Clear and Present Danger (1994) - Harrison Ford says let's do it one more time

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After watching Patriot Games last night, I figured fuck it, let's go on and keep rolling on the Jack Ryan train. So tonight I watched Clear and Present Danger.

Here's one thing I noticed: The Jack Ryan films just keep getting bigger. The producers are obviously of the mind that you always have to try to outdo the last film and bigger = better.

In The Hunter for Red October, the whole movie is shot on a submarine and the closest thing you get to an action scene is when Sean Connery merks this one dude near the beginning of the movie. In Patriot Games, the scope is expanded to include two countries and some proper gunplay, along with an action finale on a boat. And in Clear and Present Danger the scope is expanded even further to include snipers and lots of explosions and military guys doing shit in the jungle and ambushes on the street and a daring finale where our hero has to jump onto a moving helicopter and be pulled to safety at the last minute.

(And I think in The Sum of All Fears a nuke comes into play or whatever, I dunno, I haven't watched that one in years.)

Bigger does not always equal better though. Maybe it's because I feel like films and TV shows about the Colombian cartels is played out--just in the last handful of years we've gotten Cocaine Cowboys, Narcos, Snowfall, American Made and The Infiltrator--but I just had a hard time staying interested in this one. I much preferred the more intimate story, as well as the less trodden path of Northern Ireland and the IRA, that made up Patriot Games.

It's not that this is a poor film. From a craftsmanship standpoint it's certainly well made, and it also has a great cast. I'd say that the story that it's telling is told well. I just didn't have a whole lot of interest in the story that it's telling.

I'll give it a 6.5/10. It probably deserves better than that, but I just wasn't feeling it.

The Hunt for Red October
Patriot Games
Clear and Present Danger

That's my ranking thus far. And since I've come this far I guess I'll say fuck it once again and keep on rolling with this series.

Next Up - Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit


 
Bits and pieces of Hunt for Red October.

That's easily the best one. You need to sit down and watch that one all the way through.

I seem to be in the minority when it comes to preferring Patriot Games over Clear and Present Danger. Clear and Present Danger has an 82% on RT, while Patriot Games has a 75%.
 
That's easily the best one. You need to sit down and watch that one all the way through.

I seem to be in the minority when it comes to preferring Patriot Games over Clear and Present Danger. Clear and Present Danger has an 82% on RT, while Patriot Games has a 75%.
My stepdad said he likes Patriot Games a lot, so he probably shares your view as well.

I personally can't look at ratings for movies anymore, my taste is too weird and varied to rely on it for anything.
 
My stepdad said he likes Patriot Games a lot, so he probably shares your view as well.

I personally can't look at ratings for movies anymore, my taste is too weird and varied to rely on it for anything.

Well if you check any of them out I'd be curious to hear your thoughts.
 
I always wanted a movie about Mr. Clark...and not Willem Dafoe.

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I like this one possibly the best of the series, and at least slightly more than Patriot Games. The supporting cast is excellent. Harris Yulin is great as always, and I thought Donald Moffat was a bit of an odd casting choice for the President, but it worked. Joaquim de Almeida was good as "the Latin Jack Ryan" and Miguel Sandoval has maybe the best role and performance of his career.

I also found that it may have had more memorable moments than any movie in the series.
- Baseball bat scene
- How dare you Sir!
- Funeral / massacre intercut
- Cars trapped in an alley getting picked off from the rooftops
 
I was against his reprisal of Deckard until I saw it.
This could be okay

This is a 25 year old movie, not an upcoming sequel...

But I agree that he gave a very nice performance as an older Deckard. His acting was great, but he was a little too old to sell some of the physical stuff like the impact of his punches, so I wish that had been toned down.
 
This is a 25 year old movie, not an upcoming sequel...

But I agree that he gave a very nice performance as an older Deckard.
Oh, I thought the OP was in service of an upcoming sequel.
Silly me.
This was the performance that gave Ford the "What have you done with my FAMILY?!" rep as an actor, wasn't it?
 
I like this one possibly the best of the series, and at least slightly more than Patriot Games. The supporting cast is excellent. Harris Yulin is great as always, and I thought Donald Moffat was a bit of an odd casting choice for the President, but it worked. Joaquim de Almeida was good as "the Latin Jack Ryan" and Miguel Sandoval has maybe the best role and performance of his career.

I also found that it may have had more memorable moments than any movie in the series.
- Baseball bat scene
- How dare you Sir!
- Funeral / massacre intercut
- Cars trapped in an alley getting picked off from the rooftops

I enjoyed the film overall, but I think my opinion was affected by the fact that I'm just a little tired of movies and TV shows about the Colombian drug trade. I also didn't really care the way the action was ramped up for this one. I preferred the more toned down style of the previous two films.

I do agree about the casting, except for Miguel Sandoval. I just didn't buy him as a hard-edged drug lord.
 
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