Hunt for Red October 1990 (2016)
Just a quick note that this film really holds up, like weirdly well given its subject and vintage. If you haven't watched it in a long time, add it to your list.
Off topic, but always amazed me that the Russian submarine in this film has a swimming pool (more like a plunge pool) but still seems wild.
Fyi, based on a true story:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_frigate_Storozhevoy
"Gregory D. Young was the first Westerner to investigate the mutiny as part of his 1982 master's thesis Mutiny on Storozhevoy: A Case Study of Dissent in the Soviet Navy. One of 37 copies of Young's thesis was placed in the Nimitz Library of the United States Naval Academy where it was read by Tom Clancy, then an insurance salesman, who used it as inspiration to write The Hunt for Red October."
My wife and I (both 55) rewatch this probably once a year. It's a really solid film that holds up SUPER well -- so many great elements came together here. Obviously, the principal cast is outstanding; it's not just Baldwin and Connery.
Sam Neill we always love (Connery's XO; "I would like to have seen Montana"), and Scott Glenn (Mancuso, captain of the Dallas) rarely disappoints. We also get a late appearance by Richard Jordan (would would die only a few years later) and an early one by Courtney Vance as the Dallas' sonar tech. Stellan Skarsgard is Tupolev, the Soviet sub captain who pursues Connery. Jeffrey Jones, mostly of note to our generation as the principal in Ferris Bueller, has a small role as the former Navy intelligence man Skip Tyler. And there's a blink-and-you-miss-it role for Gates "Beverly Crusher" McFadden as Ryan's wife in the early moments of the film.
It was only on a relatively recent viewing that we noticed one of the Red October's minor officers was played by an actor we'd recently seen on TV. On THE AMERICANS one of the main Soviet characters is a man named Burov who eventually rotates back to the USSR to work in the same government ministry as his father. His father is played by Boris Krutonog, who 30 years before played Slavin -- his big moment is denouncing the political officer as a "pig" at the tense dinner scene early on.
I never know how film-nerdy people are, so I'll also note that Red October was directed by John McTiernan, who also directed the original Predator, Die Hard, The Last Action Hero, Die Hard with a Vengence, and the 1999 Thomas Crown remake. Unfortunately he did some deeply shady shit around one of his films and ended up in some significant legal trouble that basically blew up his career, but the films he made in the 20th century basically all hold up pretty dang well. The sense of momentum you get in October is present in Die Hard and in Crown as well.
It's interesting that ILM went with a smoke chamber to shoot the underwater scenes in this film. It was probably a lot easier than shooting underwater and less likely to screw up the models. Some of the time this method looks fantastic but, at other times, it looks like a model in a room full of smoke. I've always found the underwater model scenes shot for Das Boot[1] to be more convincing.
The making of for "The Hunt for Red October" describes some of the other practical effects inside that movie, like the scenes on the surface with the Red October or the set for the interiors of the submarines: https://youtube.com/watch?v=2_epfA20dOY
“This business will get out of control. It will get out of control and we'll be lucky to live through it.”
Overheard every few sprints…
If you like Red October, dont miss the french movie "Le chant du loup". Absolutely great for lovers of the genre: "The Wolf's Call" - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7458762/
The pylon holding up the ship out of frame reminded me of the Captain Disillusion video on how they did the ship in Flight of the Navigator. https://youtu.be/tyixMpuGEL8?si=PBwP3BWLcuSfTu2n&t=206
I know it's not for cinema but anyone in Cambridge, MA should visit the nautical model museum at MIT. Has some excellent large models. https://mitmuseum.mit.edu/more/hart-nautical-gallery
Love this movie, it turned me into an avid reader of Clancy.
At the time of this movie, I was working as a software engineer for a defense contractor building combat control systems for submarines. When it was released, the company took the entire department, including former Navy submarine officers now project/program managers to a private viewing. There were definitely groans when some things on the sub were inaccurate, but given the level of hands-on knowledge and expertise in the audience, it was very well received.
Really curious to know what the test shots from Boss Films looked like!
Richard Edlund’s team’s work on various films of the 80s was impeccable (including Ghostbusters, Die Hard, Big Trouble in Little China, and more). They were the inheritor of the crown of high quality 65mm VFX after Douglas Trumbull quit the business (the pinnacle of his work being films like Blade Runner and Brainstorm).
I have to wonder what was wrong that caused the last minute switch to ILM!
This man bought the prop recently
https://cowboystatedaily.com/2024/10/28/the-hunt-for-red-oct...
If you like this movie, I recommend Jamelle Bouie and John Ganz's podcast "Unclear and Present Danger" (the name is a riff on Clancy as well) which covers the political and military thrillers of the 1990s and how they dealt with the United States' changing place in the world after the end of the Cold War.
They have done two episodes on this movie:
https://jamellebouie.net/unclear-and-present-danger/2021/10/...
https://jamellebouie.net/unclear-and-present-danger/2022/10/...
Presumably the description that "mirrors were used in a periscope like arrangement" refers to something like these: https://www.keslowcamera.com/gear/lenses/other/periscopes-an... or https://www.panavision.com/camera-and-optics/optics/product-...
I really liked the movie which was pretty faithful to Clancy's book and, I think, to submarine life itself but the one thing I didn't like about it was the choice of Sean Connery as Ramius. For a supposed Russian speaker, his Scottish accent was a bit jarring to my ears. He did a great job with the role but the believability was compromised. I be curious to know who the producers considered for that part and why they were rejected.
One of my favorite movies. The Tom Clancy (Jack Ryan[1]) themed movies are all very good. I wish Hollywood would make more of this type of genre today instead of recycled superhero garbage.
[1]
- The Hunt for Red October (1990)
- Patriot Games (1992)
- Clear and Present Danger (1994)
- The Sum of All Fears (2002)My memory is the intruded explosions and depth charge effects were a bit intrusive to the model. ILM was fusing digital and analogue effects?
The book has a few mentions of an Apple II on the USS Dallas and that the sonarman, Jones, is the boat champion of Choplifter and Zork. As a nerdy teenager, I always loved that detail.
Yay, in one of the photos there's a giant mermaid beside the submarine!
Great article.
Youtube channel InCamera did an interesting series of videos showing their use of practical effects in the creation of a submarine-based short. Not directly related to Red October, but folks might find it worth a watch.
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0pnlLzhW4c1v-vKUWRWXZBD4...
The shot in this movie where you see the nuclear missile bays was incredible.
My only complaint was one of my favorite lines from the book did not make it into the movie, where Captain Ramius says 'there is enough chemical energy in the rocket fuel to melt the submarine'.
Somewhat related (submarine war movie), is Crimson Tide with Denzel Washington and Gene Hackman.
I can't vouch for the military accuracy, but can say that the drama and intensity is one of best i've seen.
Is there any real life basis for the plot of Hunt For Red October? Did any Soviet subs ever defect?
Great read on how ILM made the shots. As a crew member on the USS Salt Lake City (SSN-716), we took many of the cast and crew out to sea for 24 hours before they made the movie to get a feel for what sub-life was like before they made the movie. All the cast and crew were great, and I think it made the movie better.
Actor Scott Glenn, who plays the Captain of Dallas, modeled his character after our Captain, Tom Fargo. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rjO_VrESNo
It is a great movie!