Review of Hunt for Red October, The

Introduction

"The Hunt for Red October" is one of my favourite books and films.

Tom Clancy`s earlier novels are, in my opinion, much better than his latest efforts that are excessively hard to get into, and lack the action of the initial titles.

I read "The Hunt for Red October" after having watched the film and the book is simply fantastic. I urge anyone who hasn`t read it to go and do so immediately!

The film has the ingredients for success - based on a very good book, the director of Die Hard, John McTiernan and an excellent cast led by Sean Connery, Alec Baldwin and Sam Neill. The "man with the voice", James Earl Jones anchors it all down nicely.

Video

Visually, the film has a lot going for it, but this 2.35:1 non-anamorphic transfer is pretty grainy and has a lack of detail in some scenes.

The opening sequence of the Red October leaving the dock shows a lack of clarity in the background - and really is not a huge improvement on the VHS copy that it replaced.

The underwater scenes are pretty good, but the torpedoes that once looked quite good now look at little too CGI for my liking.

Like the Region 1 version of "Clear and Present Danger" - this film would appear to have come from the master used to make the laserdisc and no attempt has been made to clean up the image.

Also, and rather irritatingly, the subtitles during the Russian dialogue are positioned half-on/half-off screen on a 16:9 TV requiring the picture to be moved.

Audio

The soundtrack comes in Dolby Digital 5.1 - and is of a good standard throughout.

The score sets the scene well, and there is good use of the soundstage to help keep up the tension whilst underwater.

The dialogue is in general clear and understandable but is a little quiet in places.

Features

A trailer...and er nothing else...

Conclusion

Overall, the content of this movie is outstanding, but it is dying to be remastered with a new video transfer, new sound mix and some decent extras.

The cast is tremendous - Connery is his usual superb self and Baldwin is excellent - in some ways more suited to the role of Jack Ryan than Harrison Ford who picked it up for the next two movies. The supporting cast is also strong and there is some humour thrown in for good measure.

The story is fantastic, and the overall scale of the movie feels right - so I`m still glad to own it despite the visual shortcomings. If you`ve got a VHS copy already though, and aren`t fussed about the 5.1 sound, you may want to hang on to see if a remaster appears.