Das Kartell

The makers of this movie are to be congratulated for turning a Tom Clancy doorstop into a tense, tightly woven international thriller with a top notch cast and believeable plot. Where the previous two Jack Ryan movies depended on stunts and quite unbelieveable plot twists this film concentrates on a grubby little military/political incident (more the domain of intelligence men) and the men of honour and integrity (Ford and an under used Dafoe) trapped in the middle of it.

I also like this movie for its subtle dig at the American establishment and how it assumes it can coerce the weak into doing its bidding.

The Clark character in Clancy's fiction is an interesting one and deserves to be further developed. Casting Willem Dafoe in the part was actually a stroke of genius, and I could easily imagine his character in Platoon doing this kind of work if he had survived Vietnam. The fact that Dafoe is one of THE most underrated actors in Hollywood also means I like this.

The third outing for Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan - and the second with Harrison Ford in the lead - is a tightly constructed political thriller. Condensing Clancy's door stoppers is no easy task, but the makers here, headed by director Phillip Noyce, have manged to keep the pic brisk and intelligent for entertainment worth.

Plot essentially boils down to America's war on drugs and the Colombian cartel at the helm of such operations. Naturally all is a bit suspect in the American corridors of power, leading to corruption and abuse of power that puts Jack Ryan firmly at the front to sift and destroy the bad eggs staining the American Star Spangled Banner.

This very much plays out for those who like a bit of politico subterfuge, whist being ok with long passages of like minded chatter is also a requisite. That we have a fine cast playing out the screenplay (Donald E. Stewart, Steven Zaillian and John Milius) is a big plus that gives credibility to the shifty machinations.

There's a nagging annoyance throughout that this still should be a better film, especially given the overstretched run time of 2 hours 20 minutes, and the computer sections are dubious and the finale is something of a damp squib. However, we are in the company of great pros, both in front of and behind the camera - and also on the page (Clancy's brain superlative). With that in mind it's reasons to seek this out and enjoy if this splinter of political thriller is your bag. 7/10

To say you dislike a film like Clear and Present Danger because it lacks substance is like saying you don't like The Lion king because it has Lions in it . It's a Tom Clancy novel and that's what you should expect from something he wrote , so just sit back and enjoys and that's exactly what I did .

Harrison Ford plays CIA Analyst Jack Ryan who is drawn into an illegal war fought by the US government against a Colombian drug cartel.

Despite its many faults , I enjoyed this film . It's ram packed full of action , including massive explosions and a death toll that would rival a small war . Harrison for does what Harrison for does well . He pulls faces to suit the scene without breaking much of a sweat and that's what the public likes about him in the eighties and nineties and still do to a certain extent .

It has dated quite badly . The IT is hilarious and the fashions are a little cringeworthy but I have to say I had a fun two hours watching this .

Third installment of the Agent Jack Ryan with lots of gun-rattling action, suspense and intrigue. Ryan is a high officer from CIA ,married(Anne Archer) and with sons(Thora Birch).After death a closed friend by Colombian drugs Cali cartel(Miguel Sandoval,Joaquin De Almeida) , the President(Donald Moffat) himself sanctions a covert operation against the drug barons by sending crack soldiers into the Colombia country under the command of mercenaries(Willem Dafoe,Benjamin Bratt, Raymond Cruz). Harrison Ford's Jack Ryan contracted into White House's staff(Harris Yulin, Henry Czerny,Dean Jones) investigates the events. Ryan thinks he's still after Colombian connections to the dead man's money.

This blockbuster is an excellent adaptation of the novel by Tom Clancy , companion to ¨The hunt for Red October¨ with Ford taking over the role of Ryan from Alec Baldwin and second part ¨Patriot games¨ again with Harrison Ford , who's becoming the king of trilogies . Extraordinaries nail-biting action scenes, specially when Ryan and his partners are trapped by machine-gunners in a network of narrows streets and posteriorly parodied by Leslie Nielsen. Interesting screenplay plenty of twists and thrills by John Milius and Steve Zaillian. Spectacular musical score fitting to action and suspense by James Horner. Colorful and atmospheric cinematography by Donald McAlpine. The picture is well directed by Phillip Noyce, an action movies expert, but he directed ¨Blind fury, The Saint, The Bone Collectors and Patriot games¨ among others. Rating: Above average, the film will like to Harrison Ford fans and Jack Ryan novels followers.

Harrison Ford returns as "Jack Ryan," star of the very well-done "Patriot Games," the film adaption off the best-selling Tom Clancy novels. Also returning are Anne Archer and James Earl Jones.

THE BAD - This isn't as intense, especially in the first half hour, as Patriot Games and the ending was a little disappointing with a action-scene credibility problem. Once again - it's getting to be a tired Hollywood theme - top U.S. government officials, going all the way to the President, are corrupt people, liars not to be trusted.

THE GOOD - It's nice to see Willem Dafoe finally play a good guy. The villains in here are deceptively interesting, actors such as Joaquim De Almeida, Harris Yulin and Henry Czerny and Miguel Sandoval - not big names but recognizable and good actors. The violence is not overdone in here and when the action does occur, the sound is terrific. The best action scene was shootout in the streets with snipers firing at cars below.

The positives are far more than the negatives, making this a solid thriller.