The Hunt for Red October (1990) The Hunt for Red October (1990)
A Cold War submarine thriller directed by John McTiernan, adapted from Tom Clancy's debut novel, starring Sean Connery as a Soviet submarine captain defecting to the United States and Alec Baldwin as the CIA analyst who figures out his intentions before anyone else does. The film is built on the premise that smart people talking in rooms — and in submarines — can generate more tension than any action sequence.
Quick Facts
| Detail | Info |
|---|---|
| Director | John McTiernan |
| Screenwriters | Larry Ferguson, Donald E. Stewart |
| Stars | Sean Connery, Alec Baldwin, Scott Glenn, Sam Neill, James Earl Jones |
| Composer | Basil Poledouris |
| Cinematographer | Jan de Bont |
| Editors | Dennis Virkler, John Wright |
| Production Companies | Mace Neufeld Productions, Nina Saxon Film Design |
| Distributor | Paramount Pictures |
| Budget | $30 million |
| Box Office | $200.5 million worldwide ($122 million domestic) |
| Release Date | March 2, 1990 |
| Running Time | 135 minutes |
| Filmed At | Paramount backlot (five soundstages), Port Angeles WA, Juan de Fuca Strait, Point Loma San Diego |
Key Pages
- _Index
- Plot Summary (The Hunt for Red October)
- Cast and Characters (The Hunt for Red October)
- Production History (The Hunt for Red October)
- Themes and Analysis (The Hunt for Red October)
- Critical Reception and Legacy (The Hunt for Red October)
- Physical Media Releases (The Hunt for Red October)
- Backbeats (The Hunt for Red October)
Tagline
"The hunt is on."
Genre Context
The film arrived at the exact end of the Cold War — released in March 1990, nine months before German reunification and twenty-one months before the Soviet Union dissolved. It was simultaneously the culmination of a genre (the Cold War thriller) and its farewell. McTiernan understood what he was adapting was not an action movie but a procedural about institutions misreading each other.
"It's Treasure Island. The story of a boy who has to go off and find the scariest man of the sea on Earth, who turns out to be a sweet old bastard." — John McTiernan, Cinephilia & Beyond (2020)
"This isn't really a submarine movie; it's a movie about late-era Cold War political maneuvering." — James Berardinelli, ReelViews (2018)