"THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER" (1990) Review
I will be the first to admit that I have never been an ardent reader of Tom Clancy's novels. Many who know me would find this strange, considering my penchant for the movie adaptations of his stories. The first I ever saw was"THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER", the 1990 adaptation of Clancy's 1984 novel of the same title.
The last remnants of the Cold War - at least the one between the United States and the Soviet Union - were being played out when "THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER" hit the screen. Realizing this, director John McTiernan, screenwriter Larry Ferguson (who also had a role in the film) and producer Mace Neufeld decided to treat Clancy's story as a flashback by setting the movie in the year Clancy's novel was published. The movie begins with the departure of the new Soviet submarine, the Red October, which possesses a new caterpillar drive that renders it silent. In command of the Red October is Captain Marko Ramius. Somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean, the U.S. Navy submarine called the U.S.S. Dallas has a brief encounter with the Red October before it loses contact due to the Soviet sub's caterpillar drive. This encounter catches the attention of C.I.A. analyst Jack Ryan, who embarks upon studying the Red October's schematics.
Unbeknownst to the C.I.A., Captain Ramius has put in motion a plan for the defection of his senior officers and himself. They also intend to commit treason by handing over the Red October to the Americans. Unfortunately, Ramius has left a letter stating his intentions to his brother-in-law, a Soviet government official. This leads the Soviet ambassador in Washington D.C. to inform the Secretary of Defense that the Red October has been lost at sea and requires the U.S. Navy's help for a "rescue mission". However, Ryan manages to ascertain that Ramius plans to defect. When the Soviets change tactics and claim that Captain Ramius has become a renegade with plans to fire a missile at the U.S. coast, Ryan realizes that he needs to figure out "how" Ramius plans to defect before the Soviet or U.S. Navies can sink the Red October.
I might as well put my cards on the table. After twenty-three years, "THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER" holds up very well as a Cold War thriller. What prevented it from becoming a dated film were the filmmakers' decision to treat Clancy's tale as a flashback to the last decade of the Cold War. I have never read Clancy's novel. In fact, I have only read two of his novels - "Patriot Games" and "Clear and Present Danger". Because of this, I could not judge the movie's adaptation of the 1984 novel. But there is no doubt that "THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER" is a first-rate - probably superb thriller. Screenwriters Larry Ferguson and Donald E. Stewart made another first-rate contribution to the script by not rushing the narrative aspect of the story. The movie is not some fast-paced tale stuffed with over-the-top action. Yes, there is action in the film - mainly combat encounters, a murder, hazardous flying in a rain storm and a shoot-out inside the Red October's engine room. And it is all exciting stuff. However, Ferguson and Stewart wisely detailed the conversations held between Ramius and his fellow defectors, Ryan's attempts to figure out Ramius' defection plans and his efforts to convince various high-ranking U.S. Naval officers not to accept the Soviets' lies about the Red October's captain.
"THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER" also features some excellent performances. Sean Connery gave one of his best performances as the Red October's enigmatic and wily captain, Markus Ramius. Alec Baldwin was equally impressive as the slightly bookish, yet very intelligent C.I.A. analyst, Jack Ryan. A part of me believes it is a pity that he never portrayed the role again. The movie also boasted fine performances from James Earl Jones as Ryan's boss, C.I.A. Deputy Director James Greer; Scott Glenn as the intimidating captain of the U.S.S. Dallas, Bart Mancuso; Sam Neill as Ramius' very loyal First Officer, Vasily Borodin; Fred Dalton Thompson as Rear Admiral Joshua Painter; Courtney B. Vance as the Dallas' talented Sonar Technician, Ronald "Jonesy" Jones; Tim Curry as the Red October's somewhat anxious Chief Medical Officer (and the only one not part of the defection) Dr. Yevgeniy Petrov; and Joss Ackland as Ambassador Andrei Lysenko. Stellan Skarsgård made a dynamic first impression for me as Viktor Tupolev, the Soviet sub commander ordered to hunt and kill Ramius. And Richard Jordan was downright entertaining as the intelligent and somewhat manipulative National Security Advisor Dr. Jeffrey Pelt. The movie also featured brief appearances from the likes of Tomas Arana, Gates McFadden (of "STAR TREK: NEXT GENERATION") and Peter Firth (of "SPOOKS").
Before one starts believing that I view "THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER" as perfect, I must admit there were a few aspects of it that I found a bit troublesome for me. The movie has a running time of 134 minutes. Mind you, I do not consider this as a problem. However, the pacing seemed in danger of slowing down to a crawl two-thirds into the movie. It took the Dallas' encounter with the Red October to put some spark back into the movie again. And could someone explain why Gates McFadden portrayed Ryan's wife, Dr. Cathy Ryan, with a slight British accent? Especially since she was an American-born character?
