The Challenger: The Hunt for Red October (1990)

The Jack Ryan: Alec Baldwin

The Supporting cast: Sean Connery, Sam Neill, James Earl Jones, Richard Jordan, Scott Glenn, Joss Acklund, Tim Curry, Sven Thorson, Fred Dalton Thomson, Stellan Skarsgaard

The Plot: Russian Sub commander Marco Ramius (James Bond) steals stealth Russian sub and plans to defect. Jack Ryan figures this out, has to convince everyone else that he’s right about the defection.

How does it Match Up: Frankly, they got it right the first time, and haven’t matched it since. The Hunt for Red October borders on being a damn near perfect film. It is one of those truly watchable films, one that will suck you in on cable, or in an airport bar. The subsequent films have had their shares of strengths and weaknesses, but Red October remains the strongest, in part because it ensures that characterizations motivate the plot; for what amount to an action film, there is little in the way of fisticuffs. Rather — and rightly so — the picture follows the twists and turns of the source novel, and the audience gets to enjoy watching some very intelligent people play a very high-stakes game of chess. Ryan becomes convinced of Ramius's plan, but he then spends the rest of the movie trying to persuade his government (and eventually Ramius) that the defection can succeed. Meanwhile, Ramius must avoid the Soviet fleet, utilizing all the tactics that made him one of the best sub commanders from either country. Director McTiernan, coming off two solid action films with Predator and Die Hard, nails it. He sets up perfectly all of the little twists and turns that make each move so compelling. And while he was followed by both Harrison Ford and Ben Affleck, Alec Baldwin is the only actor to date who's really made Jack Ryan his own, keeping the character's innate intelligence at the forefront of the performance. Meanwhile, the heavy lifting is left to screen icon Sean Connery, who can count this as his last great performance. And this is one of those rare films (Stupid cook not withstanding) that does not insult the audience’s intelligence. It’s a film about the power of dramatic irony. Winner. Still champion.

Extras/Look/Sound: Anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1). Gorgeous. Real improvement on the DVD, better reds, the 1080p transfer is the best home video release yet. TrueHD 5.1 for those who have it, which (considering it’s a sub movie) is hella immersive. Extras consist of a commentary by McTiernan, which is rather good, though McTiernan seems to take some smoke breaks, while there’s a 29 minute making of that gets all the major players (save Connery) to talk about the film. Scott Glenn has the best story about how he modeled his character after a real sub commander. And the theatrical trailer.

The Challenger: Clear and Present Danger (1994)

The Jack Ryan: Harrison Ford

The Supporting cast: James Earl Jones, Anne Archer, Thora Birch, Willem Dafoe, Joaquim de Almeida, Henry Czerny, Harris Yulin, Donald Moffat, Miguel Sandoval, Benjamin Bratt, Raymond Cruz, Ann Magnuson

The Plot: When a boat carrying the president’s friends shows up with everybody on board dead, Ryan finds that the people on board had some drug connections. They were wacked by Ernesto Escobedo (Miguel Sandoval), and some the president looks to secure the drug trafficking money that Ryan has found on his friend. When the drug war escalates, John Clark (Willem Dafoe) sets up some grunts to remove the factories, but when politics interfere, Ryan becomes the center of blame from both the president’s side, and the drug dealers. And Clark.

How does it Match Up: Crazy pointy finger Ford is – as he was in Patriot Games – fully on board the project, so he seems alive in a way that he simply wasn’t in Indy IV. But Ford also dooms his entries in the Ryan continuum to be the least because he brings too much baggage against the films. He’s not vulnerable, and unfortunately he’s saddled with a character who has to mostly play second fiddle to others, including Dafoe. Sure he gets some action moments, but Ryan is an analyst, and his role in the famous jeep sitting-duck sequence is someone who must get the fuck out of the way. Directed by Phillip Noyce, this one improves on the first Ford/Ryan film, and kicks things up a notch. It’s smart, but not as smart as the first film, but at least it feels like it’s on to something. The bad guys are as often doing bad things to CYA as anything else. That plays as well now as it did then. Ryan is the world’s biggest Boy Scout, but Ford commands too much respect for the role. Like in President Kick-Ass, there’s no sense of danger, and the man isn’t vulnerable. He is, however, funny and sexy, and that definitely plays. Smartly, the family is shuffled off to the back of the storyline here, and Archer has little do, which is for the best. It’s also a very indulgent film, running 141 minutes, when there really isn’t a good reason for it to do so. Still, it’s not a bad entry after Patriot Games. This is the least of the three.

Extras/Look/Sound: Anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1). Also a marked improvement, the 1080p transfer made this more fun to revisit than I thought I would get. TrueHD 5.1 for those who have it, and when the rockets go off in the car crush sequence, it’s pretty fun. Extras consist of making that gets Jones, Ford, Noyce, Archer, etc (26 min.). Kinda weak. And the theatrical trailer.

The Challenger: The Sum of All Fears (2002)

The Jack Ryan: Ben Affleck

The Supporting cast: Morgan Freeman, James Cromwell, Bruce McGill, Liev Schrieber, Ciaran Hinds, Alan Bates, Bridget Moynahan, Colm Feore

The Plot: Terrorists find a nuclear bomb. Russia looks on the verge of a new order, and possible trouble. Bad guys want to set U.S. against Russia. Ryan is in the middle.

How does it Match Up: Ben Affleck did good work here, and improves on his Bay-game for the action genre. This was as his career was petering out, but the material, the cast, and Affleck make this 100% watchable. Morgan Freeman has good chemistry with Affleck, and that may be why they worked so well together on Gone Baby Gone. Sadly, Freeman’s Cabot is a re-write of the Admiral Greer character from the other films, and dies just as ignominious a death. But what a cast, and Liev Schriber (the enemy of spellcheckers everywhere) does a great job as the Clark character. The dirty merc you send in to do the bad business. It’s a great role for him, and he nails it. It also points out that Affleck’s character is a man a thought, and so he gets put in positions where he has to act tough, which was a problem with the Ford films. You wish it played just a notch better. Of course the central conceit is a nuclear bomb going off in America, and at the time, there was a fresh wound on the country w/r/t this. The film handles it well, and it still plays like a movie. What’s ironic is that the makers suggest that an administration would handle such a thing, even with heightened tensions, rationally. Ironically, the lessons learned in the film were not applied IRL

Extras/Look/Sound: Anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1). This is a troubling transfer. It must have been made around the time of the film’s release, as this is easily the weakest of the bunch. And not that much of an improvement on the DVD. But the TrueHD 5.1 is solid. Everything else is from the original release, including two commentaries, one with director Phil Alden Robinson and DP John Lindley, the second (the keeper, as it were) with Robinson and Tom Clancy. Clancy is kind of a dick, which adds a lot to the track. The two, I don’t want to say bicker, but the exchanges are not always polite. There’s a standard making of (30 min.) with period interviews, and “Creating Reality” (28 min.) which looks at the special effects. The trailer is also included.