FAQ

When Soviet captain Marko Ramius (Sean Connery) of the Red October, the Soviet navy's newest Typhoon-class nuclear submarine, starts heading for the U.S. coast, former Marine turned CIA analyst Jack Ryan (Alec Baldwin), who once met Ramius and wrote a bio on him, must determine whether Ramius is trying to defect or to start a war. However, the Red October has suddenly disappeared.

The Hunt for Red October is a 1984 novel by American author Tom Clancy. It was inspired by two real events: (1) the deviation of a Soviet Navy submarine to Gotland in 1961 by Captain Jonas Pleskys (a Lithuanian), and (2) a 1975 mutiny aboard the Soviet frigate Storozhevoy, which was an attempt to defect to Gotland by Captain Valery Sablin. Clancy's novel was adapted for the movie by screenwriters Larry Ferguson and Donald Stewart.

Yuri Gagarin (1934-1968) was a Soviet cosmonaut and the first human in space. Ramius refers to him when he mentions "the days of Sputnik and Yuri Gagarin" in his address to the crew. On 12 April, 1961, Gagarin was launched into space aboard the Vostok 1. After about 1 hour 48 minutes, he returned to earth, landing safely in Siberia. Twenty-three (23) days later, on 5 May, 1961, Alan Shepard (1923-1998) would become the first American in space. Gagarin died at the controls of a malfunctioning MIG fighter in 1968. Russian newspapers reported that Gagarin remained at the controls to avoid hitting a school, rather than ejecting from the craft to save his own life, further elevating Gagarin's status as a hero.

Ryan describes the caterpillar drive as a "magnetohydrodynamic drive", a system which uses magnetic fields to propel water and drive the ship forward instead of mechanical propellers. Since it has no moving parts, the caterpillar allows the Red October to run virtually silently and sneak up on its targets without being detected.

So far, Clancy has written 12 novels that feature Jack Ryan. They are: The Hunt for Red October (1984), Patriot Games (1987), The Cardinal of the Kremlin (1988), Clear and Present Danger (1989), The Sum of All Fears (1991), Without Remorse (1993), Debt of Honor (1994), Executive Orders (1996), Rainbow Six (1998) (mention only), The Bear and the Dragon (2000), Red Rabbit (2002), and The Teeth of the Tiger (2003). Of the 12 books in the Ryan universe, five have so far been made into movies-The Hunt for Red October, Die Stunde der Patrioten (1992), Das Kartell (1994), Der Anschlag (2002), and Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014). Tom Clancy's Gnadenlos (2021) is currently in development.