13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Superb political drama--Clancy's novel on the screen., June 3, 2003
This is one of my all-time favorite political thrillers. This film successfully, and even brilliantly brings Tom Clancy's novel "Patriot Games" to the screen in an effective manner that is a delight to watch. The direction and acting are excellent. The musical score is superb, and this is one of those movies in which the soundtrack almost comes to dominate one's impression of the movie. This is not to take away from a bravo performance by Harrison Ford, who effectively pulls off his Jack Ryan character. I originally had my doubts about Ford as Jack Ryan, but Ford succeeds excellently.
The direction of this film is particularly good. The artistic direction, effectively combined with the haunting, wistful, musical score make this film unforgettable, and several cuts above the usual political thriller. This is a thoughtful, intelligent film but nevertheless contains plenty of fast-paced action. The plot moves smartly, but never features action just for the sake of action.
This is a film that most viewers will enjoy many times.
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18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Slasher films a poor substitute, July 19, 2004
For sheer excitement on the edge of your not-so-easy chair, there's nothing like a good Jack Ryan story, and I think this is the best of them. The plot involves one of the most obsessed bad guys you'll ever see, a fanatically militant member of an IRA splinter group whose attack on the British royal family is thwarted almost unconsciously by Ryan, who is visiting England as a tourist/lecturer. Now ex-CIA, Ryan's family is nearby, and family is central in this tale of the cold-blooded world of international espionage and terrorism. The family angle is one that keeps the story so chilling throughout, as the terrorist's brother is shot to death by Ryan as he ruins their try on the royals, and our star villain then sets out to stalk Ryan and his wife and daughter.
The film moves at an almost perfect pace, and unveils to us some modern aspects of this shadowy world. For instance, even Ryan, played with understated perfection by Harrison Ford, is creeped out by his participation in a nighttime strike on a desert camp believed to be IRA training ground. In this scene he and several other jacket-and-tie types watch soldiers take out this nest of vipers a half-world away, thanks to infrared and satellite technology, all while detached voices calmly note "Target neutralized" and spies dressed like businessmen smile and nod while whispering to one another in thorough detachment from the blood and guts of the operation. All this technology and we are not removed from the days of the rich people perching on hills near the battles of Civil War days, sipping tea while viewing the entertainment.
I cannot give less than five stars to a film that draws me in so completely as this one, making me feel the tension with such clarity and indeed making it so easy to actually hate the villain. Yet the film strikes sour notes with the drunken Richard Harris's half-hearted performance as an IRA bigwig, and with the cliched ending moment of an otherwise superb boat chase at the film's climax. Two distracting moments would mean a score of 9 on a scale of 1 to 10, or, in Amazon terms, 4-1/2 stars. These being minor, a full five stars is quite reasonable. Nearly a perfect action film; even the understated music score is just so right that it can't be imagined being done any other way.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Flashes of light?, August 3, 2008
I agree that this Blu-ray could have been done a lot better but it is a definite improvement from the SD version. If you are a fan of this movie and HD this is the best you are going to get for at least a while so you have to take it or leave it. I don't regret buying it. I don't know what some of these other reviews are talking about with flashes of light, etc. I have two different players and a 60" and 40" screen and I didn't see any of that on either of them.
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