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Clear and Present Danger

Clear and Present Danger

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The thinking man's action movie!!!
Review: This is by far one of Harrison Ford's best movies aside from Indiana Jones & Star Wars, In this he is Jack Ryan, a CIA operative who is called in to take the place of his director(James Earl Jones) who becomes critically ill, the film begins as the U.S. Coast Gaurd makes a startling discovery, a prominant business man & his family have been murdered, we find out that he is also a personal friend of the President of the United States who may have had secret dealings with the drug cartels in central America that reulted in his murder after he was suspected of stealing from them, as Ryan investigates this mystery, the President secretly retalliates against the cartels, this is the kind of film that has to be followed closely, simply because there are so many characters to keep up with, with Willem Dafoe as a hired gun to carry out the attacks with Benjamin Bratt as his assassin, who are both hired by Ritter(Henry Czrensy) a CIA operative like Ryan, who is told to do so by the Chief of Staff(Harris Yulan) when Dafoe & Bratt mount their attacks, the cartels retaliate with attacks of their own, one in which Ford's Ryan becomes a target, as Ryan investigates futher, he becomes a subject of blame simply because he is the director, eventually he gets into Ritter's computer & learns the truth, only to lose the information once the President decides that enough is enough, what results is double-crossings at every turn, Ritter not only crossing Ryan but Dafoe & Bratt as well, the Chief of Staff even cuts a secret deal with the cartels hired intellgence agents to catch & kill Dafoe & Bratt, & to quietly pretend as if it didn't happen, Ryan then teams up with Dafoe who has escaped capture to let the truth come out, the cheif intelligence agent then double-crosses the head of the cartel which work to Ryan & Dafoe's advantage, again you really have to keep up with the story & characters, like "The Pelican Breif" before it, the intrique of secret government dealings become clear, but the final showdown between Ford's Ryan & the President(Donald Moffat) is the best as he tells him that he will not let this go unnoticed, Ford proves in this scene why he is still one of Hollywood's biggest stars!!!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Either you do it like the book or you don't do it at all
Review: This movie is a strong contender for the "Worst Movie Based On A Book" award. Harrison Ford is good, but Alec Baldwin is better. Willem Dafoe as John Clark? Whose silly idea was that? Dan Murray killed? Wow. The movie so loosely follows the book, it seems that the scriptwriters decided to bring back the memories of their 4th grade school compositions, transforming Ryan into Rambo.

READ THE BOOK!!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: It's okay, but rather lacking...
Review: I've read Tom Clancy's "Clear and Present Danger" and it's a great book. As for the movie, it leaves something to be desired. The plot very loosely follows the book. First of all, the Coast Guard cutter has a male captain, and the cutter and its crew play a HUGE role in the book, whereas in the movie, the captain is female and the cutter plays a tiny role. Secondly, Jack Ryan and Dan Murray do NOT go to Colombia with Emil Jacobs, and Dan Murray does NOT get killed. Third, John Clark is not some sort of rogue CIA agent controlling Army Spec Ops units. Fourth, when Jack Ryan goes down to Colombia, he goes with the support of an entire Air Force Search & Rescue unit. Other than that, it was okay.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Clear and Present Excitement!
Review: Clear and Present Danger is a great film, bar none. I have read many Clancy books, but Clear and Present Danger isn't one of them. Perhaps I hold this film in such high regard because of that (I can never forgive them for altering the climax of Hunt for Red October.)

Harrison's second outing as Jack Ryan is definitely better than his first. While Patriot Games was a straight action thriller, Clear and Present Danger combines suspenseful action sequences with genuine political intrigue. Jack Ryan is sent after a Colombian drug lord at the same time that his superiors at the CIA have sent special forces into Colombia to do the dirty deed themselves. This is a complex film that will satisfy both the action crowd and those who want a "thinking man's movie."

Some people have complained about the film's length. I'm angry that it wasn't long enough. A Clancy novel is so far-reaching that a three hour film is needed to capture its scope. The movie going public is generally too impatient to sit that long, and a lot of good material ends up getting cut.

