Patriot Games (film)

Patriot Games
Theatrical poster
Directed by	Phillip Noyce
Produced by	Mace Neufeld Robert G. Rehme
Screenplay by	W. Peter Iliff Donald E. Stewart Steven Zaillian
Based on	Patriot Games by Tom Clancy
Starring	Harrison Ford Anne Archer Patrick Bergin Sean Bean Thora Birch James Earl Jones Richard Harris
Music by	James Horner
Cinematography	Donald M. McAlpine
Editing by	William Hoy Neil Travis
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date(s)	June 5, 1992 (1992-06-05)
Running time	117 min.
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$40,000,000
Box office	Domestic: $83,351,587 Worldwide: $178,051,587

Patriot Games is a 1992 film directed by Phillip Noyce and based on Tom Clancy's the novel of the same name. It is a sequel to the 1990 film The Hunt for Red October. In the movie, Jack Ryan is played by Harrison Ford, Jack's surgeon-wife, Dr. Cathy Muller Ryan, by Anne Archer, and the vengeful Irish Republican volunteer, Sean Miller, is played by Sean Bean.

Plot

Jack Ryan (Ford) is on a "working vacation" in London with his family. He has retired from the CIA and is a professor at the United States Naval Academy. They witness an attack on Lord William Holmes (James Fox), British Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and a distant cousin of the Queen Mother. Ryan intervenes and kills one of the attackers, Patrick Miller, while his older brother Sean (Bean) looks on. Ryan is badly wounded.

The remaining attackers flee and leave Miller to be apprehended by the police. While recovering, Ryan is called to testify in court against Miller, who is part of a fictional breakaway group of the Provisional Irish Republican Army. Ryan is awarded a knighthood and eventually returns to the United States.

While being transferred to Albany Prison on the Isle of Wight, Miller's escort convoy is ambushed by his comrades, including Kevin O'Donnell (Bergin), who kill the police officers, and he escapes. Miller and his companions flee to North Africa to plan their next attempt on Lord Holmes. Miller however, cannot shake his anger towards Ryan for killing his younger brother and persuades several members of the group to accompany him to the United States to murder Ryan and his family.

Ryan survives an attack outside the Naval Academy. Simultaneously, Miller and an accomplice attack Ryan's wife and daughter on a busy highway. They crash and both are severely injured. Enraged over the attack on his family, Ryan decides to go back to work for the CIA, having earlier rejected the appeal of his former superior, Vice Admiral James Greer (Jones).

Ryan's work leads him to conclude that Miller has taken refuge in a training camp in Libya. A Special Air Service team attacks and kills everyone in the camp while Ryan looks on through a live satellite feed. Unbeknownst to Ryan, Miller and his companions had already fled the camp and were on their way to the US to stage their next attack.

Lord Holmes decides to visit Ryan at his home to formally present his KCVO. With the aid of Lord Holmes' traitorous assistant, Miller's group tracks Holmes to Ryan's home, kill the Diplomatic Security Service agents and Maryland state troopers guarding the house, and attempt to kidnap Lord Holmes. Ryan leads Holmes and his family to safety while he attempts to lure Miller and his companions away from his home.

The FBI Hostage Rescue Team scrambles to pick up Holmes. Upon realizing that Ryan is leading them away from Holmes, Miller's companions try to persuade Miller to turn around, but an enraged Miller kills his companions and continues his pursuit of Ryan. Ryan and Miller fight hand to hand; Miller is killed, and his body is obliterated in the subsequent explosion of the craft.

Cast

• Harrison Ford as Jack Ryan
• Anne Archer as Dr. Caroline "Cathy" Ryan
• Patrick Bergin as Kevin O'Donnell
• Sean Bean as Sean Miller
• Thora Birch as Sally Ryan
• James Fox as Lord William Holmes
• Ellen Geer as Rose
• Samuel L. Jackson as Lieutenant Commander Robby Jackson
• Polly Walker as Annette
• J. E. Freeman as Marty Cantor
• James Earl Jones as Vice Admiral Jim Greer
• Richard Harris as Paddy O'Neil
• Alex Norton as Dennis Cooley
• Hugh Fraser as Geoffrey Watkins
• Alun Armstrong as Sgt. Owens
• David Threlfall as Inspector Robert Highland

Production

The movie was filmed at Pinewood Studios, on location in the United Kingdom, and in the Washington, D.C. area including Annapolis, Maryland.

The numerous changes between the film and the novel caused Clancy to distance himself from the film production.

Harrison Ford accidentally hit Sean Bean with a boat hook while shooting the final scene; Bean has a scar over his eye as a result. (In Bean's subsequent Sharpe series, this would be emphasized with makeup to add credibility to his character.)

Casting

The actors who played Jack and Caroline Ryan in The Hunt for Red October, Alec Baldwin and Gates McFadden, were unavailable. At the time, Baldwin was performing A Midsummer Night's Dream on Broadway. In 2011, Baldwin says he did not appear because of "sleazy Hollywood tools." McFadden, who appeared in Red October only for a moment, didn't accept Patriot Games' greatly expanded screen role for Cathy Ryan due to her regular role as Dr. Beverly Crusher in Star Trek: The Next Generation. The character of Jack Ryan's wife was also altered from a British woman named "Caroline" in The Hunt for Red October to an American woman named "Cathy" in Patriot Games. Despite the film's plot and setting, Richard Harris, Patrick Bergin and Jonathan Ryan, are the only Irish actors to appear in the film.

Music

The score by James Horner contains musical references to works by Aram Khachaturian (Adagio from "Gayane" Suite) and Dmitri Shostakovich (Symphony No. 5, 3rd mvt.).

A music video is shown in an early scene featuring Clannad's song "Theme from Harry's Game", originally made for an ITV drama about The Troubles in 1982.

Reception

The movie had a lot of controversy, from Tom Clancy disowning the film, to critics complaining it was too different from the book.

American Film Institute recognition:

• AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes and Villains:
  • Jack Ryan - Nominated Hero

Box office

The movie debuted at No.1.

External links

• Patriot Games at the Internet Movie Database
• Patriot Games at AllRovi
• Patriot Games at Box Office Mojo