Watched Without Remorse? Here’s a list of top 5 Tom Clancy adaptations

5. Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit

Starring Chris Pine in the titular role of Jack Ryan, Shadow Recruit is not a bad movie by any measure. But this Kenneth Branagh directorial doesn’t rise above the spy action thriller cliches to become something unique. Even the charismatic cast cannot save its formulaic script.

4. Patriot Games

Directed by Phillip Noyce and starring one of the greatest genre actors to grace the screen, Harrison Ford, Patriot Games is nevertheless a so-so movie that feels long despite its slim runtime. Like Shadow Recruit, it has the usual tropes of its genre and does not do anything to subvert them. The film is, however, slightly more entertaining than the Chris Pine-starrer.

3. The Sum Of All Fears

Phil Alden Robinson’s The Sum Of All Fears features Ben Affleck and Morgan Freeman in the lead roles, and it is these two that save the film from becoming a charmless slog.

2. Clear And Present Danger

The second time around, Harrison Ford had a better luck being in a film that knew what it was. Phillip Noyce’s film was a non-stop thrilling ride with solid, dense plotting and characters and worked both as a massy thriller and a commentary on the contemporary political climate.

1. The Hunt For Red October

There is a consensus that this Tom Clancy adaptation is still the best Jack Ryan movie ever made. Based on Clancy’s debut novel, this Sean Connery and Alec Baldwin-starrer remains one of those few truly great action movies with interesting characters, story and suspense and thrills aplenty.