The Film
Released at a time when The Reagan Era and The Cold War were still in recent memory, The Hunt for Red October was the first big-screen adaptation of the works of author Tom Clancy, a great storyteller with a knack for knowing government/military secrets he really shouldn't. October's success of course led to three more movies, and the Clancy brand would eventually extend to videogames and more. Red October packs a potency that the others lack however, rumored as it is to be based on actual, highly classified events. Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger and The Sum of All Fears, while logistically feasible, are dramatically works of pure fiction by comparison.
The story moves as briskly as the subs, with Cold War fibs flying fast and furious. The only hope for Ramius' plan to succeed, and for détente to be maintained, rests with an analyst for the CIA (Alec Baldwin, poised here for superstardom), whose every utterance seems to be met with skepticism or open hostility. Baldwin's Jack Ryan is smart, funny and vulnerable, the ideal foil for the greatest international naval disappearing act that never happened. Or did it…?
The Picture
As appropriate to a tale of espionage set in the ocean depths, this is a dark, shadowy, at times murky motion picture. Unfortunately, blacks frequently lack detail, but colors are strong, particularly the distinctive red, blue, and sometimes green interiors of the subs chosen to quickly distinguish them during fast cuts. I don't remember quite so many shots being as noticeably soft as they are here, but as Jan De Bont was the preeminent action cinematographer of the day, I can only assume this was a deliberate artistic choice. A mild twitchiness appears in darker or less clearly focused areas of the 2.2:1 frame, with ringing and other unpleasant artifacting in some of the underwater shots. I also noticed more dirt than usual on a modern movie. Even so, more detail overall is evident here than in previous versions, such that we can plainly see the special effects wires on the models from certain angles.
The Sound
An Academy Award winner for Sound Effects Editing, along with a nominations for Best Sound (and another for Film Editing, always a good sign for an action flick), this track fares well in Dolby TrueHD 5.1. The team did a fantastic job richly rendering every different environment; inside or out, wet or dry; but aggressively so, whether we are enveloped by the icy wind of Polijarny, or intimidated by the busyness of the graving dock, or simply pounded by thunder and rain. The use of hard surrounds is like manna from home theater heaven, as when the chorus sings full and clear behind us as part of the multichannel music mix. At other times, Basil Poledouris' score floats almost imperceptibly, adding a delicate flavor to a scene. And then a mighty submarine will move across the screen with powerful three-dimensional panning. On the subject of subs, bass is remarkably restrained, except as needed either to reinforce the drama or to drive home the final explosion.
Torpedoes, gunshots, sonar pings: This movie has everything!
The Extras
Ported from the 2002 special edition DVD and presented in standard definition is the 29-minute behind-the-scenes retrospective "Beneath the Surface," providing a good overview of entire project. Director John McTiernan's enjoyable commentary is also carried over, and a theatrical trailer has been remastered for HD.
Final Thoughts
High-tech, informative, indirectly patriotic and unremittingly entertaining, Red October makes the incredible believable, and this Blu-ray reaffirms its place as one of my favorite movies.
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