The Hunt for Red October (1990) Reaction/Commentary (Request)

[@revan211]

Active Navy, deployed on subs. The best correlation I can give you is this. You are on a 300 foot metal tube, which is designed to sink. Around you, you have roughly around 120-150 sailors operating it. In my experience, your brain protects itself from the crazy stunts you're about to pull. Your mind shrinks down your cares about the world, literally only applying to the boat, because you can't do anything with the information you get from the outside world, if you get any at all. When you come back to the real world, there's new movies, new songs, new everything that everyone knows about except you. Then, you just gotta adapt.

[@adamskeans2515]

Navy vet, ex-submariner here, you definitely don't want to go on one if you're claustrophobic. But if you want to know about the real psychology of warfare on a sub, you need to watch Das Boot.

[@Ceractucus]

I second Das Boot. This movie is spectacular, but Das Boot is the finest submarine movie ever put to film. Director's cut is practically a must.

[@marloncherry1277]

Hunt For Red October has been a Favorite Movie of mine for a long time now, we were always on Alert status through most of the eighties.

[@sfkeepay]

Berlin Wall fell in ‘89, and the USSR dissolved in ‘91. But in ‘84, we were still looking at the sky like it was going to rain rockets any day. So the book was huge, even for 15 yr. old me to read. Great review, very well edited. Nice to revisit a classic, and to see Connery again.

[@artembentsionov]

Sam Neill wanted to see Montana. In a few years, he’ll be digging up dinosaur bones in Montana

[@FormulaFox]

Fun fact: They transition to English on the word "Armageddon" because it is pronounced the same in Russian and English.

[@alasdairmacdonald9838]

The switch in languages in this film did more than just make it easier for English speaking audiences to follow. It also allowed you to connect with Ramius and his crew in a way that you can't when either not understanding what they are saying at all or using subtitles. Foreign languages are an easy to way in many films to make clear who are the bad guys and who are the good guys. At the beginning of the film we aren't sure of the intentions of Ramius his is just another Soviet officer. That all changes when the language shift takes over. Even Tupalev is humanised using the same technique. Where as the Russian crew of the bomber that launches a torperdo at Red October earlier in the film are still speaking RUssian. Visually I think it really holds up well especially the simple use of Blue and Red lighting on the Red October and Dallas so that it's immediately clear what submarine any scene is in. Still one of my favourite movies of all time, though it's interesting to see younger people react to it without the context of the cold war as ingrained in them as it was for older generations.

[@andrewj9831]

They did the change there because it's the same word in English and Russian

[@marloncherry1277]

Tom Clancy's books were so detailed he was bought in and questioned about where he got such interesting stories to closely real Classified Events.

[@larrymartin883]

Scott Glenn took a ride on a real submarine (USS Salt Lake City SSN716) for his part in this movie. During a interview Scott Glen said he respected the Captain of the Salt Lake City (Captain Tom Fargo) and decide to base his character after Captain Tom Fargo... I served with Captain Tom Fargo and the crew of the Salt Lake City as a Sonar Rider during a West Pac.

[@BedsitBob]

The actress playing Jack Ryan's wife, is Gates McFadden, aka Dr Beverley Crusher.

[@alainanash4905]

The very first submarine to sink a battleship (USS Housatonic) was the H.L. Hunley in Charleston Harbor 17 February 1864.

[@Elios0000]

Jonesy is under rated guy in this. in the book he gets ton more screen time. He dropped out MIT and CALTEC to join the Navy he's huge audiophile with amazing hearing and self taught Electrical engineer. He pops up in few other books but goes on to work with USN in new SONAR R&D

[@rabooey]

Above-water vessels = Ships Below-water vessels = Boats That's for military.

[@Elios0000]

Carriers called boat as well its the exception

[@bear4muscledfw]

Tom Clancy novels are a great read. He gets into a LOT of detail about things, which can slow the read down. But well worth the effort.

[@SpearM3064]

Well... it's more accurate to say he _got_ into a lot of detail about things. He passed away 10 years ago, and everything since then with "Tom Clancy" on it has been the work of a ghost writer. But you're not wrong; in fact, after _The Hunt for Red October_ was published, the DoD sent agents to ask him how he knew so much about submarines (some of which they mistakenly thought was still classified information). Paraphrased: "It's a place with a lot of books, called the _public library._ You do know what that is, right?" 😉😂

[@andrewj9831]

@@SpearM3064 In the first print, they ended printing 5K copies before they edited out the "real classified" stuff, they kept the more basic classified things that could be easily figured out. All Clancy did was use information that was out there....alot of it was in bits and pieces as unclassified..but when he reversed engineered it, it became classified. For example, the new "speed sensor" needed for the 688 class subs needed to be rated up to 45 knots...but couldn't use the sensor they used in the previous class, max was 33 knots and needed to be 10-15% higher. This all came from what was out there. So in 1983, he knew that top speed was about 38 knots....which at that time was very classified...even today the navy says it's 35+ knots.

