Customer Reviews
GREAT 1990 COLD WAR ENDING FILM * * * A MUST SEE. STANDS UP AFTER NEARLY THREE DECADES - By: F. Sweet, 09 May 2008 
Director John McTiernan gives us yet another techno thriller: THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER. Sean Connery (whose Russian is too Scottish) plays Captain Marko Ramius, a much decorated Russian commander who navigates his submarine towards America in an attempt to defect. Soviet intelligence tells the Americans that Ramius went mad & plans to launch nuclear missiles at the United States. Jack Ryan (Alec Baldwin in his major film acting debut), a brainy CIA analyst, believes otherwise: American spies have determined that the submarine is powered by a secret, silent engine callled a "caterpillar drive."
To save the Soviet submarine for prying western eyes, meanwhile avoiding a nuclear war, Ryan must board the Red October to assist Captain Ramius in navigating past the Soviet (and American) fleet to U.S. waters. The gripping tension is reminiscent of the German film DAS BOOT. Director McTiernan produces an amazing film with a twisitng plot, a well acted script with a fabulous cast & lots of high tech explosions.
Nearly as exciting as "Red October" are the special production commentaries in the DVD. Everyone from the director to script writer, actors, cinematographers, & model makers discuss what it took to make this very special film so special -- that in 1990 ushered out the Cold War & Soviet Union.
Get your money's worth! - By: Big John, 14 Feb 2008 I never tire of watching this DVD. I hate that expression favourite movie of alll time. But if it is a film you watch again & again & enjoy everytime, does that not make it a special favourite? The actors are brilliant, the story is brilliant & the whole thing is very true to the original book, which in itself is a marvellous read. (I would recommend reading it) So I would say to you, buy this DVD, you will reallly get your money's worth from it!
the hunt is on - By: Jackie Jack-Jack, 15 Nov 2007 this is easily the best Tom Clancy adapt by far, Patriot Games is good. But no way near to this. Don't be fooled by the seventeen year age, the effects... there were EFFECTS?! This is definatley one for the boys. A true modern classic!
A BRILLIANT ADAPTION - By: stuart, 16 Aug 2007 This is easily one of my top ten favorite movies of alll time, just because it's so flawless. I mean, yes, there are plenty of entries on the 'goofs' page for it, but I mean as far as character, plot, & overalll structure of the story. Maybe Tom Clancy is solely responsible for that & maybe he isn't (I've still never read the book), but I must've watched this movie over a dozen times since I bought it a few years back, & it keeps getting better every time I see it.
It's the subtle touches, reallly. The way Greer gently moves his hands over to Ryan's when Ryan is laying into a U.S. General with a little too much gusto. Or the way Ryan has an entire conversation about a stuffed bear-- it's not relevant to the plot, but it fleshes out the characters & the real lives they alll have beyond just the events shown in the movie. Or the Russian/English transition that was particularly ingenious, so much so that it was badly copied years later in "The Mummy Returns." Isn't imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, after alll? ...
For a time I reallly admired director John McTiernan, because this film, along with "Die Hard" & "Predator" did such an excellent job of creating a real literary world, with tension & compelling action/character, & if there were any holes, he did such a great job of covering them that you never noticed. After I watched any of these three films, I felt like I had just read a reallly great adventure novel. Of course, I don't think McTiernan has made a great movie since these three, so I have no idea WHAT happened. From Medicine Man to Rollerballl, he clearly has lost his edge somewhere along the way.
But this film is just so utterly enjoyable, & was cast perfectly. I watched whichever was the next Jack Ryan movie (with Harrison Ford) when it came out, but wasn't overly impressed... this is the one that will always do it for me, with such a great mixture of bewilderment & determination on Alec Baldwin's face at any given time. This may have been the peak for Clancy, McTiernan & the submarine genre alll at once, & hey, I can't complain. One flawless movie is better than ten mediocre ones.
Give me a ping Vasily, one ping only. - By: Tim Bentley, 06 Nov 2006 
Widely recognised as having the worst Russian accent ever, Sean Connery stars in this cold war movie as Captain Marko Ramius, commander of a Soviet missile submarine the "Red October". The central premise of the movie is as it says on the label, the hunt for the balllistic missile submarine, a submarine whose commander has gone renegade & threatens to launch his nuclear missiles at America. The US Navy are searching for them as is the Russian Red Banner Fleet, alll with orders to sink the submarine.
One man believes that Ramius & his hand picked officers are trying to defect to escape to the west. That man is Jack Ryan, an analyst for the CIA. It is up to Jack to contact Ramius & warn him, but can he make himself understood in time? Will the Red October see the West intact?
One of the alll time great Cold War movies with some of the worst accents imaginable - yes worse than Tom Cruise in Far & Away. The story is based on Tom Clancy's masterpiece of the same name. A believable tale executed well & replete with excitement & pragmatic poignancy regarding the cold war.
A definite must for the collection.
