The Hunt for Red October is a movie that should be bad but is, undeniably, good. Red October is the Cold War tale of a rogue Soviet submarine Captain taking his brand-new state-of-the-art boat to the US coast to defect. It is a tight, well-produced thriller from John McTiernan, based on the 1984 novel by the legendary Tom Clancy. Red October, is the first in the Jack Ryan series that would go on to include Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger, Sum of All Fears, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit.
Red October was an immense undertaking involving 5 soundstages on the Paramount backlot and hundreds of US Naval personnel 2 Naval Bases, 2 destroyers and 5 Los Angeles-class Attack Submarines. With a budget of $30 million, the movie was a moderately-high budget movie for its time. Upon its release, Red October received praise from critics and over $200 million return at the worldwide box office, un-tolled video rental/sales and broadcasting revenue.
The EDGE
On it's face, Hunt for Red October is a bad movie and the problem begins at its casting. Alec Baldwin is a deft choice for Jack Ryan, young, dashing with a hint of intelligence and book-savvy. James Earl Jones brings a commanding presence and leading demeanour to his role as Admiral Greer. Likewise, Glenn and Vance both prove themselves able when portraying US Navy men. The problem lies with the star, Edinburgh’s favourite son, Sean Connery.
Connery plays Lithuanian-raised, Captain Marko Ramius, complete with a thick Scottish accent. Throughout the film, Connery makes no attempt to cover up his Gaelic drogue. The balance of the crew is portrayed by British actors, with the notable exception of Kiwi Sam Neill as Captain 2nd Rank Vasily Borodin, and 2nd in command. All of these other actors can convincingly play a Russian Submarine crew except for Tim Curry. It is a curious choice that the director John McTiernan allowed these 2 actors to speak with their voices and not put on a pseudo-Slavic accent like the others. It has allowed Red October to be the butt of so many jokes over the years and inspired so many people to start work on their own Conneryesque accents.
“We will play a game of CHess with the American Navy”
“Comrades! Today we SHail into history”
Despite this Connery's notable Scottish ancestry, he can pull off an otherwise excellent and commanding performance, which earned him a BAFTA nomination for Best Actor. Connery can get away with this because for the simple reason that he is SEAN-FLIPPIN-CONNERY!
Have you ever seen Highlander? He plays an immortal Spanish swordsman and you don’t doubt it for a second. For this one, we will let Sir Sean off the hook because he is Sir Sean and he delivers a solid performance, but Tim Curry we have to chalk up to a case of “well if Connery can do it why shouldn’t I?”. I can picture McTiernan and the producers at the table read clenching their teeth and picturing lost profits.
The LOWDOWN
To be a member of the crew of Red October would have been brutal. It had a punishing schedule revolving around shooting out Sir Sean in 4 weeks while the rest of the production was shooting for further 9 gruelling months.
That said, having a big and respected star, like Connery, can be great on set. They can set a serious tone that the rest of the crew can get behind. Keep Sean happy, and you’ll be happy.
In the opinion of this writer, it would have been worth it to be able to work with so many top-tier actors, all of whom are known for their professional demeanour and work ethic. Add to that, being able to work with a copious amount of Naval personnel and equipment would have made the experience unforgettable.
The JIST
Red October is a great Saturday afternoon, bad weather movie that has an interesting plot, inexplicable performances and high production values that create a movie that you have seen on TV more times than you can count. Somehow it prevails....
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