[@paulineandrushuk8923]

Darn good flick, with impressive cast. Well Mike, you followed what was happening much better than when I saw it at the Theatre. Thanks

[@Beerman111980]

Those are Russian tea cups. Sean Connery originally passed on the movie thinking it was a standard USA vs. the Soviets thing until he read the script and realized it was a lot more nuanced.

[@karlsmith2570]

Another reason why Sean Connery initially passed on this movie was because he'd initially thought that it was set in the modern day as opposed to before Gorbachev became the president of the Soviet Union because he didn't get the first page that stated that these events took place before Gorbachev came to power. As you may remember, in the scene where Jack's briefing Jeffery Pelt, the NSA representative, mentioned that Admiral Padorin demanded a meeting with Chernyenko

[@katiem9644]

Great reaction on one of my very favorite movies. Thank you for your service.

[@karlsmith2570]

25:32 In addition, that little story also explains why Jack doesn't like flying

[@bcriswell]

Former Fast Attack Submariner here. I enjoyed having a veteran from another branch watch a movie about submarines and be curious about them. I get curious about the dangers of being airmen, soldiers, and even marines while they were serving. If you're really curious about how well the actors spoke Russian you might check out Dasha Reacts You Tube channel and her reaction to Hunt for Red October. She loved the movie, but wasn't too impressed with how the actors spoke Russian. Still, it was fun to get the perspective of a Russian who now lives in Canada (I think Canada).

[@mikewatchesstuff]

Bob, you didn't have to do that, but thanks a bunch! It's nice to hear from a fellow veteran, and in this case, one specifically who served on a sub. Did you find the movie had a lot of technical errors with the operation of a sub?

[@bcriswell]

I'm happy to help buy your drink of choice or a fast food item. I really enjoyed your reaction. If a submariner really studied the movie he could find some errors. But overall I think most submariners believe it's the most accurate movie with a nuclear sub. Das Boot would be the submarine movie with the most accurate portrayal of submarine life, even though it a diesel boat during WWII.

[@trekkiexb5]

@@bcriswell Former Naval Aviation Mech. on sub hunters. Sometimes it is difficult to watch a Hollywood take on the military. As a fun day in training, our skipper got the base theatre and had the film, "Midway" be our history training. We all complained how the ribbons were wrong and why they weren't wearing uniforms right. I mean, "Top Gun' was my favourite movie and I still cannot unsee Goose and Maverick wearing polos under their flight suits! Or how Goose died. Ejection seats was my job and we talked about this in "A" school. I don't know much about the subs' inner workings in the '80's but Red October sounds right. More importantly it feels right. Subs were targets for us. Look into the set they used for the subs...They were NOT faking that lean then the subs were diving/rising!

[@marke8323]

Clancy was a master when it came to Techno-Thrillers!

[@karlsmith2570]

6:28 Fun Fact you, Mike: The guy behind Seaman Beaumont in this scene, who's the COB aboard the USS Dallas, is Larry Ferguson, who was one of the scriptwriters for this movie

[@cynthiaschultheis1660]

The political officer, played by Peter Firth, whom I saw him in "EQUIS" on Broadway!👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

[@cynthiaschultheis1660]

My dad served in Navy, on a Sub for 6 months...he HATED IT!!!😵😵😵😵

[@susanfox6666]

One of my fave movies. Your reaction was terrific. Thank you.

[@mikewatchesstuff]

Thank you Susan for visiting and for your kind words!

[@susanfox6666]

@@mikewatchesstuffJust stopped by to watch it again, just because of the quality of your reaction. Best reaction of them all.

[@spike11313]

Did you notice when they andy the word Armageddon it changed to English love that transition

[@iKvetch558]

When you read the book, you really appreciate how good a job they did in simplifying and streamlining the story to make it work for a movie. But I have to admit, this movie has a very different vibe for me ever since Alec Baldwin shot two people killing one of them...some things on movie sets do not react well to bullets. You are not wrong that having the Soviet characters speak Russian all the way through, instead of using that transitioning trick to switch to English. However, a couple of things to keep in mind...for one thing, that would have added to the workload of the actors, who were already having to remember and use a lot of techno jargon already. And that is also a thing with the audience, who are having to try and keep up with all that techno speak and the very complex plot, so making them read subtitles clearly seemed like an unnecessary length to go to. Fun fact...the director of this film...John McTiernan...used a similar "trick" for his 1999 film The 13th Warrior...a movie that is well worth watching and reacting to. At 23:25...you are correct that was an AWACs plane that was shown landing...though that was the carrier borne type of that plane known as the Grumman E-2C Hawkeye instead of the E-3 Sentry you showed.

