For that Tom Clancy fan on your holiday gift list, this new Blu-ray edition of The Jack Ryan Collection shows up at the perfect time. The Hunt for Red October, Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger, and The Sum of All Fears look great in high-definition. I enjoyed all of these movies. My favorite is The Hunt for Red October. I thought Alec Baldwin made a perfect Jack Ryan. But Baldwin got into a fight with the head of Disney (who made the film), calling Michael Ovitz “the Eighth Dwarf: Stupid.” If you buy this box set now, you get a free ticket to the soon to open Jack Ryan movie, Shadow Recruit. GRADE: A
I’ve enjoyed these at the time but I agree, Red October is the best of them and stands up still – however, a small caveat, as these flms were all made by Paramount, not Disney though Baldwin seems to be able to annoy people from all over (shame as he is a terrific actor)
Sergio, I’m a big Alec Baldwin fan, but his antics keep getting him into trouble. I thought THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER was a terrific book that was made into a terrific movie.
You’ve got to wonder how many jobs Baldwin’s big mouth has cost him over the years.
Never been able to read a Clancy novel. Therefor I never watched any of the films.
Jeff, I’m guessing Alec Baldwin’s big mouth cost him plenty of jobs. When showed up on MSNBC, I told Diane, “Let’s see how long Baldwin’s show lasts.” And, sure enough, Baldwin was gone in the blink of an eye.
Randy, Tom Clancy pretty much invented the military-techno thriller genre. It’s not to everyone’s taste.
I saw the first one but don’t think the rest. This is not my favorite genre-I tend to lose track of what’s going on as I do with HOMELAND,
HOMELAND – Brody’s in Iran.
Like Patti, I’ve only seen OCTOBER, but I have thought of seeing the others. Thing is I’d probably only watch them once, so why buy them when I can get them on Netflix?
Patti, these Jack Ryan movies are nowhere near as twisty as HOMELAND.
Jeff, thanks for the update!
Rick, Patrick thinks I’m crazy buying Blu-rays and DVDs when everything is available online.
I find the movies much better than the books. My favorite being Clear & Present Danger. Tom Clancy wasn’t a very good writer. His dialogue is terrible. the late John D. MacDonald wrote a scathing review of Patriot Games in which he quoted dialogue such as “Good god man, get ahold of yourself”.
Steve, you’re right about Clancy’s wooden dialogues. But when waxing enthusiastic about a new weapon system, Clancy couldn’t be beat. I really liked CLEAR & PRESENT DANGER, too.