Sean Connery began a franchise legend as James Bond in DR. NO (1962), but he was also part of the start-off point for another series of films which, like Special Agent 007, have a main character that has to date been played by several different actors.
In the case of Bond, it was Connery, followed by George Lazenby, then Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig who bows out in NO TIME TO DIE (2020).
Before John Grisham novels were the big thing in Hollywood, the techno-thrillers of Tom Clancy with Jack Ryan. In John McTiernan’s 1990 adaptation of the novel THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER, Ryan is played by Alec Baldwin – and in subsequent films and series by Harrison Ford (PATRIOT GAMES / CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER), Ben Affleck (THE SUM OF ALL FEARS), Chris Pine (JACK RYAN – SHADOW RECRUIT) and John Krasinski (JACK RYAN).
In RED OCTOBER, Connery is Marko Ramius, a veteran submarine commander in the Soviet Navy, who is given command of the brand-new super sub ‘Red October’ and is given specific orders to patrol and test out its’ potential.
Ryan has been monitoring the situation and at a tense briefing after the October put to sea, he reveals the possibility that Ramius might be attempting to defect. As a result, he is assigned to go aboard an American sub tracking the October’s movements, headed by Bart Mancuso (Scott Glenn)
Ramius finds himself and his crew in the midst of a multiple pursuit by both American and Soviet subs and boats, with global stakes heightened as the October continues to dive further into the ocean….
McTiernan had already created a classic in DIE HARD a year or so before he helmed THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER. Wisely, a lot of the techno-jargon of the original novel was rejected in favour of a sea-faring thriller which McTiernan had described as ‘like MOBY DICK’
Connery holds the screen together and was second choice after Klaus Maria Brandauer, who was scheduled to play the role. However, the supporting cast, with actors like Scott Glenn, Sam Neill, Joss Ackland and Richard Jordan are also excellent.