"Clear and Present Danger" is the second of two collaborations between director Phillip Noyce and star Harrison Ford in bringing to Jack Ryan character. As was the case with the previous film, "Patriot Games," a number of artistic freedoms were taken with the original Tom Clancy novel and the story is re-imagined to make the Ford-based version of Jack Ryan an everyman hero who springs to life under extreme situations and becomes the ultimate CIA hero. "Clear and Present Danger" may not be as stimulating story-wise as "Patriot Games," but the film is filled to the brim with action and there is enough military technology and engagements to satisfy the hordes of Tom Clancy fans out there. "Clear and Present Danger" is the more entertaining of the two Harrison Ford based films.
This time around, Jack Ryan (Ford) finds himself as the Deputy Director of Intelligence for the Central Intelligence Agency after his friend and mentor Admiral James Greer (James Earl Jones) dies. His first major assignment is to look into the Columbian Cartels after a friend of the Presidents (Donald Moffant) is killed. Ryan manages to secure a sizable amount of money to keep the CIA´s Columbia operations going, but is only to obtain the funds after agreeing with Congress that no military operations or covert operations will occur on Columbian soil. However, National Security Advisor James Cutter (Harris Yulin) is asked to confront CIA Director of Operations Robert Ritter (Henry Czerny) to assemble a team to operate in Columbia and bring about an end to the dangerous cartels.
Ritter approaches field operative John Clark (Willem Dafoe) and asks the veteran CIA man to assemble a team capable of handing the black-ops assignment. Clark enlists Marine sniper Domingo Chavez (Raymond Cruz) and others as part of his secretive team and they being destroying drug-based operations inside of Columbia with Jack Ryan completely unaware of what is happening. However, Cartel head Ernesto Escobedo (Miguel Sandoval) is unhappy that the CIA has frozen his assets and sends his own operative against Washington and Col. Felix Cortez (Joaquim de Almeida) manages to infiltrate the FBI and gather intelligence against FBI Director Emil Jacobs (Tom Tammi). Jacobs is killed when he and Ryan visit Columbia to discuss the frozen assets of Escobedo.
There is escalation after the death of Jacobs. Cutter orders the bombing of Escobedo´s home during a meeting of Cartel heads in retaliation. This military action is still being handled behind Ryan´s back and was handled in a manner to have it appear that the explosion was due to a competing Cartel. Eventually, Ryan discovers that it was Cutter and the United States government who handled the bombing of the Escobedo home and that innocent women and children were killed. Cortez learns of this as well and uses the knowledge and his own ambitions to agree with Cutter to assassinate Escobedo and provide to the FBI some intermittent information to give the FBI some small victories in their war against drugs.
Cutter and Cortez´s deal has a downside. Cutter is to give up the location of Clark´s military team and allow Cortez to capture or kill them. Ritter is told to destroy all evidence that the team existed and to immediately stop any contact or support to the team. CIA man Ryan gathers necessary intelligence after discovering Cutter was behind the Escobedo bombing and learns of the meeting between Cutter and Cortez and also learns of Chavez and the other team members in Columbia. Ryan confronts Ritter and this results in Ryan leaving for Columbia to meet with Clark and Ritter telling Clark that Ryan is responsible for his men being cut off.
The film then provides a vehicle for Harrison Ford to show off his skills as the everyman action hero and "Clear and Present Danger" delivers a satisfying climax to the subplot featuring Chavez and the military commandos who were blowing up Escobedo´s installations. Jack Ryan springs to action and gets to fight for the lives of the soldiers. It is during these closing moments that Harrison Ford and Willem Dafoe get to share a little screen time and the two better known characters in the Tom Clancy novels come together for just the first to two meetings in the four films. After the big rescue, there is a little political posturing to show the sense of honor and dignity possessed by Ryan, but the film´s big moments are when Ryan is in Columbia.
"Clear and Present Danger" is an absolute thrill ride that shows off some good explosions, plenty of military technology and features another heroic performance by the aging Harrison Ford. This is the most exciting of any of the Jack Ryan films, but lacks the overall potency of "The Hunt for Red October." With this being the second teaming of director Noyce and star Ford, "Clear and Present Danger" finds Jack Ryan comfortable in his surroundings and this is perhaps the most polished of any of the Jack Ryan films as this is the only of the four films where the lead actor has had one previous outing as Jack Ryan. If any actor in Hollywood history is capable of portraying an average man who can be an incredible hero, it is Harrison Ford and "Clear and Present Danger" is one of the best examples of his persona.
