Clear and Present Danger (1994)

Harrison Ford is Jack Ryan straight from the pages of the books by Tom Clancy, this is a follow up to Patriot Games. It sees Jack Ryan involved in looking at the drugs coming from Columbia and as he has to take on a more senior role within the CIA he becomes involved with the president. Including the fact that he starts to realise he can influence policy within the government. I have not read any of the Jack Ryan books and not considered the films as a proper series, especially as you have 3 actors having now played Jack Ryan and all of the films have been produced out of order.

With Willem Dafoe as an operative in Columbia with Benjamin Bratt and Raymond Cruz. With Henry Czerny and Harris Yulin playing a different game that Jack has to go in and sort it out. The politicians allow and sign off on a war on the drug cartels and then when the heat comes up they leave the soldiers hanging and Jack runs off to save them. It is all very action packed and exciting and there are quite a few plots running through the film and you have to pay attention so you know what everybody is up to.

This is a fun packed film with lots of good acting and plenty of explosions for the boys; I think there is too much going on and this probably has a lot to do with the size of The Tom Clancy books and the difficulty in trying to condense them in to a two hour film. Overall an enjoyable film and should been seen as a 7 out of 10. 

Patriot Games (1992)

From the pen of Tom Clancy, directed by Philip Noyce comes the Harrison Ford portrayal of Jack Ryan. On holiday in London Jack is on hand when an IRA splinter group lead by Sean Bean tries to kidnap a member of the royal family. Jack gets involved and kills one of the attackers while killing the younger brother of Sean Bean. He is shot during the melee and when he is fit goes home and after the rest of the splinter group see there way to getting Sean Been out of prison the terrorism comes home for Jack Ryan.


I have not read any of the Tom Clancy books but after this film I am tempted to give them a go as they are full of action but try and keep some form of realism. Even if the realism is an extreme and could be considered paranoia and if all true is actually quite scary with terrorists in camps knowing when the satellites are supposed to be going overhead. This level of control, knowledge and the power of the attacks is extreme but makes for some good stories, might read the books and see how they compare to the films.


This film is enjoyable and has some good actors with Harrison Ford facing off against Sean Bean and the two of them playing excellent parts. With support from Anne Archer, Patrick Bergin and an early outing for Thora Birch, Samuel L Jackson and James Earl Jones give this a solid American feel as well. I really liked this film, the message and threat is now out of date but overall is still a fun Terrorist based action adventure film and a 7 out of 10 for me.