The Hunt for Red October

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Videos & Photos

  • Trailer 1

Movie Info & Cast

Director:

John McTiernan

Producer:

Larry DeWaay, Jerry Sherlock, Mace Neufeld

Writer:

Larry Ferguson, Donald Stewart

Release Date:

Mar 2, 1990

Runtime:

2hr 15m

Synopsis

Moscow, Washington D.C. and a CIA Analyst track a rogue Soviet Captain and his new submarine.

Cast

  • Sean Connery
  • Alec Baldwin
  • Scott Glenn
  • Sam Neill
  • James Earl Jones
  • Joss Ackland
  • Richard Jordan
  • Peter Firth
  • Tim Curry
  • Courtney B. Vance

Letterboxd User Reviews

3.8
270.7K
47.8K
60.6K
RATINGS 1.7K FANS
3.8
  • Jun 12, 2013

    a.k.a. "How to Be So Badass Nobody Will Give a Shit That Your Lithuanian Accent Sounds Distinctly Scottish."

    2.3K Likes
    Matt Singer
    Matt Singer
    May 6, 2020

    I love shubmarine moviesh.

    1.7K Likes
    Jordan Beaumont Anderson
    Jordan Beaumont Anderson
    Mar 21, 2020

    What's cool about Jack Ryan is that he's a big ol' nerd

    1.4K Likes
    Patrick Willems
    Patrick Willems
  •

    Incredibly suspenseful, well-acted, and deliberately paced, but soooooo dense. I can tell it was written by/for someone with an extreme understanding of naval procedure... but honestly, I wish it was just a little dumber and less specific in its execution.

    861 Likes
    demi adejuyigbe
    demi adejuyigbe
    Jan 22, 2023

    Our dads didn’t know how to talk about their feelings but they knew how to make a hell of a submarine movie!!!

    691 Likes
    Casey Malone
    Casey Malone
    Apr 10, 2013

    McTiernan constantly reorients you in a three-dimensional space by pulling focus rather than cutting or moving along the axis, opening and closing distances at will. if a submarine movie (or actually just operating a submarine) is about anything it's about quickly and…

    681 Likes
    matt lynch
    matt lynch
  •
    Nov 7, 2020

    And once more, we play our dangerous game, a game of chess, against our old adversary...the American Navy. For years, your fathers before you and your older brothers played this game and played it well. But today, the game is different. We have the advantage...

    557 Likes
    Will Menaker
    Will Menaker
    Oct 30, 2021

    the quintessential cold war movie - technical, tactical, sober, distant, prosaic. forget about humor, forget about nuances. color schemes and tension are everything. reminds you of the good ol' days of VHS and such a historical dagger airing at prime time.

    337 Likes
    shookone
    shookone
    Aug 24, 2020

    Sam Neill being in this movie brought me joy.

    292 Likes
    Matt The Snapper
    Matt The Snapper

Queue Community Reviews

95%
Community 2,168
❤️ LOVE
30%
👍 LIKE
65%
😐 MEH
4%
👎 DISLIKE
1%
Top Reviews
  • Draven Ramos
    Draven Ramos loved
    The Hunt for Red October

    This was an excellent thriller! It just made me realize how much I miss John McTerinan’s direction with his films. It goes down as one of the best, up there with Die Hard and Predator but for a different reason. I would’ve loved to see this timeline of Jack Ryan continue.

    1 4Y
    V
    V liked
    The Hunt for Red October

    I can’t believe I’ve never seen this. So many people in this movie. I had no idea this was a Jack Ryan movie &Alec Baldwin was Jack Ryan! he was so young ❤️But it definitely isn’t the Jack Ryan that we’ve become accustomed to less “action”. Sam Neil, Sean Connery & Tim Curry RIP

    1M
    CvptvinHowdy
    CvptvinHowdy liked
    The Hunt for Red October

    RIP Sam Neill. This is a very good film by McTiernan, but the story isn't that engaging, especially with that runtime. The cast is stacked and does well, but not much standout moments. I was hoping for something similar to The Rock. The final act is exhilarating, so that's great.

