Synopsis
A new technologically-superior Soviet nuclear sub, the Red October, is heading for the U.S. coast under the command of Captain Marko Ramius. The American government thinks Ramius is planning to attack. Lone CIA analyst Jack Ryan has a different idea: he thinks Ramius is planning to defect, but he has only a few hours to find him and prove it - because the entire Russian naval and air commands are trying to find Ramius, too. The hunt is on!
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Cast
- Sean ConneryCaptain Marko Ramius
- Alec BaldwinJack Ryan
- Scott GlennBart Mancuso
- Sam NeillCaptain Vasily Borodin
- James Earl JonesAdmiral James Greer
- Joss AcklandAndrei Lysenko
- Richard JordanJeffrey Pelt
- Peter FirthIvan Putin
- Tim CurryDr. Yevgeniy Petrov
- Courtney B. VanceRonald Jones
Recommendations
- 90
Variety
The Industrial Light & Magic special visual effects unit does yeoman work in staging the action with cliffhanger intensity. - 89
Austin Chronicle
This Tom Clancy thriller gets the proper screen treatment here with this first-rate cast and direction by one of the genre’s best: Die Hard director John McTiernan. - 88
Chicago Sun-Times
A skillful, efficient film that involves us in the clever and deceptive game being played by Ramius and in the best efforts of those on both sides to figure out what he plans to do with his submarine - and how he plans to do it. - 80
Time
McTiernan does not fall too much in love with any scene, character or gadget. He has judged his material (and our attention spans) very well. His alternation of menace and human interest, technological wizardry and action sequences is subtly calibrated, ultimately hypnotic in its effect. [5 Mar 1990, p.70] - 80
Washington Post
This is a Reagan youth's wet dream of underwater ballistics and East-West conflict. - 75
Entertainment Weekly
Colorful and exciting, yet unless you're a young moviegoer, nothing in it takes you by complete surprise. (It's less a nail-biter than a chin-stroker.) - 75
San Francisco Chronicle
Even when it's hard to follow, it looks good. The undersea action is visually convincing, and Ramius' submarine, with all its rooms and compartments, is always believable. The moonlit photography in the picture's final scene is stunning. [2 Mar 1990, Daily Datebook, p.E1] - 40
The New Republic
Little in [Connery's] character is explored or colored. It's not a highly complex role, but the man has qualities that could make him interesting; after all, it's his aberrant action that initiates the whole naval plot. Connery merely fulfills his contractual obligations to the producer-no depth in him at all. [26 Mar 1990, p.26]
