Review of Patriot Games (1992) by Jim M — 08 Nov 2011

CIA Analyst Jack Ryan (Harrison Ford) has retired to teaching. On a working vacation in London with his family he is witness to an assassination attempt by a splinter faction of the IRA whose members include Sean Miller (Sean Bean). Ryan intervenes the plot fails, Miller is arrested and his brother gunned down. Ryan is hailed a hero and heads back to Maryland. But Miller won't be in prison for long. His comrades stage a jail break and spark a war between the government and IRA that will leave Millers group left to take up the cause, but Miller isn't interested in a free Ireland, Miller wants revenge...

Based on Tom Clancy's novel. Harrison Ford is the definitve Jack Ryan, Sean Bean is sutably meanacing (fun fact Bean has a scar above his eye given to him by Harrison Ford during the films final scenes, someone forgot to duck), Anne Archer doens't have a lot to do and hey the little girl is Thora Birch. Patrick Bergen and Polly Walker round out the terrorists well and Samuel L. Jackson appears as Ryans buddy. As always James Earl Jones commands the screen whenever he speaks. There's a kick ass scene involving an SAS raid on a terrorist camp in Libya scene threw a sattellate feed watched by suits at the CIA that stands out as the one everyone remebers. Despite this and a great score the films lacking. Tom Clancy rightly distanced himself as the film is rather dumbed down from the great novel but that only part of it. The passage of time has not been kind. The peacem in Northern Ireland may be shaky but its holding and has, with few exceptions, held since the ceasefire agreement in 1998 about 13 years. Moreover Muammar Gadhafi.