Customer Reviews

Clear and Present Danger [Widescreen Special Collector's Edition] [Import]

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

while i don't think this is a great movie,i do think it is better than
the the last Jack Ryan film,Patriot Games.in Clear and Present
Danger,Harrison Ford once again plays Jack Ryan.this one has a bit more
intrigue than Patriot Games,and i also like the story more.it is more
developed.to me,this one has a bigger scope.there is bit more urgency
as well.having said that,i still think this movie is boring and
slow,more often than not.Like Patriot Games,it's certainly not
awful,but again i think maybe something got lost in the translation
from Tom Clancy's novel.it's also almost 2 and a half hours long,and i
think they could have trimmed some of it.still,it has it's good
moments.for me,Clear and Present Danger is a 3/5

Out of the four Tom Clancy/Jack Ryan movies, I think Clear and Present Danger is easily the best. Harrison Ford is one of my favorite actors, and even though he's made some dreck in recent years, his string of successes post-Star Wars and Indiana Jones reached their peak around this time.
The story of the film revolves around the U.S. war on drugs, attempting to stop the flow at the source of production in Colombia. To this end, Harrison Ford as Jack Ryan becomes caught up in the action along with the always-great Willem DaFoe as CIA agent Clark. Just about all of the actors in this movie are great, including Joaquim de Almeida, Donald Moffat, Henry Czerny (the slime dripping off his character might damage your TV), and Raymond Cruz.
Not only is this one of my favorite spy/government intrigue movies, but it's just flat-out one of my favorite movies. Great story, great actors, great movie. Highly recommended.

Once there was a man named Jack Ryan. That's about where the similarities to the book end.

For what it's worth, I'm not a picky movie viewer. I'll watch nearly anything. So for me to complain about this movie means that something was really off-base.

As far as an action movie goes, it was passable. As far as the technological thriller that the book was, it doesn't even come close. There is no character development (never felt anything towards Ding), random changes in a character's persona (Clark goes from wanting to kill Ryan to making the chopper go back), thing missing that are important to the plot (downing of drug running planes), and things that were never in the book (yacht owner tied to the President).

To make what could be an extremely long review somewhat shorter, if you've read the book and are a fan of Tom Clancy, don't bother. If you're just looking for a film with " 'splosions," this might work.

Harrison Ford isn't the person who wrote this story, Tom Clancy is. But, Harrison Ford is the perfect Jack Ryan, a spy with a conscience and a man who does the right thing not the expeditious thing. While this is not close to his biggest role or hit, he plays the character, Jack Ryan, as perfectly as he can be portrayed in a movie. He gives the right feeling to his character, the right indignation to wrongs done in the name of Patriotism and Justice, and portrays the right kind of patriotism to the fullest. But, the rest of the cast is also well played, including the good guys, Clark, Chavez, and James Earl Jones' character, and the bad guys, the President and his sleazy administration, as well as the drug dealers. Tom Clancy wrote a great book with this one and the book is well served by the overall excellence of the movie. I strongly recommend the movie to fans of Harrison Ford, Tom Clancy, and William Dafoe.

This is another one of Harrison Ford's greatest. I have always enjoyed his movies. He is a real actor and there is not many left out there. This movie has a plot to it and was well made. Great movie.

This is my personal favorite of all of the Jack Ryan films which include Hunt For Red October, Patriot Games and Sum of All Fears. The only real problem with this film is that it ends with you wanting to know more...How does the senate committee hearing turn out for example? How exactly does Ryan fully get himself off the hook? The acting is excellent by everyone involved and the action is truly suspenseful. I just hope that maybe Ford will do another one someday although I imagine that is probably unlikely the older he gets...But hey if he's still up for an Indiana Jones 4 then maybe this isn't a total impossibility. Phillip Noyce should do the next one.

So glad I'm in the good company of two top 10 Amazon reviewers in loving this movie. Thanks you all, for summarizing the storyline.

Erik North's (a top 1000 reviewer) review is pretty comprehensive in naming the actors, directors, etc. but he left out Benjamin Bratt (of Law & Order and Julia Roberts' Boy Toy fame) as the captain of the insertion team, and Raymondo Cruz as Ding.

The novel by the same name had Ding as the central character, and I was sorry that Ding had only a supporting role in the movie. However, the movie is GREAT entertainment in its own right.

Raymondo Cruz's Ding was sophisticated and touching. I especially liked his restrained satisfied expression after being selected for a mission that would let him name his own ticket afterwards.

Miguel Sandoval's performance as the ruthless drug lord, but loving family man, was nothing short of WONDERFUL. I especially liked his seamless transition from Spanish to English. Did you know that the production actually blew up that villa in which the drug lords were having a summit? Yes, they below up that nice house for for a few seconds worth of entertainment.

And why no mention of Joachim de Alameda, whose performance as the villain should have boosted his career, but didn't seem to have? His tortured expression just before killing his lover portrayed a depth of character that is a real bonus! The woman who played his lover was perfectly cast and wardrobed: spinster who is delighted and at the same time, frightened by her affair. The way Alameda phrased his lines with a credible Spanish accent was very nuanced -- a great performance.

The interleaving of formal, military funeral rites with the massacre of the insertion team was masterful -- only music and visuals, no dialog. The allusion to formal military honors also being conferred on the soldiers who were mowed down anonymously in the jungle was inspired. Such a cinematic device is more powerful than any narration or mind-numbing 'kill 'em all' sequence can deliver. Compliments to the film editor.

The integrated humor mark a new trend in action movies. Ryan asked his boozey helicopter pilot who was checking the manual and instrumentation of a newly purchasd craft "How much time do you have in this type?" The reply, after consulting his watch, was "9:30."

Donald Moffat's performance as the President could have greater dimension, and it overtly mimmicked Reagan, but that portrayal counters somewhat Clancy's accused conservative bias. A nod toward Hollywood liberalism? The whole movie, while upholding the courage and honor of American armed forces, rivals Oliver Stone in accusing the executive branch, from the president down, of corruption and betrayal. So even Lefties would find something to like about this movie.

The movie's opening sequence promises excellent action with compelling characters: the Coast Guard intercepts a hijacked private yacht and the teen-aged-looking and sounding FEMALE Coast Guard captain was commanding, and was obeyed! This movie engages the viewer on many levels: intellectual, political, visual, human, humorous and does it all entertainingly. Worth several viewings.

But it is too late now, oh well. Clear And Present Danger is the third installment in the Jack Ryan Series, like the novel, the story involves around the death of three Americans by the Cali Drug Cartel in Columbia. The thing is, I read the novel, it did not involve around the novel most of the time, the novel had more suspense when you got to the end, and I think that they could of gotten a better actor to play John Clark (played by Williem Dafoe in this movie.) because he did not fit the role of a Ex-Navy SEAL, John Clark is bigger and older than Dafoe, but it is good nonetheless.
If you want to love Clear And Present Danger, then read the book first, then see the movie, take my word for it, you will like the novel better than the film.

The third installment of Clancy movies and the 2nd of the Harrison Ford movies was better than Patriot Games but not as good as Red October. I thought Alec Baldwin was a closer match to Ryan than Harrison Ford. Ryan in the books seems to be Preppyish and Alec Baldwin got that to a T. Harrison Ford seemed too much like a average guy to be Ryan although he was better in this movie. I thought some of the stuff that happened in the book was better though.

this is a good movie I jsut don't think it lives up to the other jack Ryan movies it is still one of the best action movies out there though.