As was the case with "Patriot Games," "Clear and Present Danger" deviates itself from many points in the novel. Truth be told, "Clear and Present Danger" was a deep and complex novel and it would take a mini-series to fully capture everything thrown in the novel. I would have loved to have seen Samuel L. Jackson return as Robby Jackson and would have enjoyed more of the military operations that occurred in the novel, but at 144 minutes, "Clear and Present Danger" was already lengthy during its time. The computer hacking fight between Ryan and Ritter was absurd and I´ve never enjoyed that addition to the film. I´m not sure why this approach was taken, but as we would find out years later with "Firewall," Harrison Ford does not make for the best computer hacker.
There is a lot of fun to be had watching "Clear and Present Danger." The ambush where Jacobs is killed is a high octane action sequence with rockets, explosions and plenty of gunfire. This was one of two scenes where Jack Ryan is thrown into the heat of action and when the Academy finally gives him his career Oscar, this is one scene that should be thrown into his montage. Willem Dafoe and James Earl Jones are the only other A-list actors in the film and their presence is felt with two solid supporting performances. Anne Archer and Thora Birch reprise their roles from "Patriot Games," but the first film was far more family-centric than this all-out action affair and they are hardly memorable for their involvement in the film.
While there is a lot of action contained in "Clear and Present Danger," there is a lot of plot as well. In fact, "Clear and Present Danger" suffers perhaps from having too much plot and it gets convoluted and you almost need a cheat sheet to remember who is backstabbing who and which person is loyal to whom. For those who remember the confusing of the third "Pirates of the Caribbean" film, "Clear and Present Danger" requires you to pay just as much attention to the deals and loyalties in the film. It wasn´t until my second viewing of "Clear and Present Danger" that I was fully comfortable with the story and at what all unfolds in the film. This action heavy film has perhaps a little too much story and for those upset that the screenplay team of Donald Steward, Steven Zaillian and John Millius didn´t stay faithful to Clancy, it would have been far worse and far longer if every intricacy of the novel was kept.
"Clear and Present Danger" is the second of two collaborations between director Phillip Noyce and star Harrison Ford in bringing to Jack Ryan character. As was the case with the previous film, "Patriot Games," a number of artistic freedoms were taken with the original Tom Clancy novel and the story is re-imagined to make the Ford-based version of Jack Ryan an everyman hero who springs to life under extreme situations and becomes the ultimate CIA hero. "Clear and Present Danger" may not be as stimulating story-wise as "Patriot Games," but the film is filled to the brim with action and there is enough military technology and engagements to satisfy the hordes of Tom Clancy fans out there. "Clear and Present Danger" is the more entertaining of the two Harrison Ford based films.
This time around, Jack Ryan (Ford) finds himself as the Deputy Director of Intelligence for the Central Intelligence Agency after his friend and mentor Admiral James Greer (James Earl Jones) dies. His first major assignment is to look into the Columbian Cartels after a friend of the Presidents (Donald Moffant) is killed. Ryan manages to secure a sizable amount of money to keep the CIA´s Columbia operations going, but is only to obtain the funds after agreeing with Congress that no military operations or covert operations will occur on Columbian soil. However, National Security Advisor James Cutter (Harris Yulin) is asked to confront CIA Director of Operations Robert Ritter (Henry Czerny) to assemble a team to operate in Columbia and bring about an end to the dangerous cartels.
Ritter approaches field operative John Clark (Willem Dafoe) and asks the veteran CIA man to assemble a team capable of handing the black-ops assignment. Clark enlists Marine sniper Domingo Chavez (Raymond Cruz) and others as part of his secretive team and they being destroying drug-based operations inside of Columbia with Jack Ryan completely unaware of what is happening. However, Cartel head Ernesto Escobedo (Miguel Sandoval) is unhappy that the CIA has frozen his assets and sends his own operative against Washington and Col. Felix Cortez (Joaquim de Almeida) manages to infiltrate the FBI and gather intelligence against FBI Director Emil Jacobs (Tom Tammi). Jacobs is killed when he and Ryan visit Columbia to discuss the frozen assets of Escobedo.
