THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER

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I love a good submarine film, so once I got past Sean Connery as a Soviet submarine commander (Marko Ramius) with a Scottish accent I was swept along happily enough by this adaptation of a Tom Clancy bestseller, his debut novel. 

It  helps that it has a strong cast, headed up by Alec Baldwin (the first of several actors to get to play Jack Ryan), and that it was directed by John McTiernan, two years after 'Die Hard', who once again demonstrates his ability to build dramatic tension and to handle action scenes.

The plot centres on Connery going rogue with a new stealth submarine (named Red October), and for a while it is an open question whether he is a madman trying to start World War 3 or a defector.  It soon becomes clear, to Ryan at least, that it is the latter.

Of course, if he was a madman then we would have a film more akin to the superior 'Crimson Tide' released five years later. 

Which is not to downplay the considerable virtues of this outing, which has plenty of thrills and intrigue, encompassing an on-board saboteur, a cat-and-mouse battle with a Soviet sub commanded by a protégé of Ramius in which a US sub gets to support Red October. 

RATING: ✓ Cheers

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