U.S.S. Dallas, cheerfully greeting her commander between bouts of puking sea water all of the deck ("It's a pleasure to be aboard, sir!"), is one of my all-time favourite "dramatic" entrances. Most impressive, this is one literary adaptation that didn't leave me feeling like anything was missing. Granted, it's one of Clancy's shorter novels, but this is still a significant feat. And then there are all the welcome little things inherent in Clancy's work and which should be inherent in any film based on his work, that affirm that soldiers are not stupid. On top of all that, Jack Ryan is a fantastic character and one of (if not the) best non-action-heroes. As a former Marine eased out of the service after breaking his back in a chopper crash, he respects the military and knows how it operates. That being said, by the time we meet him he's a professional academic, which means that although he's familiar with military thought processes, he thinks like the academic that he's become. One thing that means is that The Hunt for Red October is thankfully devoid of any stupid, manufactured drama based on the maverick "intellectual" outsider clashing with the hotheaded big dumb ape military man - Ryan and his naval allies can't agree on everything, but they disagree for good and logical reasons and understand what the other needs, even if they can't provide it.

Having read all the Jack Ryan books plus Mr. Clark's backstory (Without Remorse) before seeing any of the films (four out of six books have been adapted to date), The Hunt for Red October remains my favourite. It's the most well-made - enlisting John McTiernan (Die Hard) as director probably helped there - and Alec Baldwin nailed the character. I really didn't like either Harrison Ford or Ben Affleck in the Jack Ryan role, and no film yet has done justice to Mr. Clark, the secondary character and black-ops king who's, oddly enough, my favourite person in the Jack Ryan series (though Liev Schrieber in The Sum of All Fears came close). Seeing as how Mr. Clark isn't in The Hunt for Red October, there's nothing to detract from the film on that end of things. Lucky film.

I'm trying to think of a better action film that's entertaining and smart without being grim, and aren't coming up with anything. This is a fantastic picture, and if you've never seen it I would go so far as to say you're missing out.