Time: 141 Minutes
Cast:
Harrison Ford as Jack Ryan
Willem Dafoe as John Clark
James Earl Jones as Jim Greer
Anne Archer as Cathy Ryan
Director: Phillip Noyce

I wanted to revisit the Jack Ryan movies, so I first went back to the second of Harrison Ford’s Jack Ryan movies, Clear and Present Danger. I didn’t remember much from my first viewing, but it turned out to be pretty enjoyable.

Clear and Present Danger was an entertaining and effective enough 90s action thriller. It isn’t a full blown action movie as I expected, it deals with politics and topical issues, with drug trafficking operations of Colombian cartels. As a somewhat espionage thriller, it is slower paced, yet was engaging enough. In the third act it does go towards a more conventional action climax, but it is fun.

Harrison Ford is quite good as Jack Ryan, gruff yet charming and likable. The supporting cast is good, including Joaquim de Almeida, James Earl Jones, and Henry Czerny. Willem Dafoe is great, though the movie needed more of him.

Phillip Noyce’s work is good as the director. The movie is well shot and has some really good action sequences, even the over the top ones in the third act.

Clear and Present Danger is a solid political action movie, with an impressive cast, a good enough plot, and some entertaining sequences.