[@karlsmith2570]

24:10 "So, They're Ginna Track Seismic Activity, I Guess?" Well, that's what sonar software was originally developed for, tracking Seismic Activity

[@terryrodbourn2793]

these engines are already in Jet Skies! However in large applications they are really loads from the water movement!

[@cynthiaschultheis1660]

🙏RIP SIR SEAN CONNERY🙏

[@BedsitBob]

Stellan Skarsgård played Boris Shcherbina in the miniseries Chernobyl.

[@johnnimlo]

Late to this party but I wanted to add some info. The demeanor of submarine CO’s is like the captains in this movie and Das Boot as opposed to the CO in Crimson Tide.

[@randyranderson690]

While technology has advanced it still can't a couple of good thermal layers

[@ofrabjousday1]

I might be stupid, but I caught something on this viewing I'd never seen before, as many times as I've watched this movie. (I own it on DVD.) Ramius has very subtly issued a veiled threat at 22:41. Did anyone else catch that?

[@cynthiaschultheis1660]

🙏RIP JAMES EARL JONES🙏

[@BedsitBob]

Jeffrey Jones was also in Howard The Duck.

[@vivianloge4985]

On the first of September 1983 the Soviet Air Force shot down a Korean Air Liner that had drifted into Soviet air space. The USA and a lot of the world filed complaints with the UN about it. Then in November of 1983 the US and Nato started their annual Able Archer wargame that similated a Warsaw Pact attack on Western Europe. The 1983 exercise was different than previous ones in that President Reagan wanted a more realistic evaluation to find out how prepared the US Military was. The Soviets were scared that President Reagan was going to start WW III before the wargame started. Then when personnel in Washington started donning their chemical suits as parts of the drills (which hadn't happened in any of the previous drills). The Soviets thought the US was minutes away from launching missiles and starting an invasion of Eastern Europe. I believe one of the Soviet officers was actually given orders to launch. Something didn't seem right to him so he didn't and shortly after that individuals in Washington started easing back on the drill. This caused the Soviets to take a deep breath and step back slightly. Then the wargame ended. After all of the inteligence was gathered and President Reagan was briefed, he (President Reagan) realized how close we had come and he started easing his hard line towards the Soviets. The movie The Hunt For The Red October is supposed to take place the following Spring.

[@cynthiaschultheis1660]

YOU MUST SEE "DAS BOOT" ABOUT GERMAN SUB IN WWII. VERY INTENSE😳😳😳👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼😎😎😎

[@mikewatchesstuff]

Thank you for visiting! I have a reaction to Das Boot on my channel if you wish to see it. At the end of this video, in the last 25 seconds there should be a link for it that pops up on the screen.

[@BammerD]

Cameo appearance at the very beginning by Gates McFadden, Dr. Beverly Crusher in "Star Trek: The Next Generation." The book by Tom Clancy was inspired by a real mutiny on board the Soviet Navy frigate Storozhevoy in 1975.

[@cynthiaschultheis1660]

🙏RIP TIM CURRY🙏

[@marloncherry1277]

1989 fall of Soviet Union, which collapse came later when the Russian Ruple plummeted. 89 when Ronald Reagan great Speach to Michel Gorbachev Reagan said Mr. Gorbachev tear down that 🧱 wall. And in East Germany the Soldiers at the Wall of East Berlin Walked away from there Post. That was One of our Greatest moments in History of our Republic, I remember I was on leave there in West Germany preparing to head back Stateside when it all happened. That is Peace through Strength moment. Here we are again at the Presipus, Against a Trojan horse Enemy within. Our current administration is for Globalist Government allowing an Invasion of our Borders of what they claim are Asylum seekers, from other Countries Prisons and Mental Institutions. Mostly if you pay attention are Military aged single males 18-35 years of age, Some that have been caught are on the Terrorist Watch list. And who knows how many got aways, in my opinion that's an invasion. Time again to Protect our Homeland again, from what seems now Domestic Terrorism.

[@marloncherry1277]

I'm not a big Clooney fan but he did a movie called Peacemaker that was pretty good with Nicole Kidman that could be a decent reaction movie from 97 I think

[@FesterSilently]

Great reaction, great movie. It is a shame that they lost Alec Baldwin, and each successive movie grew slightly worse (and more action-y) as they went along. I firmly support the idea of having a Tom Clancy/Jack Ryan novel TV series (maybe 6-8 episodes per season?), wherein each season is the next chronological novel in the series.

[@cynthiaschultheis1660]

Collapse was in 1991.

[@cynthiaschultheis1660]

Still serving? In Reserves?👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