"The Hunt for Red October" maintains an impressive sense of momentum from beginning to end, consistently reinforcing the idea that Jack Ryan’s understanding of Captain Marko Ramius is completely accurate. It's conceivable that anything disrupting this certainty could have transformed the movie into a drawn-out and tedious experience; remarkably, however, that doesn't occur—instead, the opposite proves true. The film …

Jack Ryan (played by Alec Baldwin) gets some photographs from British intelligence that lead him straight to his boss (James Earl Jones) with what sounds like an unbelievable story: a submarine equipped with a hydro-dynamic drive, making it practically undetectable by standard sonar and posing a danger to NATO. Soon after, the Soviet fleet is put on alert, and Ryan suspects there might be a defection in progress. He …

Shortly before Gorbachev came to power in the Soviet Union, a respected naval officer (Connery) leads an advanced submarine on its first mission, planning missile exercises near the American coastline. An incident arises that provokes concern from Soviet leaders, while a CIA analyst (Baldwin) suspects the captain may be intending to defect. James Earl Jones, Sam Neill, and Courtney B. Vance also appear in the film. …