    3M
  • Joey Schmidt
    Joey Schmidt liked
    The Hunt for Red October

    I wish I watched this sooner. While there's some action, this movie is primarily based off what's at stake, and trying to keep tensions low. There's a great amount of suspense at points, and every actor here does fantastic. I'd love to watch this again at some point.

    2Y
    Marc Dolinsky
    Marc Dolinsky loved
    The Hunt for Red October

    One of my favorite movies growing up. The cast is a great group of All-Stars, the action is tight, and the setting of the Cold War is worth the nostalgia ride. It's a great adaptation of the Tom Clancy novel, and a great submarine movie.

    3Y
    Madelyn
    Madelyn liked
    The Hunt for Red October

    i watched it with my dad, it wasn't a bad movie, but it also just wasn't my cup of tea. i started getting more invested in the movie towards the end tho. if you're a history/war/older movie person, you'll like it

    2Y
  • SpindlyMan
    SpindlyMan liked
    The Hunt for Red October

    Still holds up. A great flick for war buffs. Based off of Tom Clancy’s book and well executed. The cast does great. The timeline is paced well. Great action with intense moments. Overall an excellent watch!

    2Y
    Matthew Mize
    Matthew Mize liked
    The Hunt for Red October

    Great story line and amazing pacing. A little confusing at some points as it assumes the audience knows anything about submarines. Sean Connery is hard to understand at some points. 9/10

    2Y
    Edward Kronkvist
    Edward Kronkvist liked
    The Hunt for Red October

    A very good suspenseful submarine film but what really stands out is how staked this cast really is. And the ending especially really had me on my edge of my seat.

    2Y

Atom Users Reviews

4.7
2
1
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0
0

Reviews

  • SM
    Suzie Moreno
    CB
    Chris B.
    #seeingitagain
    #original
    #epic
    MY
    Michael Yeadon
    #intense

Metacritic

58
metacritic
Based on 17 Critics
7.7

USER SCORE (147)

Generally favorable reviews based on 147 Reviews
89

This Tom Clancy thriller gets the proper screen treatment here with this first-rate cast and direction by one of the genre#146;s best: Die Hard director John McTiernan.

Metacritic review by Marjorie Baumgarten
Marjorie Baumgarten
Austin Chronicle
80

McTiernan does not fall too much in love with any scene, character or gadget. He has judged his material (and our attention spans) very well. His alternation of menace and human interest, technological wizardry and action sequences is subtly calibrated, ultimately hypnotic in its effect. [5 Mar 1990, p.70]

Richard Schickel
Time
75

Colorful and exciting, yet unless you're a young moviegoer, nothing in it takes you by complete surprise. (It's less a nail-biter than a chin-stroker.)

Metacritic review by Owen Gleiberman
Owen Gleiberman
Entertainment Weekly

Frequently Asked Questions

Is The Hunt for Red October (1990) family-friendly?
The movie has been rated as PG (Parental Guidance Suggested). It's generally considered a family-friendly movie.
How long is The Hunt for Red October (1990)?
The movie is 2hr 15min long.
What's The Hunt for Red October (1990) about?
Moscow, Washington D.C. and a CIA Analyst track a rogue Soviet Captain and his new submarine.
Who's the cast of The Hunt for Red October (1990)?
  • Sean Connery as Captain Marko Ramius
  • Alec Baldwin as Jack Ryan
  • Scott Glenn as Captain Bart Mancuso
  • Sam Neill as Captain Vasily Borodin
  • James Earl Jones as Admiral James Greer
  • Joss Ackland as Ambassador Andrei Lysenko
  • Richard Jordan as National Security Advisor Jeffrey Pelt
  • Peter Firth as Political Officer Ivan Putin - Red October
  • Tim Curry as Dr. Petrov
  • Courtney B. Vance as Petty Officer 2nd Class Jones
Who's the director behind The Hunt for Red October (1990)?
John McTiernan directed The Hunt for Red October (1990).
Who produced The Hunt for Red October (1990)?
Larry DeWaay, Jerry Sherlock and Mace Neufeld produced The Hunt for Red October (1990).