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Customer Reviews of Clear and Present Danger (Special Edition)

A smart action thriller
This movie is based on a Tom Clancy novel and it is simply awesome. The plot and subplots are well thought through and the execution as a motion picture is extremely well done. The story is about drug lords in Colombia who are connected to the folks behind secret doors in Washington. By direct order of the President, CIA agent Jack Ryan (Harrison Ford) has to solve the murders of a wealthy businessman and his family. The hunt takes Ryan back and forth between Washington and South America. More killings happen and the action becomes intense. Finally, there's a dangerous field operative (Willem Dafoe) who conducts covert operations for the U.S. government. The movie contains excellent cinematography, drama and action. We've watched it many times and it's always a delight as it is one of these rare breathtaking quality thrillers one will want to watch over and over again.

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Wars Abroad, Wars At Home
Clear And Present Danger is the third Tom Clancy novel, featuring hero Jack Ryan, to be made into a movie. The story deals with the war on drugs and corruption in the government. The end result is a better film than Patriot Games, taking its cues more from the original novel, than that film did.

Former CIA analyst Jack Ryan, (Harrison Ford) is asked by his mentor and friend, Admiral Greer (James Earl Jones) to take over for him, while he battles cancer. Ryan reluctantly accepts. When a friend of the President's (Donald Moffatt) is killed, Ryan learns that a drug kingpin (Miguel Sandoval) may be responsible, for the crime. As he briefs the President, forces inside the administration, are working to take the cartel out, even without any proof. Ryan must discover the truth, about who is working against him before it's too late

The cast also includes the great Henry Czerny as Ritter, a smarmy guy at the CIA who butts heads with Ryan, Harris Yullin as the National Security Advisor, and Anne Archer returns as Cathy, Jack's wife. Directed by Philip Noyce, who also directed Patriot Games, the film stays within the framework of the book. The movie also is detailed enough to keep fans of the book happy, while at the same time it is nicely paced Ford proves once again why he's so right for roles like this. He wears his hero hat so well. It is Czerny though, that makes things really interesting for Ryan and, he gives the film an extra spark or two.

As part of the reissued "Jack Ryan" series on DVD, Clear And Present Danger, contains a retrospective featurette on how the film was made. It's pretty good and does a decent job taking you back, to what it was like on the set. The standard theatrical trailer tops off the extras. I wish there was a commentary track to go along with the other stuff--or maybe some deleted footage-that would have helped.

Still the DVD is recommended over the "movie only" edition from a few years ago

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Best Clancy Movie
Out of the four Tom Clancy/Jack Ryan movies, I think Clear and Present Danger is easily the best. Harrison Ford is one of my favorite actors, and even though he's made some dreck in recent years, his string of successes post-Star Wars and Indiana Jones reached their peak around this time.
The story of the film revolves around the U.S. war on drugs, attempting to stop the flow at the source of production in Colombia. To this end, Harrison Ford as Jack Ryan becomes caught up in the action along with the always-great Willem DaFoe as CIA agent Clark. Just about all of the actors in this movie are great, including Joaquim de Almeida, Donald Moffat, Henry Czerny (the slime dripping off his character might damage your TV), and Raymond Cruz.
Not only is this one of my favorite spy/government intrigue movies, but it's just flat-out one of my favorite movies. Great story, great actors, great movie. Highly recommended.