Patriot Games (1992)

Too much of everything

Overrated

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

Movie Review: "Patriot Games" (1992)Paramount Pictures switches leading actors from Alec Baldwin to Harrison Ford as further designated as from the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) acclaimed character of Jack Ryan, who must turn to action from in a viciously-executed terror attack on the Prince of Wales and his wife in mid-town London, when this highly-atmospheric suspense thriller based on a book from 1987 written by Tom Clancy (1947-2013) putting a microscopic as political view on a homeland-threatening "war-on-terror" theme outgoing from heart-breaking personal retaliation mission by the fulminate cast nemesis-character of Sean Miller, performed by Sean Bean in fully-engaging action beating manners, accelerating the picture directed by Phillip Noyce into patriotic chase from at that time remaining splinter cells of Irish Republican Army (IRA), who fought the Irish War on Independence from the British ruling United Kingdom (UK) for more then 50 years in the aftermath of World-War-1 (1914-1918)."Patriot Games" remains an Hollywood entertainment movie of the highest order, open for revisits under the restriction that any audience shall be advised to do some research in the now more or less resolved British-Irish conflict since an formally-received announcement in 2005, when suspense takes two peaks in a highway car-raging chase of family murder attempts and night-vision raid on U.S. American soil, where Miller's brother-avenging, ultra-advanced trained and geared death squad stealth-sneaks into never-seen-before conservative home of CIA-analyst Jack Ryan and his loving wife, portrayed by match-making actress Anne Archer, put to defend herself violently, when the message of "Patriot Games" becomes what the United States stand for since their own declaration of independence from the British Empire on July 4th, 1776.© 2018 Felix Alexander Dausend (Cinemajesty Entertainments LLC)

Harrison Ford stars in "Patriot Games" from 1992, an adaptation of the Tom Clancy novel. As the years went on, we were able to see Ben Affleck, Alec Baldwin, and Chris Pine play Clancy's hero, Jack Ryan, who appears in quite a few books.There was a time when there were films about Irish terrorists, but today, they have been replaced by another group. Former CIA analyst Jack Ryan is visiting England with his wife and daughter when he foils an abduction/murder of members of the Royal Family as they leave the Palace.The masked men were Irish revolutionaries, and Jack kills Paddy, the younger brother of one of the revolutionaries, Sean Miller (Sean Bean). He vows revenge, and he'll stop at nothing to get it. That includes escaping as he's being moved from one prison to the other and traveling to America.This is a very exciting film, with a long and detailed finale that is both scary and fantastic.Harrison Ford is the ultimate movie star, hearkening back to the classic stars of the '30s and '40s. Likable, versatile, and strong, he makes a great Jack Ryan,a man as determined to protect his wife and daughter as his nemesis is to destroy all of them. Anne Archer is lovely as his doctor wife. Sean Bean is hateful, as he should be. Lots of familiar faces -- Patrick Bergin, Thora Birch, James Fox, Samuel L. Jackson, James Earl Jones, Richard Harris, Alum Armstrong ("New Tricks), and Hugh Fraser ("Poirot"). Quite a cast.Truly excellent -- if you never saw it, see it now. Ford plays Ryan again in Clear and Present Danger.

Jack Ryan (Harrison Ford) has left the CIA and is in Britain speaking to their military. His wife Cathy (Anne Archer) and daughter Sally (Thora Birch) get caught up in an assassination attempt on Lord Holmes (James Fox) and his family in London. Ryan saves the day. Sean Miller (Sean Bean) is captured while his brother is killed. Kevin O'Donnell (Patrick Bergin) escapes. He leads a splinter group of Irish terrorists along with his girlfriend Annette (Polly Walker). They break out Miller and set off to take revenge on the Ryan family.This is a good but not great Jack Ryan movie. Harrison Ford does this type of role quite well. The film could have tighten the tension a bit more in the first half. The courtroom achieves little. Sean Bean screaming at Harrison Ford after the shootout would have been more intense. His escape could have been a great car chase but it's surprisingly static. Other than the cold blooded killings, there's nothing interesting there. Even Jack and Cathy's phone call before the crash could have been more intense. He has literally escaped death and yet he's so coy about the danger. I do like the section where he's looking for the terrorists in North Africa with the satellite. It's cerebral and probably the most memorable part of the movie. On the other hand, the terrorists seem to be everywhere which seems odd. First they take the slow boat to America, then escape to North America and then somehow return back to America.

It should be noted that I haven't read any of Clancy's books, so I have no idea how close Ford's portrayal of Jack Ryan is to the source material. But "Patriot Games" felt more like a Harrison Ford vehicle than a literary character adaptation. For me, at least. And there's an emphasis in this movie on Ryan as man of domesticity that tends to detract from my enjoyment (I speak mostly of that contrived saccharine ending). That said, it's certainly not without its pluses. There's some nice direction, and Phillip Noyce ups the tension during the action scenes (particularly during the third act showdown and boat chase). The scene with the CIA watching the camp raid via satellite maintains a bitter sense of humor. And as a Harrison Ford flick, it's a bit of a thrill to see him pick back up with the CIA to hunt down the bastards who wronged his family. Plus, there are a couple instances of the dread Ford Angry Finger Point of Doom (thank you for that, Internet). And then at the end, there's that syrupy baby stuff and a contrived smash-cut to credits. Still have a bad taste from that one.6/10