It doesn’t have the haunting claustrophobia of Das Boot but it’s a superb thriller
Strong Tom Clancy source material – the plot actually rides pretty closely to Dr. Strangelove without the comedy of course
It’s better than the weak metacritic score (58 at the time I’m writing)- but you could see it as a disappointment with McTiernan (coming off Predator and Die Hard) and that cast
The cast is outstanding. Much is made of Connery with that accent playing a Soviet naval commander but he’s very good here- frosty, melancholic— and the supporting players are strong and abundant- Baldin, James Earl Jones is great, Richard Jordan is very good, Stellan Skarsgård in an early small role—I think Scott Glenn comes off very well—perhaps the best in the cast
Great canted angle shot of Stellan Skarsgård showing the stress and claustrophobia
Sam Neil’s sweet “do you think they’ll let me live in Montana?” monologue.
The shot of Baldwin crawling in the ship is shot very much like McTiernan shooting Willis in Die Hard
Baldwin vs. Harrison Ford here as Jack Ryan—Baldwin plays him more as an everyman- Ford is more of a super hero—hard to imagine Ford’s Ryan turning green from smoking
Ends on a high note- quoting Christopher Columbus and Baldwin saying “Welcome to the New World”
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