Plot

In November 1984, the Soviet Union's best submarine captain violates orders and heads for the U.S. in a new undetectable sub. The American CIA and military must quickly determine: Is he trying to defect or to start a war?

This movie tells the story of Captain Marko Ramius (Sir Sean Connery), the skipper of the Soviet Union's newest nuclear submarine, the "Red October." Jack Ryan (Alec Baldwin) of the C.I.A. gets involved in a tense, tangled hunt for this sub, when Ramius defects, taking the "Red October" with him. The story is an action packed techno-thriller.—Greg Bole <bole@life.bio.sunysb.edu>

Marko Ramius (Sir Sean Connery) is a senior Lithuanian submarine Captain, whose plans to defect are met with strong opposition by his own Soviet Navy, and American misconceptions of his intentions. C.I.A. analyst Jack Ryan (Alec Baldwin), the one man who sees the defection, must convince most of the U.S. Navy that he is correct. The action climaxes with an amazing naval battle, but who will win The Hunt for Red October?—Nick Formica

A new, technologically-superior Soviet submarine, the Red October, is heading for the U.S. coast under the command of Captain Marko Ramius (Sir Sean Connery). The U.S. government thinks Ramius is planning to attack. C.I.A. analyst Jack Ryan (Alec Baldwin) has a different idea. He thinks Ramius is planning to defect, but he has only a few hours to find him and prove it, because the entire Russian Naval and Air commands are also trying to find him.—Robert Lynch <docrlynch@yahoo.com>

The "Red October" is a new Soviet submarine. When the Americans are given photographs of it, they are extremely curious as to why is it so special. C.I.A. analyst Jack Ryan (Alec Baldwin) consults with a friend, who deduces that it's equipped with a new engine that can make it run virtually silent, and with such a device, they can position themselves on the outskirts of any coastal city and launch their missiles and not give their target any warning. Captain Marko Ramius (Sir Sean Connery) kills their political officer after they open their orders, which basically has them conducting routine maneuvers, but he kills him and burns their orders and replaces them. He then tells the crew that they are going to test their new engine by positioning themselves off the coast of New York City and run missile drills. Ryan is then called by his boss, Admiral James Greer (James Earl Jones), to attend a briefing that concerns the Red October. It is at this briefing, that they discover that Ramius sent a letter to high ranking Soviet official, who after reading the letter, went to meet with the Soviet Premier, and it was shortly after that meeting that the Soviet Navy was deployed to find the Red October and sink it. Everyone assumes that Ramius has turned rogue, but Ryan, who once did research on Ramius, and assumes that he might be trying to defect. While everyone dismisses him, National Security Adviser Jeffrey Pelt (Richard Jordan) tells Ryan to go out there and find out for sure if he is right, because once Ramius is in position to fire his missiles, they must take him out. Ryan reluctantly goes, is not used to field work, and has a hard time coping with the sea. At the same time, someone in the Red October crew knows that Ramius has deviated from his assignment and is doing what he can to stop him.—rcs0411@yahoo.com

In November 1984, just after Gorbachev came to power, a Typhoon class Soviet submarine surfaced off the Grand Banks. It then sank, after suffering a radiation problem. Reports indicated that some crews were rescued. The US and Soviet Government deny the story.

In 1984, Captain First Rank Marko Ramius (Sean Connery) is the commanding officer of Red October, a new Soviet submarine whose caterpillar drive renders it undetectable to sonar. Ramius leaves port on orders to conduct exercises with the submarine V.K. Konovalov (to test the operational readiness of the Caterpillar Drive), commanded by his former student Captain Tupolev (Stellan Skarsgard). The crew includes Dr. Yevgeni Petrov (Tim Curry) Medical Officer, 1st Lieutenant Ivan Putin Political Officer, Captain 2nd rank Vasily Borodin, Igor Loginov a cook, Sonar Officer Kamarov (Anatoly Davydov), Lieutenant Melekhin (Ronald Guttman) Chief Engineer, Viktor Slavin (Boris Lee Krutonog) Diving Officer, Yevgeni Bonovia (Christopher Janczar) Executive Officer.

