The Hunt for Red October Review - A "Good, Good" Movie

        Last week I began to watch the movie The Hunt for Red October, a classic film from 1990 directed by John McTiernan. The movie is of course, adapted for the screen from Tom Clancy's 1984 bestseller, The Hunt for Red October and stars Alec Baldwin as Jack Ryan and Sean Connery as Marko Ramius. The movie is centered around the Red October, the newest Ballistic Missile Submarine in the Red Navy, and how the actions of Captain Ramius and his officers spark an international hunt for the submarine and it's crew. The movie itself is set in the late 1980s, just at the end of the Cold War, and suspense is strewn throughout the film as the crew of the Red October are seemingly just barely dodging a horrible death at every corner as they race to the east coast of the US. One of the main strengths of the movie is it's ability to get the audience almost emotionally involved in the movie. In the movie there is a scene where Jack Ryan is giving a brief to high ranking military officers on the situation with Red October. While the rest of the officers are arguing about what they should do, Ryan has deduced that Captain Ramius's intention was to defect to the US and then became enthralled in an argument with an army general. Meanwhile, the audience is sitting there saying to themselves, "Please, please just believe him before the Red fleet sinks the October". Additionally, the movie does not lack in suspense and creates the emotion of concern/worry in the viewer with ease. Such as the scene when a torpedo is launched at the October. During this scene, Ramius essentially ignores all of his other officer's recommendations, relying solely on his own knowledge and tactical know-how, and waits in silence until the last possible second and then avoids the torpedo successfully. There are many instances of this type of suspense in the movie and this keeps the audience on the edge of their seats throughout the film.
        In my opinion, I loved this movie not only because it is one of only a few movies based around submarines but because of the depth of the film and the way it leaves a lot of questions unanswered at the end of the movie. As one of only a handful of movies about submarines and submarine warfare, the movie connects with me personally as I would like to serve on a submarine eventually. Additionally, the movies fairly even combination of action and conversation/plot makes it very entertaining throughout and there are almost no slow parts in the entire film. The movie also leaves a lot of questions unanswered as Captain Ramius, Jack Ryan, and the Red October essentially ride into the sunset and fade away with no indication of what happens to them, the sub, or the crew of the Red October afterwards, which only increases my interest in the film. With all of these elements combined in the movie, I believe that The Hunt For Red October should definitively be placed into the "Good, Good" category.