# Tom Clancy



## jodyguercio (Aug 16, 2007)

Watching _Red October_ last night and I was thinking, why did the movies that came after (_Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger, Sum of All Fears_) not live up to the standard that was set by this one? Alec Baldwin was very well cast in the role of Jack Ryan and the script was set fairly close to the novel. Harrison Ford should've been able to fill those shoes nicely; but I think the two scripts he was given were not very well thought out. _Sum_ should just never have been made period.

If this franchise were to be re-done, who could play Jack Ryan? How hard could it be to stick closer to the novels? In the case of _Red Storm Rising_, fairly difficult so that one might never see the screen.


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## Tom Robertson (Nov 15, 2005)

jodyguercio said:


> Watching _Red October_ last night and I was thinking, why did the movies that came after (_Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger, Sum of All Fears_) not live up to the standard that was set by this one? Alec Baldwin was very well cast in the role of Jack Ryan and the script was set fairly close to the novel. Harrison Ford should've been able to fill those shoes nicely; but I think the two scripts he was given were not very well thought out. _Sum_ should just never have been made period.
> 
> If this franchise were to be re-done, who could play Jack Ryan? How hard could it be to stick closer to the novels? In the case of _Red Storm Rising_, fairly difficult so that one might never see the screen.


There are a couple problems with bringing the books to movies, I think. One is they books are long and tightly written. To convert a long book to a movie, major subplots must be cut to fit in 2+ hours (which is about 60 pages of novel.) With tightly written long books, it is harder to cut out subplots--they are all so intertwined to make a great story.

And the movie makers want more action, less thinking. One of the things I really liked about _The Hunt for Red October_ was that it was a thinking movie. Yet movie bosses can't see how thinking movies sell. (They used to and likely will again someday.)

So they made the sequels more action, not as good, and the series needs yet another reboot. Sigh. (Writing thinking movies might be a lot harder than writing action movies. Can't rely on "just blow stuff up...")

Yes, I'd love to see the whole story arc be done right. That would be very, very cool.

Cheers,
Tom


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## jodyguercio (Aug 16, 2007)

Very true Tom, Hollywood has become all about the "bang" and not about the "thinking" any more. Who in the new crop of actors could play Ryan though?


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## Shaqdan (Jan 24, 2009)

I am fairly certain it has already been confirmed that Chris Pine will be playing Jack Ryan in the next Clancy movie. It is supposed to be a unique story and not a story from one of the books. Certainly not my ideal choice for Ryan, but he'll be better than Affleck.


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## Shaqdan (Jan 24, 2009)

Found the source:

http://www.firstshowing.net/2009/12/04/jack-ryan-updates-chris-pine-confirmed-starts-on-wall-street/


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## coldsteel (Mar 29, 2007)

Red Storm Rising, although an awesome book, could never be brought to the big screen. It just has way too much going on.


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## LarryFlowers (Sep 22, 2006)

Clancy's books are epic in nature, better suited to a mini-series or, best of all, a mini-series for HBO or Showtime. The books are long, with intricate and interwoven plots that make them such a good "read".

All of the movies that have been made so far would have been more acceptable to people who had never read a Clancy novel.

If they make another movie, it isn't going to change the problem. The proposed Chris Pine as Jack Ryan movie scheduled for 2011 is based on the book "Without Remorse".

Now if Clancy would just write a new one....


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## Dave (Jan 29, 2003)

Actually the new movie would be starting at Jack Ryans beginings showing how he made his money. Anyone who remembers the books will know that Jack Ryan made his fortune from investment banking deals. So I guess they decided to go way back before he got into the spy game and go forward from there.


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## jodyguercio (Aug 16, 2007)

LarryFlowers said:


> Now if Clancy would just write a new one....


Now there's an idea. His last novel _The Teeth of the Tiger_ was very well done.


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## BobbySteelz (May 24, 2007)

LarryFlowers said:


> Clancy's books are epic in nature, better suited to a mini-series or, best of all, a mini-series for HBO or Showtime. The books are long, with intricate and interwoven plots that make them such a good "read"...


I definitely agree with this. In my opinion, it's hard to turn a 5-600 page book into a 2 hour movie and do justice to all the plots he has going on in his novels.

Patiently waiting for a Rainbow Six movie/series, I'm amazed that this hasn't been seriously pitched to picked up by a studio...


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## elaclair (Jun 18, 2004)

You know, there is sufficient continuity between the books, that I could see them making a multi-season series out of the books. It would be great if they would spend an entire season on Hunting Red October, and follow along with the remaining books, either in single season or in the case of a couple of them, like Without Remorse, spend a couple of seasons on a single book. Just a pipe dream, because no one would put forth the effort (and cost) necessary to do them justice.


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## BattleZone (Nov 13, 2007)

I would SO like to see Without Remorse made as a movie, and as close to the book as possible, with NO censoring of the sex, violence, or gore. It is what it is, and needs to be done as described in order to let you understand Clark's mental state.

Of course, it'll never happen.


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## elaclair (Jun 18, 2004)

BattleZone said:


> I would SO like to see Without Remorse made as a movie, and as close to the book as possible, with NO censoring of the sex, violence, or gore. It is what it is, and needs to be done as described in order to let you understand Clark's mental state.
> 
> Of course, it'll never happen.


To add to that, none of the sex, violence, and gore described in Without Remorse is gratuitous or overly emphasized. It truly is an integral part of the story, and like BZ said, you need that reference to fully appreciate Clark's mental state.


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## Shades228 (Mar 18, 2008)

I'm not sure Affleck was horrible I don't think the movie was well done to begin with.


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## kucharsk (Sep 20, 2006)

FWIW, I really didn't like _Red October_ that much, with _Clear and Present Danger_ being my favorite of the series.


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## scroll (Apr 10, 2010)

I have seen this movie and liked it very much.


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