It's not Das Boot, but ...

- Connery, Baldwin, and Glenn

I usually end up getting old movies from the library, partly because I've never seen most of them on the computer before, and partly because if you sign up for a new movie a the library, you're on a list with hundreds of others: by the time you get the movie, it will be old anyway - heh. This week's old movie from the library was The Hunt for Red October, the 1990 movie based on the novel by Tom Clancy. As I was checking it out, the librarian sighed and said "I love this movie - Alec Baldwin when he was young!" :) Of course there are a lot of good actors in the film - Sean Connery, Scott Glenn, Stellan Skarsgård, James Earl Jones, Tim Curry, Sam Neil, etc., and there's a even a cameo by Dr. Crusher from Star Trek NG, who plays Jack Ryan's wife.

The basic plot from Wikipedia ...

The year is 1984. Captain First Rank Marko Ramius (Sean Connery) is the commanding officer of Red October, a new Soviet submarine whose caterpillar drive renders it undetectable to sonar. Ramius leaves port to conduct exercises with the submarine V.K. Konovalov, commanded by his former student Captain Tupolev (Stellan Skarsgård). Once at sea, Ramius murders political officer Ivan Putin (Peter Firth), the only man aboard besides himself who knows the sub's true orders. Ramius then burns the orders and commands the crew to head toward America's east coast to conduct missile drills. The Dallas, an American submarine on patrol nearby, briefly detects Red October but loses contact once Ramius engages the silent drive.

The next morning, CIA analyst Jack Ryan (Alec Baldwin) briefs U.S. government officials on the departure of Red October and the threat it poses. Officials in the briefing, learning that the Soviet Navy has been deployed to sink Red October, fear Ramius may plan an unauthorized strike against the U.S. Ryan believes Ramius plans to defect and leaves for the North Atlantic to prove his theory before the U.S. Navy is ordered to sink Red October.

The film is fun if you can get over that a Scotsman, an Englishman, a New Zealander, and a Swede are supposed to be Russian :) Nope, it's not Das Boot, but still probably worth a watch if you haven't seen it before.