There is escalation after the death of Jacobs. Cutter orders the bombing of Escobedo´s home during a meeting of Cartel heads in retaliation. This military action is still being handled behind Ryan´s back and was handled in a manner to have it appear that the explosion was due to a competing Cartel. Eventually, Ryan discovers that it was Cutter and the United States government who handled the bombing of the Escobedo home and that innocent women and children were killed. Cortez learns of this as well and uses the knowledge and his own ambitions to agree with Cutter to assassinate Escobedo and provide to the FBI some intermittent information to give the FBI some small victories in their war against drugs.
Cutter and Cortez´s deal has a downside. Cutter is to give up the location of Clark´s military team and allow Cortez to capture or kill them. Ritter is told to destroy all evidence that the team existed and to immediately stop any contact or support to the team. CIA man Ryan gathers necessary intelligence after discovering Cutter was behind the Escobedo bombing and learns of the meeting between Cutter and Cortez and also learns of Chavez and the other team members in Columbia. Ryan confronts Ritter and this results in Ryan leaving for Columbia to meet with Clark and Ritter telling Clark that Ryan is responsible for his men being cut off.
The film then provides a vehicle for Harrison Ford to show off his skills as the everyman action hero and "Clear and Present Danger" delivers a satisfying climax to the subplot featuring Chavez and the military commandos who were blowing up Escobedo´s installations. Jack Ryan springs to action and gets to fight for the lives of the soldiers. It is during these closing moments that Harrison Ford and Willem Dafoe get to share a little screen time and the two better known characters in the Tom Clancy novels come together for just the first to two meetings in the four films. After the big rescue, there is a little political posturing to show the sense of honor and dignity possessed by Ryan, but the film´s big moments are when Ryan is in Columbia.
"Clear and Present Danger" is an absolute thrill ride that shows off some good explosions, plenty of military technology and features another heroic performance by the aging Harrison Ford. This is the most exciting of any of the Jack Ryan films, but lacks the overall potency of "The Hunt for Red October." With this being the second teaming of director Noyce and star Ford, "Clear and Present Danger" finds Jack Ryan comfortable in his surroundings and this is perhaps the most polished of any of the Jack Ryan films as this is the only of the four films where the lead actor has had one previous outing as Jack Ryan. If any actor in Hollywood history is capable of portraying an average man who can be an incredible hero, it is Harrison Ford and "Clear and Present Danger" is one of the best examples of his persona.
As was the case with "Patriot Games," "Clear and Present Danger" deviates itself from many points in the novel. Truth be told, "Clear and Present Danger" was a deep and complex novel and it would take a mini-series to fully capture everything thrown in the novel. I would have loved to have seen Samuel L. Jackson return as Robby Jackson and would have enjoyed more of the military operations that occurred in the novel, but at 144 minutes, "Clear and Present Danger" was already lengthy during its time. The computer hacking fight between Ryan and Ritter was absurd and I´ve never enjoyed that addition to the film. I´m not sure why this approach was taken, but as we would find out years later with "Firewall," Harrison Ford does not make for the best computer hacker.
There is a lot of fun to be had watching "Clear and Present Danger." The ambush where Jacobs is killed is a high octane action sequence with rockets, explosions and plenty of gunfire. This was one of two scenes where Jack Ryan is thrown into the heat of action and when the Academy finally gives him his career Oscar, this is one scene that should be thrown into his montage. Willem Dafoe and James Earl Jones are the only other A-list actors in the film and their presence is felt with two solid supporting performances. Anne Archer and Thora Birch reprise their roles from "Patriot Games," but the first film was far more family-centric than this all-out action affair and they are hardly memorable for their involvement in the film.
While there is a lot of action contained in "Clear and Present Danger," there is a lot of plot as well. In fact, "Clear and Present Danger" suffers perhaps from having too much plot and it gets convoluted and you almost need a cheat sheet to remember who is backstabbing who and which person is loyal to whom. For those who remember the confusing of the third "Pirates of the Caribbean" film, "Clear and Present Danger" requires you to pay just as much attention to the deals and loyalties in the film. It wasn´t until my second viewing of "Clear and Present Danger" that I was fully comfortable with the story and at what all unfolds in the film. This action heavy film has perhaps a little too much story and for those upset that the screenplay team of Donald Steward, Steven Zaillian and John Millius didn´t stay faithful to Clancy, it would have been far worse and far longer if every intricacy of the novel was kept.
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