To this day, I can still remember the first time I watched The Hunt for Red October. It was just a great experience, and one of my earliest in exactly what it would be like to work on a submarine. Of course, I was pretty young when the film came out (about eight or so), so the political and social games played in the movie were way over my head.
If you haven't seen Red October yet, it follows Captain Ramius (Sean Connery) as he takes command of a new high tech submarine that has a new propulsion system that allows it to move almost silently, and any sounds you hear would appear to be natural oceanic noise.
In order to get in the head of this rogue Communist Captain, the CIA brings out one of their lead analysts, Jack Ryan (Alec Baldwin). Ryan soon deduces that Ramius plans to defect, but without any way to contact (or even find) the Red October, they can't be sure.
Besides Connery and Baldwin, the movie also has solid supporting actors like James Earl Jones (Admiral James Greer), Sam Neill (Captain 2nd Rank Borodin) and Tim Curry (Dr. Petrov). As an introduction to Jack Ryan and his duties, The Hunt for Red October is just a solid and classic film.
Patriot Games is the second movie, and Jack Ryan is now played by Harrison Ford. This film takes place sometime later and Ryan is no longer employed by the CIA. He and his family go on a vacation to England, only to spoil an IRA assassination attempt on the Royal Family.
Unfortunately for Jack, that means he and his family are now targets themselves. Ryan takes up his former role in order to take down the terrorist cell that is determined to not only end his vacation, but also a member of the Monarchy.
To help tie this movie with the last, James Earl Jones returns as Admiral Greer and we meet a new character played by Samuel L. Jackson as Lt. Commander Robby Jackson, a friend and confidant of Ryan's.
Harrison Ford then returns in Clear and Present Danger. In this movie, Ryan is once again a CIA Analyst, and pretty much second-banana in his department, but when Admiral Greer goes ill (the current CIA Deputy Director of Intelligence), Jack is appointed the Interim Deputy Director, and he finds helping to run the CIA is a lot harder than it seems. Not only does Ryan have to deal with the normal operations he has been a part of since he joined the organization, but there is also the meetings, paperwork and politics.
Ryan's main focus when he comes into office is the need to solve the murder of one of the president's friends. As the team starts to uncover the truth, they realize the victim has ties to a Colombian drug lord. To make matters worse, unknown to Ryan, a Special Forces team (led by William Dafoe) has been dispatched to this particular drug lord's holdout in order to take him down. When Ryan realizes this unauthorized operation is underway, he does everything he can to stop it, but ultimately has to take matters into his own hands.
The Sum of All Fears is a reboot of the series that shows Jack Ryan's (this time played by Ben Affleck) first real mission under the CIA. He is asked to join CIA Director William Cabot (Morgan Freeman) in an inspection of the Russian nuclear decommissioning complex. The inspectors soon realize that a few of the scientists are missing from the facility, and the CIA soon starts to suspect the Russians are creating a new, more powerful nuclear bomb.
When the president of Russia dies suddenly and is replaced by a new person with a questionable past, the CIA begins to get a bit more suspicious, but Ryan believes that this new president isn't the type of person to attack without provocation. But, when a nuclear bomb goes off at a Baltimore football game, tension rises and the long-over Cold War not only comes back, but quickly turns hot.
The Jack Ryan Collection is a very solid group of movies and any Tom Clancy fan should jump at these films. I found it a great experience watching Sean Connery once again command an advanced submarine, and of course, pretty much any chance to see Harrison Ford in action is a treat. And while, in my opinion, The Sum of All Fears is the weakest of the collection; it still belongs there and is good to watch when you are in a Jack Ryan mood.