Despite these minor quibbles, "THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER" is a first-rate spy thriller that has withstood the test of time for the past 23 years. And I believe the movie's sterling qualities own a lot to John McTiernan's excellent direction, a well-written script by Larry Ferguson and Donald E. Stewart, and superb performances from a cast led by Sean Connery and Alec Baldwin.
"THOR: THE DARK WORLD" (2013) Review
As I had stated in my review of "IRON MAN 3", I had assumed that the release of the 2012 blockbuster, "THE AVENGERS" would signal the end of Marvel's multi-film saga about the group of comic book heroes and their government allies, S.H.I.E.L.D. Not only did "IRON MAN 3" prove me wrong, but also the recent television series, "AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D." and the second movie about the God of Thunder, "THOR: THE DARK WORLD".
Like the 2011 movie, "THOR", this latest film begins thousands of years ago. Back in day (or year); Bor, the father of Odin, clash with the Dark Elves of Svartalfheim and their leader Malekith, who seeks to destroy the universe using a weapon known as the Aether. After conquering Malekith's forces, Bor hides the Aether within a stone column. He was also unaware that Malekith, his lieutenant Algrim, and a handful of Dark Elves have managed to escape by going into suspended animation.
Many years later, Thor and his fellow Asgardians (which include his friends Lady Sif, Fandral and Volstagg) help their comrade Hogun repel marauders on the latter's homeworld, Vanaheim. It proves to be the last battle in a war to pacify the Nine Realms, which had fallen into chaos following the destruction of the Bifröst. And in London, astrophysicist Dr. Jane Foster is led by her intern Darcy Lewis and the latter's intern, Ian, to an abandoned factory where objects have begun to disobey the laws of physics by disappearing into thin air. Jane is teleported to another world, where she is infected by the Aether. Both the Asgardians and Jane's former mentor, Dr. Erik Selvig learn on separate occasions that the Convergence, a rare alignment of the Nine Realms, is imminent. While the event approaches, portals (one of which Jane had fallen into) linking the worlds appear at random. Heimdall alerts Thor of Jane's recent disappearance, leading the latter to search for her on Earth. When she inadvertently releases an unearthly force upon a group of London policemen, Thor takes her to Asgard. Unfortunately, the Asgardian healers do not know how to treat her. Odin, recognizing the Aether, warns Jane's infection will kill her given enough time, and that the Aether's return heralds a catastrophic prophecy. Unbeknownst to Odin, the re-emergence of the Aether also ends the Dark Elves' suspended animation and revives their determination to use the substance to darken the universe.
"THOR: THE DARK WORLD" has proven to be a major box office, since its release nearly a month ago. This is not surprising, considering the enormous success of Marvel's Avenger saga. "IRON MAN 3", set six months after the events of the 2012 film, also proved to be a big hit. Some people have claimed that the first film about Thor was superior. As much as I had enjoyed "THOR", I cannot say that I would agree. It reeked just a bit too much of a superhero origin tale. Personally, I found the plot for "THOR: THE DARK WORLD" more satisfying.
Mind you, this second God of Thunder movie did not strike me as perfect. It had a few flaws. Although I applaud director Alan Taylor and cinematographer Kramer Morgenthau's expansion of the Asgard setting beyond the royal palace and the Bifröst, the latter's photography for that particular setting seemed to lack Haris Zambarloukos' dazzling and colorful photography from the 2011 film. Instead, there seemed to be a slightly dull cast to Morgenthau's photography of Asgard. Thor's friends did not particularly project that same screen chemistry that I found so enjoyable in the first film. Aside from one major scene in which Thor plotted Jane's escape from Asgard, they rarely had any scenes together. And Tadanobu Asano's Hogun had even less scenes. I wonder if this was due to the actor's major role in the upcoming movie, "47 RONIN".
Aside from these nitpicks, I enjoyed "THOR: THE DARK WORLD" very much. As I had earlier stated, I found it more enjoyable than the first film. Thanks to the screenplay written by Christopher Yost, Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, the movie provided a stronger narrative, beyond a simple origin tale. The three screenwriters explored the consequences of past events from both "THOR" and "THE AVENGERS" - Loki's actions in both movies; Thor's original destruction of the Bifröst, which led to chaos in the Nine Realms and his long separation from Jane Foster, the latter's inability to move on, and the impact upon Erik Selvig from being possessed by Loki. However, the movie also explored how a past event in the Asgardians' history - their conflict with the Dark Elves - managed to once again, have a negative impact upon Earth. For a movie that was juggling a good number of subplots, along with a major plot, I thought the writers and director Alan Taylor did a first-rate job in balancing it all in the end.
