When a friend of the President is murdered, a complex case unravels. The dead man was aligned to a Colombian drug baron (Miguel Sandoval), whom the White House targets in a covert mission. CIA legend Jack Ryan (Harrison Ford, pictured) heads for South America to investigate, unaware that ex-Agency operative Clark (Willem Dafoe) has requested - and been granted - a Special Forces team, despite Ryan's explicit promise to avoid a military response. When the soldiers are compromised, a traitor is sought. Soon, sources on both sides are keen on a cover-up, leaving Ryan, Clark and the troops fatally exposed, and in need of the cavalry...
"Truth needs a soldier", screams the tagline, and though released during the Clinton era, this gung-ho tale is more in tune with a Texan's outlook. Tom Clancy's novel had more depth and complexity than any Hollywood movie could mirror, so they don't try, instead stripping the film down as Ford's vehicle, centred around the slick set-piece action scenes (one of which is now used as a training video by the government).
Yet the interim years provide fresh relevance. Themes of corruption, moral bankruptcy and pointless gunplay are in tune with many people's perception of the current White House. Barring a deleted scene featuring a Vice President's hunting mishap, it's hard to see how Clear and Present Danger could have been more prescient.
Preview courtesy of Channel 4
Did you know? The scene in which the convoy of suburbans is attacked by the drug cartel is now actually used as a training video in US government agencies.
(3 Star)
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