Where to watch Clear and Present Danger
4 Stars
Jack Ryan is back and this time the bad guys are in his own government. When Admiral James Greer becomes sick with cancer, Ryan is appointed acting CIA Deputy Director of Intelligence. Almost before he can draw a breath in his new position, one of the president’s closest friends and his family are murdered in their sleep by what appears to be drug cartels. Ryan is called in to investigate, but unknown to him the CIA has already sent a secret field operative to lead an illegal paramilitary force in Colombia against the cartels. Things get even more complicated when his team is set up and he loses an agent in the field and a friend of his wife’s, who was the murdered agent’s secretary, is murdered that same day. Ryan must then risk not only his career, but his life to expose the truth behind the mystery.
Clear and Present Danger is an oversized, gloriously naive (in the wake of 9/11) patriotic fantasy that was topical in its day and has become relevant once again due to today’s drug climate. As with most Tom Clancy adaptations, Clear and Present Danger is an incredibly dense film, filled with details large and small regarding this covert war. The source novel is unwieldy in its length and epic scope of storytelling, so it’s a remarkable job done by the trio of screenwriters, Donald Stewart,Steven Zaillian, and John Milius, that this script is so tightly structured and is able to convey an enormous amount of information in under two and a half hours. The centerpiece of the first hour is an incredibly exciting action sequence in which four SUVs’ are attacked by rooftop gunmen with rocket launchers on the back streets of Panama City. The second hour is a mounting set of retaliatory attacks on the US infantrymen and the heads of various cartels. This accumulates into an uneasy alliance between the two sides.
Clear and Present Danger is much better than the incredibly dull Patriot Games. Ultimately, it comes down to the base story, but even in terms of moviemaking, the grimy, washout colors of the last film. This time we are given brightly lit scenes with colors that pop—the blue of the sea or the green jungle environment. Even director Philip Noyce seems to know that he’s got a juicier tale to share this time around. The beautifully rousing score from James Horner resembles his seminal work on Aliens. Brilliant screenwriting and plotting, combined with a host of outstanding performances, make this the best screen incarnation of all of Tom Clancy’s work.
The last ten minutes are spellbinding, as Jack Ryan ferociously lectures the president about his decision to strand American soldiers behind enemy lines. It’s a scene that showcases Harrison Ford doing his finest acting. Clear and Present Danger is one of the best movies of 1994.
Directed by: Phillip Noyce
Written by: Tom Clancy, Donald E. Stewart, Steven Zaillian
Starring: Harrison Ford, Willem Dafoe, Anne Archer