SeeQuant Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

Erica Derrick By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Sarita Rafferty There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Kinley This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

GusF Based on the 1987 novel of the same name by Tom Clancy, this is an extremely absorbing, intelligent thriller. In some respects, it is an improvement on "The Hunt for Red October", particularly when it comes to the pacing, while in others it is not on the same level in that it is more plot based than character based. Clancy disowned the film before it was released and it was criticised for departing too much from the novel but, since I have never read any of his work, I can only comment on the film itself. It has a great script by W. Peter Iliff and Donald Stewart and the director Phillip Noyce proves even more adept than John McTiernan at creating and maintaining tension. Since I am from Ireland, I don't watch films about the Troubles too often since I vividly remember watching news reports about them every other week when I was a child in the 1990s but the film handles the material in a skillful way. I was delighted that it portrayed the IRA in an extremely negative fashion.The film stars Harrison Ford as Jack Ryan, succeeding his "Working Girl" co-star Alec Baldwin in the role. Ford had originally been offered it in "The Hunt for Red October" but he turned it down, incidentally. In the seven years since the events of the previous film, Ryan has retired from the CIA and works full-time as a professor of history at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. While on holiday in London, he prevents a splinter group of the Provisional IRA from assassinating Lord William Holmes, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and the Queen Mother's cousin. In the process, Ryan kills a 16-year-old Provo named Patrick Miller. As a result, Miller's elder brother Sean swears revenge on not only Ryan but his wife Cathy and daughter Sally. Ford gives a very convincing performance as Ryan, bringing his own special brand of charisma to the role. He is very effective in both the scenes in which Ryan uses his considerable intelligence and expertise and the more action-orientated ones. However, one manner in which the film is lacking compared to its predecessor is that Ryan is not as compelling a protagonist as Captain Marko Ramius, played funnily enough by Ford's erstwhile on screen father Sean Connery.In the previous film, we only caught a glimpse of Ryan's family and home life but it plays a major larger role on this occasion. The underrated Anne Archer is very good as Cathy and she and Ford are very believable as a married couple. Cathy is a strong character and, while her life is put in danger several times, she never seems like a damsel in distress in contrast to the character's depiction in "Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit". Thora Birch, one of the best American child actors of her generation, is perfectly cast as the adorable Sally. Sally is severely injured as a result of one of Miller's attacks and her spleen is subsequently removed. Putting children in danger can sometimes be a cheap, manipulative trick but the matter is handled about as well as it could be here. Sally's condition strengthens Ryan's resolve so it is at least significant to the plot. Sean Bean is quite good as Miller, not the most interesting character in the film, but his Northern Irish accent is very variable. As a matter of fact, I was not particularly impressed by any of the Irish accents on display from the predominantly non-Irish cast members. The most notable Irish cast member is Richard Harris, who is excellent in the comparatively small role of Paddy O'Neil, a Sinn Féin representative who is attempting to drum up support and, more importantly, money for his cause in the US. He repeatedly tells the media that the attempts on the lives of Lord Holmes and the Ryans were not sanctioned by the IRA and, for once, he is telling the truth. As Ryan points out, he is essentially the Boy Who Cried Wolf when it comes to such matters so it is not a surprise that the media does not believe him. His fellow Irishman Patrick Bergin also gives a great performance as Kevin O'Donnell, who attempts to be the voice of reason - not usually a description that I would apply to the IRA - when it comes to Miller. The only other well known Irish actor in the film is Jonathan Ryan as the IRA brigade commander Jimmy O'Reardon. The cynical part of me - which is most of me, frankly - is inclined to think that Ryan was cast because of his resemblance to Gerry Adams. It was a little surreal seeing him play an IRA terrorist because he used to present the iconic Irish kids' show "Bosco". It's a bit like a "Blue Peter" presenter or Mr. Rogers playing a terrorist. The film also features strong performances from James Fox (who replaced his elder brother Edward) as Lord Holmes, James Earl Jones (the sole returning cast member from "The Hunt for Red October") as Admiral James Greer, Alun Armstrong and Polly Walker. Oh, and it was nice to see Gerald Sim pop up in a film not directed by his brother-in-law Richard Attenborough!Overall, this is an extremely effective thriller and a worthy sequel to "The Hunt for Red October", which I enjoyed only marginally more than this film.

leplatypus My explanation is easy : i tried to read the book twice and put it down twice. The first time i just didn't buy the unbelievable safety of the royals ! the second time i just get bored by Ryan's recovery. The movie is thus the wise choice because it took only 2 hours and as it's a revenge and action story the visual is the accurate medium for that instead of endless pages… In addition, you got wonderful British and Maryland location. For sure Harrison is the perfect choice because he has the humanity and the broad shoulders to be this superman ! For a Clancy novel, the international crisis is left away but it's his first dig about the stealth commando : in that field, we have again more unbelievable things as they easily follow the trail in Africa (compare it to another track !). Maybe it's was the first time that people was briefed about what can surveillance do and already nobody was asking the legitimacy about administrative offices ordering death abroad without judicial review. Maybe Clancy has answered that but to get his opinion, i suppose i should read the book….

