There were 2 things that always impressed me about The Hunt for Red October.
1) It's an excellent example of the movie being better than the book. There are two climactic arcs in the book, but the second one feels like just a regrind of the first, with no higher stakes. Condensing that down to just one real ending makes a lot of sense.
2) Lighting and staging. You get a visceral feel of darkness in the submarines - especially the Russians - but it's actually well lit. Not like a lot of recent movies where darkness is just darkness (which is both boring and frustrating to look at). The focused lights at floor level that illuminate the faces of the Russians from below are really striking. Ditto with the staging that shows the tightness of the control room and the vast size of the missile bay.
Mar 25, 2022·edited Mar 25, 2022Liked by Sonny Bunch
That no "No papers?" moment should be mainlined into the veins of any and all Americans who think this country somehow has it wrong on freedom and liberty and despots like Putin have it right. Nah, never mind. They'll never get, no matter what.
When the novel came out I was a member of the US Naval Institute and serving in the Navy (in submarines). USNI is who initially published the book and I bought it through them.
Most of Clancy's early stuff was well researched and had a degree of authenticity to it (even if he wasn't always correct--but the things he wasn't correct about were generally things only someone on the inside would know). It was what made me start reading his stuff and continuing to read it, up until a few years before he died.
One of the things that I always liked about his work was his gift for taking small things and having them turn into big things--showcasing, in a sense, the somewhat random and chaotic nature of actual life.
An improperly made gas tank on an imported car bursts into flames killing a family--and it turns into a war.
Two religious people try and intercede in a Chinese abortion and it turns into a Chinese invasion of Siberia.
There were 2 things that always impressed me about The Hunt for Red October.
1) It's an excellent example of the movie being better than the book. There are two climactic arcs in the book, but the second one feels like just a regrind of the first, with no higher stakes. Condensing that down to just one real ending makes a lot of sense.
2) Lighting and staging. You get a visceral feel of darkness in the submarines - especially the Russians - but it's actually well lit. Not like a lot of recent movies where darkness is just darkness (which is both boring and frustrating to look at). The focused lights at floor level that illuminate the faces of the Russians from below are really striking. Ditto with the staging that shows the tightness of the control room and the vast size of the missile bay.
That no "No papers?" moment should be mainlined into the veins of any and all Americans who think this country somehow has it wrong on freedom and liberty and despots like Putin have it right. Nah, never mind. They'll never get, no matter what.
Good movie, though.
When the novel came out I was a member of the US Naval Institute and serving in the Navy (in submarines). USNI is who initially published the book and I bought it through them.
Most of Clancy's early stuff was well researched and had a degree of authenticity to it (even if he wasn't always correct--but the things he wasn't correct about were generally things only someone on the inside would know). It was what made me start reading his stuff and continuing to read it, up until a few years before he died.
One of the things that I always liked about his work was his gift for taking small things and having them turn into big things--showcasing, in a sense, the somewhat random and chaotic nature of actual life.
An improperly made gas tank on an imported car bursts into flames killing a family--and it turns into a war.
Two religious people try and intercede in a Chinese abortion and it turns into a Chinese invasion of Siberia.
That is interesting!
I have never been happy with any of the casting choices made for Clark. None of them, IMO, really fit.
Agreed... TBH I have no idea who I would cast. No one immediately springs to mind.