Taylor has limited experience as a movie director, but he has a long history as a television direction. Despite his longer experience with television, I must admit that I found myself more than pleased with his direction of"THOR: THE DARK WORLD". And I was also very impressed. I was especially impressed by his handling of certain action scenes, like the Dark Elves' invasion of Asgard, the fight scene between Queen Frigga and Malekith, the escape from Asgard, and Thor and Loki's confrontation against Malekith and the Dark Elves. But the one action scene that really impressed me turned out to be Thor and Jane's attempt to prevent Malekith's use of the Aether against Earth and the rest of the universe. This scene not only benefited from Taylor's direction, but also Dan Lebental and Wyatt Smith's editing. The movie's action sequences were nicely balanced by some of its dramatic and comedic scenes. I especially enjoyed Thor and Loki's quarrel over the latter's past actions, Thor's reunion with Jane, and Darcy and Ian's attempt to free Erik from a mental institution. One particular scene featured a quarrel between Thor and Odin over how to deal with the threat of the Dark Elves. It strongly reminded me of the two men's quarrel over the Frost Giants in the first film . . . but with an ironic twist. Instead of Odin being the mature and reasonable one, this time it is Thor.
My only complaint about the movie's performances has to do with Tadanobu Asano. Due to his limited appearance in the film, he never really had a chance to give a memorable performance. I hope to see more of him in the next film. Both Jamie Alexander and Ray Stevenson gave competent performances as Thor's two other friends - Lady Sif and Volstagg. Instead of Josh Dallas, this movie featured Zachary Levi in the role of Thor's fourth friend, Fandral. Levi had been originally cast in the role for the 2011 film. But due to his commitments to NBC's "CHUCK", Dallas got the role. But the latter's commitment to ABC's "ONCE UPON A TIME" forced Marvel and Disney to give the role back to Levi. Aside from the initial shock of seeing him in a blond wig, I must admit that Levi made a very dashing Fandral. I was very happy to see Kat Dennings reprise her role of Jane's intern, Darcy Lewis. She was as funny as ever. She also had an extra straight man in the form of Jonathan Howard, who portrayed "her" intern, Ian Boothby. The movie also featured a very funny cameo by Chris Evans, who portrayed Loki disguised as Steve Rogers/Captain America.
Christopher Eccleston may not have made the most witty villain from the Marvel canon, but I found his portrayal of Malekith very scary . . . in an unrelenting way. Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje struck me as equally impressive as Malekith's lieutenant, Algrim. It was a pity that I could barely make him out in his new appearance as the Kurse. Renee Russo's role as Queen Frigga was expanded in this second film and I am so thankful that it was. Not only did she have a marvelous dramatic scene with Tom Hiddleston's Loki, but watching her sword fight against Eccleston's Malekith reminded me of her role in the "LETHAL WEAPON" films. Idris Elba repeated his masterful portrayal of Asgard's gatekeeper, Heimdall. I especially enjoyed him in two scenes - Heimdall's efforts to prevent the Dark Elves' attack and his discussion with Thor about helping Jane leave Asgard against Odin's will. More importantly, audiences get to see him in even more scenes. Stellan Skarsgård was very hilarious in his portrayal of Dr. Erik Selvig in this film. I realize that one should not laugh at the idea of someone suffering from a mental trauma, but I could not help it. I do not think I have ever seen Skarsgård so entertaining in a Marvel film. Anthony Hopkins did a marvelous job in conveying Odin's increasing fragile rule over Asgard and control of his emotions. This was especially apparent in the scene featuring Odin and Thor's disagreement over the Dark Elves.
For the first time in a Marvel film, Tom Hiddleston's Loki is not portrayed as an out-and-out villain, but a more morally complex character, thanks to his relationships with Asgard's royal family - especially Thor and Frigga. Hiddleston was as playful and witty as ever. And I especially enjoyed his interactions with Chris Hemsworth. In fact, I can say the same about Natalie Portman's portrayal of Thor's love, astrophysicist Dr. Jane Foster. Personally, I found her funnier and her chemistry with Hemsworth a lot stronger in this second film. And I was especially happy to see her take a more active role in helping Thor defeat the main villain. As for Chris Hemsworth, he continued to roll as the God of Thunder, Thor. He did a marvelous job in developing his character into more complex waters, especially in regard to his relationships with Jane, Loki and Odin. And one of my favorite scenes in the movie featured Thor's silent reaction to his discovery that Jane had a date with another man. I hope that one day, people will truly appreciate what a first-rate actor he is.
"THOR: THE DARK WORLD" had a few flaws. What movie does not? But thanks to Alan Taylor's direction, an excellent cast led by a talented Chris Hemsworth and a very complex script written by Christopher Yost, Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, it not only turned to be very entertaining, but also better than the previous film. At least for me.