Desertman84 Patriot Games is a film adaptation of Tom Clancy's novel of the same title and it acts as a sequel to The Hunt For Red October.It features Harrison Ford as Jack Ryan together with a cast that includes James Earl Jones,Anne Archer,Sean Bean, Patrick Bergin,Samuel L. Jackson and Richard Harris.The story takes us to a mission of Jack Ryan's attempt to foil an assassination in which he succeeds that incurs the wrath of an Irish radical terrorist group that plots a revenge to take his life and that of his family. Philip Noyce is at helm for the film.Author Tom Clancy was mad about this film adaptation as it watered down the story in the original novel.Too bad that it was reflected in the screenplay as the global intrigue provided by terrorism becomes some sort of a cops-and-criminals action thriller.In effect,it became more of a straightforward spy action thriller with simplistic political themes that viewers do not need to dwell on.Also,the decisions made by Jack Ryan as a CIA agent makes him look more like an intelligent cop rather than a spy agent.But in spite of it,the acting was great.Harrison Ford did well as Jack Ryan after taking over Alec Baldwin proving the producers that he was a good choice.Great performances can be said for the cast.The technology in it can be absorbing despite the fact that it has been more than 20 years since this film was released.Finally,the action sequences provided lots of tension,entertainment and excitement although some of them could remind the viewers the action-adventure movies Indiana Jones especially with Ford involved in it for they are somewhat out of place for these type of political thriller especially the chase scenes.

ElMaruecan82 Harrison Ford is Jack Ryan, a former CIA agent, coming to London for a conference in British Naval Academy, only to find himself in the middle of a terrorist ambush against a distant cousin of the Royal Family. Well, what do you know, he successfully disarms the terrorists, killing in the process the 17-year old brother of Sean Miller (Sean Bean), while the others manage to escape. Ryan instantly makes it to the top of Miller's enemy list and we understand it's only a matter of time before we get a hand-to-hand confrontation.The time is 100 minutes during which Philp Noyce's "Patriot Games" fulfills every premise of an action/thriller: the bad guy's escape, the cowardly attack on Ryan's wife and daughter, a failed (but alarming) one on Ryan, and a cat-and-mouse chase via such exciting tools as political surveillance, mug shots, satellites and glimpses of memory. And after having initially declined the offer, Ryan finally accepts to get back to the CIA (all it took was to measure up how serious the threat against his family was). These are predictable elements meaning to provide the perfect dosage of adrenalin and suspense but what makes them work is the 'intelligence' involved in Ryan's quest for Miller, making him more of a thinker than a typical physical hero. The script insists enough on Ryan's expertise as an analyst.And there is the whole political back-story, as if the so-called "Patriot Games" were not without rules, one of them being an understandable yet redundant bit of correctness. Basically, Noyce is extremely careful on depicting the villainous group as an independent and more fanatic branch of the Irish Republican Army lead by O'Donnell (Patrick Bergin) who was part of the initial attack. It's comprehensible for a film with international ambitions to play on the safe side not to lose the Irish audience, but we get the point more than needed. One of the IRA leaders is brutally killed in his bed, by O'Donnell's sexy girlfriend (Polly Walker) and the same O'Donnell kills a friend at short range, so the distance between the IRA and the bad guys is clearly and categorically established. Yet did these precautions matter? For all the political context the script provides, it all leads up to the 'personal' story between Miller and Ryan, Miller who didn't give a damn about fighting for Ireland as soon as his brother hit the ground. Did it also matter when the portrayal of Arabs was more careless? After all, just put your terrorists in any desert camp in 'North Africa' (no need to specify the exact location), throw a name like Gaddafi (Saddam works sometimes) and that's it. I was glad there wasn't any character wearing a red Saudi top hat and shouting some Arab gibberish, to provide the little touch of authenticity. As usual, it's a camp in Libya and like all the camps in Libya, the one that welcomed the bad guys had to be bombed (recent events proved that reality could go that far).Still, it was a nice touch to show the perplexed face of Harrison Ford, during the camp's bombing, looking from infrared screens, wounded 'terrorist' dragging their way out from fire. His reaction to one of the young upstarts uttering an enthusiastic "Now, that's a kill" while sipping coffee, says it all, the man has gotten soft, which means in our language, more 'human' and we understand how his 'family' lifestyle turned him into a thinker. And this is the sympathetic little twist "Patriot Games" gives us, a different Harrison Ford character, sweeter, gentler, only using force in case of necessary defense. In one of the film's boldest moves, he's prevented from a certain death by a Naval guard. This shows how vulnerable he truly is and how even his determination isn't enough to avoid the worst. Another effective moment consisted on a shot on his face while he stares at a thick cloud of smoke coming from the freeway, indicating that a car (not any car) had crashed. This is certainly one of the film's most haunting moments as you can read the desperation of a man who realizes that his loved ones are also part of these damn games (although you wonder why they planned to kill him since killing his family and letting him live with that would have been enough a revenge) "Patriot Games" doesn't bring much freshness to the genre but surprisingly offers a hero who's not your typical cynical macho guy, with marital troubles. Ryan has a beautiful and devoted wife. I could have said that Anne Archer seemed to reprise her role from "Fatal Attraction", but the whole film borrows elements from Adrian Lyne's classic, like the car-accident, the big isolated family house, becoming ominous under a stormy night and the mandatory daughter.Indeed, like for every family in trouble, it's a girl that accentuates the defenselessness when family comedies have young boys who wish their daddies would spend more time with them. But Thora Birch manages to appear like a smart but not precocious girl. The whole 'family' vibes feeling is clearly palpable all through the film, and it's pleasantly surprising how it is used even during the few exchanges with the intimidating James Earl Jones and Jack's buddy, played by a friendlier Samuel L. Jackson. Naturally, there is not much family feeling when the climax starts, especially when you got a fight in a speeding boat on fire about to hit rocks, a move that disappointed many Tom Clancy readers.Speaking for me, I've never read Clancy, never saw "Hunt for Red October" either (but I'm looking forward to seeing it) so all I had were reverse expectations, I thought I was going to see an action-packed movie starring a super-heroic Harrison Ford, and I was pleasantly surprised by how intelligent and family oriented he was. I guess I'm among the ones who see the half-full glass.