Once at sea, Ramius murders political officer Ivan Putin (Peter Firth) (by making it look like he slipped on tea on the floor and snapped his deck on the furniture), the only man aboard besides himself who knows the submarine's true orders. Ramius then burns the orders, pulls out phonies and commands the crew to head toward America's east coast to conduct missile drills. Ivan's missile key is kept by Ramius. The USS Dallas, an American submarine on patrol in the north Atlantic, briefly detects Red October (and recognizes as a new Typhoon class submarine launched by Soviet Russia) but loses contact once Ramius engages the silent drive. The Dallas uses the SAPS (or Signal Algorithmic Processing Systems) to process ocean sounds and detect submarines from marine life.

CIA analyst and former Marine Jack Ryan (Alec Baldwin) is based in London but returns to Washington. Jack Ryan is a specialist in marine warfare. Jack has promised his daughter Sally that he would get her a brother for her teddy bear Stanley when he returns from his trip. After consulting with Vice Admiral James Greer (James Earl Jones), the Deputy Director of the CIA, Ryan briefs government officials on Red October and the threat it poses. Jack has photos of the Red October and says that it is equipped with a new kind of propulsion drive.

Jack knows that Ramius is politically connected and has taken out the lead boat in each new Submarine class in the last 10 years. He has also trained most of their attack boat skippers. Jack consults former Submarine captain Skip Tyler (Jeffrey Jones) to confirm his suspicions of a new propulsion system designed by the Soviets. Skip identified the Caterpillar Drive as a new Magneto-HydroDynamic form of propulsion. It has no moving parts and is very quiet. Skip says that the submarine could place hundreds of nuclear warheads next to the US coast and nobody would know. Skip was working on designing a generic docking collar for a rescue submarine, that will allow it to dock with any Submarine in the world. It can deployed anywhere in the world in 24 hours.

Before leaving port, Ramius had sent a letter to the defense minister Yuri Padorin. Reading the letter, the minister panics and issues a set of orders immediately.

Greer briefs Ryan on the developments in Soviet Union. Upon learning that the bulk of the Soviet Navy has been deployed to the Atlantic (at that point 58 nuclear submarines and 20 other cruisers and destroyers have been deployed by the Soviets to hunt for the Red October) to find and sink the submarine (as per the orders of Padorin), the Joint Chief of Staffs conclude that Ramius plans a renegade nuclear strike. During the briefing, Ryan hypothesizes that Ramius, a native-born Lithuanian widower with few remaining personal ties to the Soviet Union, instead plans to defect to the United States. He trained all of the Soviet officer corps and was in a position to select men willing to help him. The day he disappeared is the first anniversary of his wife's death.

National Security Advisor Jeffrey Pelt (Richard Jordan) gives Ryan three days (Ramius will reach the East coast of the US in four days' time) to confirm his theory before the U.S. Navy will be ordered to find and sink Red October. Ryan sets out to rendezvous with an aircraft carrier USS Enterprise in the mid-Atlantic. He meets Rear Admiral Joshua Painter (Fred Thompson), USN, Commander of the Enterprise and explains his plan to help Ramius detect. Ryan learns from Joshua that the Dallas had earlier made contact with something that sounded like a seismic anomaly. Ryan knows that Dallas has found the Red October, and requests Joshua for a helicopter transport to get to the Dallas.

Joshua arranges a helicopter for Ryan and send coordinates to the Dallas for an intercept, not knowing if they would actually receive them and be at the designated location. Meanwhile, after some delay, Tupolev (Captain of SSN Kanavalov) also receives orders to intercept and destroy Red October.

Due to an unknown saboteur's actions, Red October's caterpillar drive malfunctions during risky maneuvers through a narrow undersea canyon. Thus, the Red October is forced to run on normal propellers. A Soviet anti-submarine aircraft detects the Red October and drops a torpedo. Only deft handling by Ramius allows the submarine to evade the torpedo, which crashes into the canyon walls.

