The Hunt for Red October Collector's Edition Steelbook [Blu-ray]

Following the sad news of Sir Sean Connery's passing last weekend, in tribute the Memsahib and I sat down to watch "The Hunt For Red October" and Connery's in one of his finest roles as the Soviet (Latvian) submarine Captain Marko Ramius.If, like me you've read Tom Clancy's superb novel from which this film was made, then you'll know the story because the film sticks pretty close to the book [I'm not going to give a precis here you can read that elsewhere on this page]; but that actually aids the enjoyment, there were moments when I had to explain bits to the Memsahib, but then the inside of one submarine looks pretty much like another. Okay there are a few small changes that have been made from the book to simplify the story, albeit only slightly, but these take nothing away from the plot, and besides without these it would have been a four hour movie.The cast are great, in particular Connery is excellent as the Latvian submariner, the young Connery may have been everyone's favourite Bond but the older Connery was born to play more complex parts and this role ranks alongside his portrayal of the Franciscan friar/detective William of Baskerville in "The Name Of The Rose" [which you have seen you must]. In addition Alec Baldwin is superb as Jack Ryan [a role that has been played by almost as many as have had a crack at being Bond!], and James Earl Jones sets down his marker as Admiral Greer [a role he reprised in "Clear and Present Danger" and "Patriot Games"].The film opens with the Soviets speaking Russian with subtitles, but once we have established that they are Russians then the dialogue switches to English unless the Russians are speaking to each other in front of Americans when they speak Russian, but fortunately after we establish that Ramius and Ryan are bilingual everything continues down in English [confused, you won't be].But you will need to remember that this was a cold war story, things have changed a lot in the last thirty years and of course the technologies have moved on a long way, but if you remember the eighties then this is a must-see movie although at points it shows it's age with some clarity and colour issues, but I put that down to the artificial lighting inside a submarine.Highly recommended.

I know movie buffs always rate Citizen Kane as the best film ever. In my own personal view Casablanca and The Third Man are up there too but one that people might not expect to see listed on someone's "best movies ever" list is Hunt for Red October.I actually went to see this in the cinema when it first came out back in 1990. It was a complete fluke, I didn't know what to expect at the time and picked it almost randomly - but it turned out to be gripping and I've watched it 20 to 30 times since.This is a great story with a gripping plot that keeps you hooked from start to finish. It's one of those films where you actually start to learn the dialogue: "Give me a ping, Vasili, One ping only" it's so good.The characters are well developed and to my mind this is actually Sean Connery's best piece of work ever. But it doesn't stop with Connery. Alec Baldwin, Sam Neill, James Earl Jones and others give cracking performances. Perhaps two of my favourite are Tim Curry as the hapless doctor and Joss Ackland who surely plays the best Russian Ambassador ever dramatised ?If you haven't seen this before do yourself a favour and see it - you won't be sorry. If you have seen it before I don't need to tell you do I? You already know it's a brilliant piece of entertainment !

I found this 130 min REGION B/2 DVD highly entertaining and very engrossing and am sure that it will keep most viewers on the edge of their seats. It's a very intense film but nothing serious.Based on Tom Clancy's bestseller, directed by John McTiernan and starring Sean Connery and Alex Baldwin. The Hunt for Red October seethes with high-tech excitement and sweats with the tension of men who hold Doomsday in their hands. A new technologically superior Soviet nuclear sub the Red October, is heading for the U.S. coast under the command of Captain Marko Ramius (Sean Connery) The American government thinks Ramius is planning to attack. A lone CIA analyst (Alex Baldwin) has a different idea, he thinks Ramius is planning to defect, but he has only a few hours to find him and prove it as the entire Russian naval and air commanders are trying to find him too.

Having previously rented this title, and as it was on sale I couldn't help but purchase it. By far the best Jack Ryan Movie in the Franchise. It is expertly and tautly directed by by Die Hard Director John Mctiernan. Even Sean Connery is a tour de force in his role as the Russian sub commander Ramius defecting to the US. Connery is very impressive in that you forget that he's the only actor playing a Russian but with his own Scottish accent. While Alec Baldwin to me is also still the first & only best Jack Ryan. Did you know he had been slated to do Patriot Games but due to him doing a play on Broadway, the producers chose not to wait for him and went with Harrison Ford instead. But none of the sequels can hold a candle to this movie, which also boasts an impressive supporting cast with likes of Sam Neill, Scott Glenn, Richard Jordan and of course the big man himself James Earl Jones.

Great director, great cast, beautifully shot and is deeper than most action movies, there are only three movies/TV shows that are set mostly in submarines that are classics, Crimson Tide, Das Boot and the Hunt for Red October, a time shot in history of the cold war and the race to make new weapons of mass destruction, a warning about communism and its always present totalitarianism no privacy for "the greater good" and its capitalist equivalent yet it gives hope as long as there are men and women in positions of power to have the bravery to do the right thing we can all hope for a better future without the need for WMD's no matter who they are developed by.