I had the opportunity to read my first Tom Clancy novel (“Patriot Games”) in the spring of 1989 as part of a high school literature class assignment. I quickly became a fan of the author’s techno-thriller stories, and went on to read “The Hunt For Red October” and “Clear and Present Danger” that summer... and have kept reading the “Clancyverse” novels ever since.
(I even had the opportunity to see Tom Clancy speak in person at Omaha's Ak-Sar-Ben Coliseum in the fall of 1990).
In the intervening years, fans got to see Clancy’s novels get adapted for the big screen, and even saw the author attempt to develop a story for TV (“Op Center”).
When I saw Paramount’s “The Hunt For Red October” at Cinema Center on March 2, 1990, I thought Alec Baldwin was solid in the role of CIA analyst Jack Ryan. It’s a shame things didn’t work out for Baldwin to return for future movie installments.
While Harrison Ford did a fine job in “Patriot Games” and “Clear and Present Danger,” he just wasn’t Jack Ryan. Neither was Ben Affleck. Chris Pine also didn’t fit the bill (that said, “Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit” was a pretty good movie).
(Clancy's commentary track on the Blu-ray of "The Sum of All Fears" is pretty interesting.)
Sadly, Clancy died on Oct. 1, 2013. I was wondering if anyone would attempt another Clancy-based reboot for the big screen.
It appears the future for filmed Clancy stories is in the burgeoning realm of streaming.
Amazon is bringing the first season of “Jack Ryan” to its video platform on August 31. The series has already been renewed for a second season:
They have tapped John Krasinski to play the titular role. I think he could be fantastic playing bookish government analyst Jack Ryan. If the full trailer (which dropped on June 11) is any indication, it should be a terrific series.
The territory they’ll be exploring in the first season looks fairly topical for today (dangerous terrorist waiting to wreak havoc on the western world). I do hope — in true Clancy style — that the show will weave multiple threads together to create a large, geopolitical scenario for Ryan to be embroiled in.
I’d also like to see characters John Clark and Domingo Chavez (and their anti-terrorist team “Rainbow Six”) included in the series.
It will be interesting to see how the show turns out. The Amazon series “Bosch” (based on the novels of Michael Connelly) is one of my favorite programs these days (Titus Welliver is perfect as Hieronymous “Harry” Bosch in the series).
It’s obvious the creators of “Jack Ryan” have taken liberties with their source material (that's to be expected). Regardless, I have high hopes for the series.
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