The Hunt for Red October: Good and not so much

I caught some of The Hunt for Red October yesterday. It’s a good movie and a better book, but having not seen the film in years, I had some thoughts after watching it again. 1.  Just a little bit of computer-enhanced special effects in the last fifteen minutes of the film could really improve the whole damn thing. Those underwater submarine battles, and especially the torpedoes, look ridiculous. If they can add a bunch of meaningless CGI to the original Star Wars, couldn’t they fix this film up as well?

2.  Does the evil Russian submarine captain have to be sweaty and arrogant and stupid? Give me a capable bad guy any day.

3.  Harrison Ford makes for a much better Jack Ryan. But perhaps watching Alec Baldwin’s masterful comedic performances over the years have soured him for me when it comes to dramatic roles.

4.  The way in which the director eliminates the subtitles while making the viewer believe that the Russians are still speaking in Russian is masterful and should be copied whenever possible.