Willem Dafoe and James Earl Jones also give strong performances as John Clark and Admiral Greer. Harrison Ford makes a great Jack Ryan despite his age. I'm disappointed that he turned down the upcoming (watered down) adaptation of "The Sum of All Fears." I was holding out hope that he would return for a movie based on "Executive Orders," but Sept. 11th killed all chances that book had of going to the big screen.

Even if you have never read Tom Clancy, watch Clear and Present Danger. If you have your choice between watching the movie and reading the book, watch the movie first, then read the book. I'm usually disappointed when I see the movie first and then realize how much great material was left in the novel.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Always a Bankable Actor
Review: Harrison Ford turns in another strong star performance as CIA man Jack Ryan in "Clear and Present Danger". Suspenseful action drama where you're never really certain who's white hat and who's black hat--and that just about sums up America's foreign policy, anyway. Good support from Willem Dafoe, too.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: This movie is an abomination
Review: From the high rating I see on this, it's obvious that none of the reviewers have read the book. This movie, simply put, has nearly nothing to do with it. Sure, the general plot is 'sort of' there, but it's more like they borrowed the theme of the book than the book itself. You might want to see it for the sake of Harrison Ford, who does a great job playing Jack Ryan. It also does have a good deal of carnage and some exciting points, and even with the watered-down plot, there's no way to make a Clancy story completely dull. However, if you're expecting something along the lines of Patriot Games, or want to see a real adaptation of the novel, then you will regret seeing this movie. Tom Clancy didn't like it, and I didn't either.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One of the best action movies ever...
Review: I first saw this movie at the theater in Fayetteville, North Carolina - home to Fort Bragg - when I was serving in the 82nd Airborne Division. The movie house was, of course, crowded with soldiers who LOVED this movie--based on the fact that they cheered, booed, and yelled "hooah!" throughout. The movie was action packed, but at the same time realistic to our experience. I now live in Colombia, and can relate to the film even more. This is a must see!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: If you look at the movie seperately from the book...
Review: There are two problems with this movie (yes I gave it 5 stars)...1) Harrison Ford doesn't play Jack Ryan as well as Alec Baldwin did in "The Hunt For Red October" and if you read the books, you should know what I'm talking about...2) the movie only follows the first half of the book, one of my personal favorites. But once you think of the movie and book as being completely seperate, the movie is incredibly entertaining (I saw it twice in the theaters). I'm not going to give you a synopsis of the movie because several other people already have, but I will say that if you like action movies you should definately see this one!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great Movie
Review: This is without a doubt the best installment in the Tom Clancy series, it is sad they didn't continue with Cardinal of the Kremlin, Sum of All Fears, Debt of Honor and other good Clancy books.

Chavez and Clark are nothing like what Tom Clancy portrayed in his books. Chavez is a typical cocky soldier from the 10th Mt. Div. Clark is quiet but very like a field spook, you know with dead drops and all the other spy-stuff, not the guys that goes running around the jungle in Jeans. I think they shoould have developed the characters more, especially the soldiers like Ding Chavez and Oso and Captain Ramirez like in the book.

The ambush in the alley was by far the best scene, with the RPGs and Kalishinikovs. If they had done more combat scenes I would have rated this a five star movie.

All in all this is a great movie, and I thinjk everyone should see it. I watch it over and over again.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: an explosive sequal to "PATRIOT GAMES"
Review: Harrison Ford the everyman man's man is back as Jack Ryan, the uncoruptable, loyal CIA agent based on the chracter created by novelist Tom Clancey. This time around Jack is acting CIA Director Who faces betrayal and trechery from his own goverment when trying to capture a Columbian Drug Lord responsble for murdering the U.S President's best friend & Family. Great action sequences especally when Jack & his men were trapped under fire during a terroist attack. CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER Is much more of drama with action blended in rather than it's predesscor PATRIOT GAMES(1992)was an all battle of cat & mouse between good and evil. I hope Ford one day will do another installment of the Jack Ryan trilogy because with Ford's acting style you know it won't turn into a James Bond routine. Even though when Jack Ryan was hanging onto the rails of the Heloicopter during the cliamatic finale it looked liked a scene cut out of a James Bond film. Nevethless a truly magnifcent performence from one of Hollywood's Best.


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