The Hunt for Red October

In 1984, the USSR’s best submarine captain in their newest sub violates orders and heads for the USA. Is he trying to defect, or to start a war?

• Director: John McTiernan
• Genre:Action / Adventure / Drama / Thriller
• Runtime:135 minutes

Cast

Sean Connery : Marko Ramius
Alec Baldwin : Jack Ryan
Scott Glenn : Bart Mancuso
Sam Neill : Captain Borodin
James Earl Jones: Admiral Greer

Marko Ramius (Sean Connery) is captain of the Soviet ballistic missile submarine Red October, which features caterpillar drive–a revolutionary silent propulsion system that renders the boat virtually undetectable. At the start of the film, Ramius takes the boat out to sea for exercises with the submarine V.K. Konovalov, commanded by Captain Tupolev (Stellan Skarsgård), a former student of Ramius.

Once underway, Ramius murders political officer Ivan Putin (Peter Firth), the one man aboard not under his command and the only man aboard besides himself who knows the sub’s official orders. Ramius then burns the original orders and informs the crew that their mission is to conduct nuclear missile drills off America’s east coast. The USS Dallas, an American submarine on patrol nearby, detects Red October but loses contact once Ramius engages the silent drive.

The next morning, CIA analyst Jack Ryan (Alec Baldwin) briefs several senior U.S. government officials on the departure of Red October and the threat it poses. In the briefing, Ryan learns that the Soviet Navy has deployed the bulk of its Atlantic fleet to find and sink Red October. The officials in the briefing fear that Ramius may be planning an unauthorized first strike against the U.S., but Ryan suggests that Ramius plans to defect. Ryan is sent out into the North Atlantic with a brief opportunity to prove his theory before the U.S. Navy will be ordered to sink Red October.

While under way, Red October’s caterpillar drive suddenly fails, and sabotage is suspected. No longer silent, the sub comes under attack by Soviet forces and begins a series of risky maneuvers through undersea canyons. Meanwhile, Petty Officer Jones (Courtney B. Vance), a sonar analyst aboard Dallas, reconstructs Red October’s path and plots an intercept course. Ryan learns of his findings and arranges a hazardous mid-ocean rendezvous to get aboard Dallas, where he convinces the sub’s Captain, Bart Mancuso (Scott Glenn) to attempt communication with Ramius through morse code in order to determine his true intentions. Ramius, stunned that the Americans guessed his plan to defect, accepts their cooperation and agrees to a new course. Read more

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