Hunt For Red October, The [19]

Captain Marko Ramius (played by Sean Connery), is the commander of the Red October, a Soviet Navy typhoon class inter-continental ballistic missile submarine. He is actually Lithuanian and intends to defect to the United States with his officers and this experimental submarine. The Red October is equipped with a revolutionary stealth propulsion system (caterpillar drive in the book, in the movie, a magnetohydrodynamic drive). This drive avoids the cavitating noise made by propellers and makes it extremely difficult to detect with regular methods. In submarine warfare, silence is an advantage. Ramius' defection is spurred by several factors, including the death of his wife (while he was at sea), the first-strike capabilities of the Red October, and the callousness of the Soviet establishment towards its sailors. Jack Ryan (Alec Baldwin) is an author who convinces the Chiefs of Staff of Ramius’ intent to defect. This movie is based on Tom Clancy’s very first book of the same name.

I only know about submarine warfare from what I read in books. Although I highly recommend reading the book “War Fish” by George Grider, if you can find a copy. George Grider was a lieutenant aboard the USS Wahoo (SS-238), and served under Commander 'Mush' Morton. Later Grider was transferred aboard Pollack (SS-180). After taking over as the executive officer on the newly commissioned Hawkbill (SS-366), Grider assumed command of the high-scoring submarine USS Flasher (SS-249). This is a true story of World War II submarine action in the Pacific. This book is out of print, but used books can be found, or large metropolitan libraries may have a copy.

For the movies, Das Boot (The Boat) is supposed to be the ultimate submarine warfare movie.

Red October takes her name from the October Revolution in Russia by the Red Guards. So the name has much the same meaning as “Lexington” in the United States. The movie contains an interesting story, and some tense battle moments. With any battle story, the unseen enemy is the most fearsome. Submarine warfare is sneaking around as an art form. It is like being blind, but your other senses become stronger, like hearing. Sounds are what give away the actions of the enemy. To be able to hide your engine noise is a huge advantage. Just like when German submarines attached a Snorkel, and were able to remain below the surface running diesel engines.

This is one of Alec Baldwin's most believable roles. He is an author acting as a Naval Intelligence officer. I like Sean Connery, but he seems a bit too smug as the traitor to his country. Tim Curry is great as the submarine's political officer.

The plan for the plot seems reasonable: get all the non-defectors off the ship and then pretend it is sunken deeply in the Laurentian Channel. Then in reality, defect to the United States with the submarine.

There are some who have issues with Connery's halting Russian speech. I give him the benefit of the doubt, since his character is actually Lithuanian. This is an excellent DVD rental. {BB}

Here is a web site with some more information about Tom Clancy's books and related movies.

Added: March 16th 2005
Reviewer: BB
29 Point Scale Score:    [19]

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