Petty Officer Jones (Courtney B. Vance), a sonar technician aboard the submarine USS Dallas, discovers a way to detect Red October using his underwater acoustics software (he is able to determine the sound of the Caterpillar Drive, by running the tape at 10 times the normal speed), and Dallas plots an intercept course. Jones determines that Red October is headed to underwater canyons called the Twin Thors. Mancuso plots a course to the other end of the canyons, so it can intercept the Red October when it emerges. Meanwhile, the Red October has fixed the Caterpillar Drive, and it is operational again.

The Soviet ambassador Andrei Lysenko (Joss Ackland) informs the U.S. government that Ramius is a renegade and asks for help in sinking Red October. That order is sent to the U.S. fleet, including Dallas, which has reacquired the Soviet submarine.

After a hazardous mid-ocean transfer (the submarine surfaces when the helicopter had seconds of fuel remaining before hitting Bingo fuel status), Ryan is able to board Dallas (who got the message on ELF while tracking the Red October). Ryan attempts to persuade its captain, Commander Bart Mancuso (Scott Glenn), to contact Ramius (when he learns that the Dallas has reacquired the Red October) and determine his real intentions. Mancuso is skeptical since he has orders in his hands to sink the Red October. Ryan convinces Mancuso that he knows Ramius by correctly guessing the direction of his Crazy Ivan (the Soviet boats turn suddenly and run a full circle to check if they are being followed) maneuver.

Ryan remains convinced that Ramius plans to defect with his officers and finally convinces Mancuso to contact Ramius and offer assistance. They communicate via the periscope lights using Morse code. Ramius responds using sonar pings. Ramius, stunned that the Americans correctly guessed his plan, accepts Mancuso's offer. Ryan asks Ramius to move to the Laurentian Abyssal (the deepest point of the ocean in the vicinity) for further steps. Ramius then stages a nuclear reactor "emergency", ordering the sub to surface and his crew to abandon ship. After a U.S. frigate is spotted heading right for them, Ramius submerges, leaving his crew in life rafts. The frigate launches a torpedo at the Red October, which is detonated just before it hits the submarine. But to the surface survivors it looks like the Americans are attacking Ramius's submarine. Ryan, Mancuso, and Jones board Red October via a rescue sub, at which point Ramius turns over his sub to the Americans and requests asylum for himself and his officers.

Red October is suddenly ambushed by Konovalov. Konovalov fires a torpedo at the Red October, which Ramius counters by turning the ship into the path of the torpedo and hitting it before the torpedo could arm itself. Again, Ramius uses his knowledge of Soviet tactics to defeat Konovalov. As the two Soviet subs maneuver, one of Red October's cooks, Loginov (Tomas Arana), reveals himself to be an undercover GRU agent and the saboteur. He opens fire on the bridge, fatally wounding first officer Vasily Borodin (Sam Neill), before retreating to the missile bay, intending to ignite a missile engine and destroy the ship.

Loginov is pursued by Ryan and Ramius, and he wounds Ramius before being killed by Ryan. Meanwhile, Konovalov fires upon Red October with a torpedo (this time with the safety off, so as not to repeat the same mistake as before), which Dallas is able to divert toward herself and evade by launching countermeasures and conducting an emergency blow to the surface. The torpedo reacquires Red October, but Mancuso executes a maneuver that diverts the torpedo towards Konovalov, which it strikes and destroys. The crew of Red October, now rescued, witness the submerged explosion from the deck of the U.S. frigate. Unaware of the second Soviet submarine, they believe that Ramius has sacrificed himself and scuttled Red October to avoid being boarded.

Ryan and Ramius, their subterfuge complete, navigate Red October to the Penobscot River in Maine. Ramius admits that he defected because he believed Red October was intended for a preemptive nuclear first strike against the United States and was unwilling to support such an action. Ryan boards a flight home and thanks to his exertions is finally able to sleep aboard a plane, while seated next to a teddy bear intended for his daughter.