Review of The Hunt for Red October (1990) by Will D — 02 Feb 2012

The Hunt for Red October highlights the 1984 story of a Russian submarine captain and his officers defecting to the United States under the noses of their own fleet. It appeals very much to those that grew up and lived through the Cold War period as the tensions and suspicion that was heightened during that time will still ring loudly today.

As a 1990 release I was impressed with the visual effects employed by John McTiernan and his team. Using smoke and digital visuals for the underwater exterior shots of the submarine in action was done with a quality that wouldn't have shocked me to see 10 years later. To turn down the opportunity of following up his big hit Die Hard to do this film, shows the belief that McTiernan had. This probably supercedes Die Hard 2 on many levels anyway.