Slick, intelligent and action-packed, The Hunt for Red October rightly takes its place at the top of the list of greatest “guy movies” (in more than one sense considering there are no female characters in the film past the opening credits). With enough of a corkscrew plot to keep you guessing, and with plenty of suspense to keep you at the edge of your seat, this high-stakes espionage thriller has it all. Stirring camaraderie, electrifying music, political turmoil, paranoia, sabotage and firefights make this a real thinking man’s movie and a solid voyage into adventure.

It is 1984, and the tension between the Soviets and the U.S. is high. Respected sailor Captain Marko Ramius (Sean Connery) has just set off on the maiden voyage of a new silent propulsion-outfitted Typhoon class submarine named Red October. Joined by a faithful set of handpicked officers and a mistrustful crew, Ramius sets a course for U.S. waters with an unknown mission and distressing nuclear arms.

Analyst Jack Ryan (Alec Baldwin) is called in to identify spy photographs of the top secret Red October vessel, and to determine the intent of the seemingly unstable Ramius. As the undercover giant slips past Navy ships undetected, the Soviet government asks for help to destroy the renegade submarine. As the threat of war and nuclear disasters rapidly surface, Ryan must prove that Ramius’ intent is to defect and not to open fire on the legion of ships hunting for the rogue captain.

Despite the technical aspects of the naval chess game that comprises wartime maneuvers, The Hunt for Red October thrives on wit and logic to propel the decisions of the characters, which allows for general audiences to follow the storyline. The plot utilizes both complex battle tactics and plausible theories that keep the audience always in the know. Even as sonarman Jones aboard the U.S.S. Dallas, the crew of the Red October, and Admiral Greer (James Earl Jones) at Central Intelligence all receive updates at different times, the audience stays ahead of the confusion that plagues the warring fleets.

Perhaps the most unique and rarely used device in The Hunt for Red October is the method in which multiple languages are handled. Initially Ramius and his crew speak in Russian, and standard subtitles appear onscreen. But since nearly half of the film focuses on his crew, during an early scene the camera zooms in on the mouth of the Soviet Political Officer as he reads from a book. Mid-sentence his Russian words switch to English, and from then on, the entire Russian crew speaks in English. A little jarring due to its unfamiliarity, this idea allows the audience to dispense with the occasionally frustrating use of subtitles.

As Ramius’ unpredictable actions provoke uneasiness and sabotage aboard the Red October, the diplomatic mind games of a Russian Ambassador play havoc on the crew of the Dallas, which must decide whether to follow Ryan’s unverifiable hunches or to destroy the enemy vessel on sight. The suspense is excellently handled by action film director veteran John McTiernan; a sweeping score by Basil Poledouris keeps up the intensity and stunning cinematography by Jan De Bont helps Red October to be a film even non-war-film lovers can appreciate. A classic action extravaganza, The Hunt for Red October won one Oscar, and paved the way for Harrison Ford to take over for Tom Clancy’s famous lead character in the sequels Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger.

- Mike Massie