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Reviews from Amazon
decent but not great -  - Not too much to say. I love the movie, but the video wasn't great, as there seems to be some amount of graininess in the dark areas of the picture. Still, in the brighter scenes, it's about what you want from HD. Of course, the HD really brings out the rear projection in the final scene.
Visually Disappointing But Audibly Exciting on Blu ray - - In typical studio fashion, Paramount has transfered this exact same master that was temporarily released on HD DVD early this year which was a mixed bag and not what these films, the fans of the films, or high def owners deserve.
I really enjoy the first 3 Jack Ryan films, the 4th not so much because of Ben Affleck and because it's just too out of sync with the previous trilogy. The first 3 are classic political thrillers that do a great job of bringing Tom Clancy's books to the big screen. His vision and Jack Ryan character are for the most part, executed very well on these films. Many have their preferences as the stronger and better of the bunch but I like Hunt for Red October, Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger individually for their own qualities and suspenseful action.
I've seen all of the Jack Ryan's on HD DVD, and sure enough, the Blu Ray's are exactly the same. Which is too bad because Paramount didn't do a very good job remastering them and they just don't look nearly as good as they should in hi def. I suspect that many Blu Ray owners will be pretty disappointed with the lack of visual pop that they're hoping for. Each of the Jack Ryan's looks better than the one before it which is typical as newer films upgrade easier to high def. And at least they all look better than their standard def counterparts. The problem is, is that most hi def owners have seen older films than these look better than these. Which brings us to wonder, what went wrong here? Granted, these films are a difficult upgrade as most of the scenes take place inside a submarine, house, office, or outside on overcast days, making it more difficult to provide that 3D pop we're looking for. But there are specks and dirt in the transfers and while I didn't find them in abundance or distracting, I do feel it's inexcusable at this point in the Hi Def's life cycle, especially for these movies. There's no reason for them not to be squeaky clean by now, even if they're going to look a little flat. But they are the best transfers available and the best we'll see until they provide us a proper remastering. But one is due.
The audio, well this is finally where these discs pop. And I mean POP!!! We're given some truly thunderous transfers here in Dolby TrueHD. These films sounded good to begin with on standard dvd (especially October) but these new transfers are just incredible. They easily trounce the old ones. The scores, sound effects, gun shots and explosions are absolutely thrilling. This is all moot if you don't have a proper surround system to decode and dish out the TrueHD tracks though. If thats the case, then you may want to consider keeping your standard discs if you have them because the audio is the clear selling point for the upgrade.
Despite my dissatisfaction with the flimsy visual upgrades, I'm still satisfied with these discs. I'd recommend them for any Blu Ray (and home theater) owner looking for a worthy upgrade for their favorite Tom Clancy films. Again, I stress you'll be much more impressed by the HD audio here rather than the passable but not demo worthy HD video. I give this set a 4 out of five because even though difficult, I believe if they really wanted to, Paramount could've and should've given these films a better makeover than they got. The powerful audio will help ease the disappointment with the video. Overall, I still recommend them.
Be prepared to update your firmware -  - I'm beginning to be sorry that Blu-Ray won. My HD-DVDs consistently play, start up quickly without a bunch of crap at the beginning, and the user interface is rather nice (Toshiba A2). Compare with my Sony BDP-300 (comparable generation player): takes forever to load, often a bunch of unskippable crap, and even though I updated the firmware last December, when I got it, it won't play Hunt for Red October. I'm downloading the May/June update to see if that makes it work, but if I have to update firmware every time a new release comes out on Blu-Ray, I'm bailing on it.
After 18 years, my favorite movie on BD. - - The Hunt for Red October is my favorite movie of all time, bar none. It's the kind of movie you can watch over and over.. I've probably watched it a couple of dozen times over the years, first on VHS, then DVD, now on BD. Mind you, I'm not in the habit of re-purchasing titles, but in this case, I made an exception.
The picture is the best I've seen for a film of this vintage. It's not up to the quality of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, but it is a film that's nearly 20 years old. All that said, there is a noticeable improvement over my copy on DVD.
The audio was remastered in Dolby TrueHD 5.1, and is utterly stunning. Good thing my wife & kids are out of town tonight, because I'd be in trouble if they were here -- the sound's so good, I've got the shades drawn and the sound turned up, we're going movie-theater style here.
Don't expect a gaggle of extras here, just expect a great copy of the film with fantastic audio.
A superb movie to watch over and over again -  - There are a handful of movies I can watch over and over again. This is one of them. If you don't own it you really really should. Can't tell you enough about the action and acting - it is that good.
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