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Patriot Games (1992)

Rate: 9
Viewed: 1/04, 9/08, 8/18

PatriotGames
9/08: Patriot Games is a thrilling yarn by Tom Clancy with a new kind of action hero in Jack Ryan.

I love the mystery, the wild goose chase through data analysis, and the action that comes afterwards. The script is refreshingly intelligent while the performances are awesome. Sean Bean will forever be remembered for this. It's Harrison Ford, not Alec Baldwin, who nails it. In fact, he's Jack Ryan. Anne Archer is perfect as his wife.

Easily, a great movie moment is when Jack Ryan visited Paddy O'Neil at the bar and said, "I will fucking destroy you." My favorite scenes are the foiled assassination attempt and the ending with the speedboat.

All in all, thanks to Harrison Ford, Patriot Games is what I call a super-duper thriller and a smart one at that.

8/18: Although Clear and Present Danger is the best of the Jack Ryan franchise, Patriot Games is entertaining with a strong story.

Sean Bean has made his career out of playing bad guys, but he'll always be remembered the most for this. It's a perfect, fitting character for him. Harrison Ford is fun to watch and is so much better than Alec Baldwin as Jack Ryan. He has a great line when confronting Richard Harris: "I will fucking destroy you." Cromwell must have been left shaking in his boots...or perhaps not.

I like the detective work at the CIA building, which is an underrated aspect, but I don't like the fact that Jack Ryan used his position to seek revenge for what happened to his family. It's certainly close to what's best described as a state-sponsored murder, hence the poster tagline: "Not for honor. Not for country. For his wife and child."

On a side note, Clear and Present Danger is the first film ever to be filmed at Langley, Virginia, the location of the CIA headquarters. I suppose it has a lot to do with Tom Clancy because he brought credibility to the organization.

All in all, Clear and Present Danger is an underrated espionage thriller with plenty of terrorism.