Clear and Present Danger

Third installment of the Agent Jack Ryan with lots of gun-rattling action, suspense and intrigue. Ryan is a high officer from CIA ,married(Anne Archer) and with sons(Thora Birch).After death a closed friend by Colombian drugs Cali cartel(Miguel Sandoval,Joaquin De Almeida) , the President(Donald Moffat) himself sanctions a covert operation against the drug barons by sending crack soldiers into the Colombia country under the command of mercenaries(Willem Dafoe,Benjamin Bratt, Raymond Cruz). Harrison Ford's Jack Ryan contracted into White House's staff(Harris Yulin, Henry Czerny,Dean Jones) investigates the events. Ryan thinks he's still after Colombian connections to the dead man's money.

This blockbuster is an excellent adaptation of the novel by Tom Clancy , companion to ¨The hunt for Red October¨ with Ford taking over the role of Ryan from Alec Baldwin and second part ¨Patriot games¨ again with Harrison Ford , who's becoming the king of trilogies . Extraordinaries nail-biting action scenes, specially when Ryan and his partners are trapped by machine-gunners in a network of narrows streets and posteriorly parodied by Leslie Nielsen. Interesting screenplay plenty of twists and thrills by John Milius and Steve Zaillian. Spectacular musical score fitting to action and suspense by James Horner. Colorful and atmospheric cinematography by Donald McAlpine. The picture is well directed by Phillip Noyce, an action movies expert, but he directed ¨Blind fury, The Saint, The Bone Collectors and Patriot games¨ among others. Rating: Above average, the film will like to Harrison Ford fans and Jack Ryan novels followers.

I don't know of anybody who doesn't like this movie, Clear and Present Danger. There was a funny cartoon I once read called Clear and Present Dangerfield which showed Rodney Dangerfield saying "I get no respect from these terrorists!" Very funny. The movie has some cheesy moments and some patriotic moments John Wayne would be proud of. The book and movie are different but the book, like most of Tom Clancy's books are so long that it's not possible to make it into an alike movie. So therefore the movie is focused on the parts with Jack Ryan and the other characters are hardly in it. Henry Czerny comes across as the top supporting actor in it and earned some roles from his solid underrated performance. Donald Moffat plays a two-faced president better than any actor who would have otherwise played him as a straight up mean dictator. Like in the book, the President has no name, he simply goes by the name the President of the United States of America. Philip Noyce does his job well at directing this picture. And of course this is one of Harrison Ford's last great roles since he did a Tom Hanks and has been desperate for an Oscar ever since. Overall, it's a great movie for anyone to enjoy.

There's not much to really be said about this film, it's a fun enough time with a pretty stellar cast comprising of the likes of Willem Dafoe, Harrison Ford and James Earl Jones, the story is interesting if somewhat complicated and all the technical aspects of the film are fine, this is the kind of film you'll watch, enjoy and then likely forget about but that's alright. For what it is this film is a fun romp, the one note I'll give is that the action in this film is pretty few and far between, not a deal breaker and there is still action it's just that if you're going in expecting loads of fighting and explosions you may be disappointed for the first half, still a decent film that can quite nicely take up an evening.

The third outing for Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan - and the second with Harrison Ford in the lead - is a tightly constructed political thriller. Condensing Clancy's door stoppers is no easy task, but the makers here, headed by director Phillip Noyce, have manged to keep the pic brisk and intelligent for entertainment worth.

Plot essentially boils down to America's war on drugs and the Colombian cartel at the helm of such operations. Naturally all is a bit suspect in the American corridors of power, leading to corruption and abuse of power that puts Jack Ryan firmly at the front to sift and destroy the bad eggs staining the American Star Spangled Banner.

This very much plays out for those who like a bit of politico subterfuge, whist being ok with long passages of like minded chatter is also a requisite. That we have a fine cast playing out the screenplay (Donald E. Stewart, Steven Zaillian and John Milius) is a big plus that gives credibility to the shifty machinations.

There's a nagging annoyance throughout that this still should be a better film, especially given the overstretched run time of 2 hours 20 minutes, and the computer sections are dubious and the finale is something of a damp squib. However, we are in the company of great pros, both in front of and behind the camera - and also on the page (Clancy's brain superlative). With that in mind it's reasons to seek this out and enjoy if this splinter of political thriller is your bag. 7/10

I have read some quite negative reviews of this film, with many being upset by the lack of coherence with the book despite taking it's characterisations etc...I agree that the film does not follow the book particularly well but it is a film, for film watchers, not a book or a film for book readers so stop criticising it on that level. This film is entertaining from start to finish with a surprisingly clever plot considering the genre and credit must go to Ford for starring and excelling in yet another blockbuster. People may say he's not the most versatile actor in the world and I'm not going to disagree, but he does what he does brilliantly and those who don't enjoy this movie really do need a good talking to. Along with Patriot Games, this is part of an impressive set of movies which are far more entertaining than the books (perhaps thats because I'm not an avid reader) and shall keep all you viewers out there happy, if only for a short while.