The Hunt for Red October

I rewatched The Hunt for Red October recently, and I’ll admit, it’s still got that icy-cold grip that made it such a solid entry in the action-thriller era of the early ’90s. The premise is classic Tom Clancy: a Soviet sub captain (played by Sean Connery in one of his suavest later-career roles) is maybe defecting, or maybe doing something way more dangerous, and only Jack Ryan (Alec Baldwin, looking alarmingly young) might figure out which. Submarine movies rarely get the respect they deserve, but this one’s a cut above.

What stands out, even years later, is just how confidently the film maintains its tension. You’re trapped with these men in a steel tube, and the sense of claustrophobia is palpable. Scenes are often dim, filled with reds and dull blues, and every ping of sonar is a little jolt to the nerves. The director, John McTiernan, gets you sweating with nothing but sonar bleeps and terse arguments.

The pacing is a little uneven. The first act is all slow simmer, loading you with naval jargon and Cold War paranoia. If you’re not in the mood for “serious men in uniforms having serious conversations,” the opening stretch might feel like the homework part of the movie. But once the chess game between the Russians and Americans gets moving, it’s pretty engrossing.

Connery does Connery, accent and all. I’m not going to pretend it’s a convincing Lithuanian-Russian voice, but the authority he brings is what makes Ramius an iconic character. Baldwin played Jack Ryan before Ford, Affleck, or Krasinski, and while he’s a bit bland, he gives the character believable anxiety. Honestly, the side characters (Sam Neill as the wistful sub officer, Scott Glenn’s buttoned-down submarine commander) flesh things out with warmth.

What doesn’t work? The action itself is low-key for a film sold on the promise of underwater warfare. It’s a thriller driven by suspense and dialogue, not explosions or gunfights. Sometimes the military jargon and geopolitics feel like hurdles if you only came for popcorn entertainment. And the music, while big and bombastic, sometimes lays it on a bit thick.

Still, it’s a rare kind of action film—tense, brainy, and actually interested in the people trapped in its pressure cooker. Even if you don’t care about the Cold War, it’ll keep you guessing and, at times, genuinely anxious.