Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: Patriot Games (1992) - Lacking story fundamentals mar Ford's first Ryan performance

8/21/2023

Patriot Games (1992) - Lacking story fundamentals mar Ford's first Ryan performance

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A crisp and suspense-driven design collects this enticing poster for Phillip Noyce's Patriot Games

CIA agent Jack Ryan intervenes at a London terrorist attack and kills the brother of an IRA terrorist, who later swears revenge.

Patriot Games is written by W. Peter Iliff (Varsity Blues (1999)) and Donald E. Stewart (Deathsport (1978)), adapting the same-titled 1987 novel by Tom Clancy (The Sum of All Fears (1991)), and directed by Phillip Noyce (God Knows Why, But It Works (1976)). It is the 2nd adaptation of a Clancy novel, coming after John McTiernan's successful The Hunt for Red October (1990), which starred Sean Connery and Alec Baldwin.

Handsome action here, and Harrison Ford (The Devil's Own (1997)) doing well in the Ryan part taken over from Baldwin, as well as the ideal James Earl Jones (The Big Bang Theory (2014, TV-series)) back as his CIA boss. But despite these qualities, Patriot Games falls through the floor with its unlikely plot about the CIA seriously being threatened by the IRA.

The story is fundamentally unsexy and lacking in credibility, and the premise is light on suspense. Later world famous villain actor Sean Bean's (The Storyteller (1988, TV-series)) participation as a crook here doesn't work against the yawns.

Jack Ryan franchise: The Hunt for Red October (1990) - A stellar cast shines in the first and best Clancy adaptation

Phillip Noyce: Salt (2010) - Engaged Jolie in Noyce's lacking actioner

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 42-45 mil. $ (different reports)

Box office: 178 mil. $

= Big hit (returned 4.09 times its cost)

[Patriot Games was released 5 June (North America) and runs 117 minutes. Clancy was paid 2.5 mil. $ for the rights to Patriot Games and the following novel, Clear and Present Danger. Despite this high sum, Clancy uttered disapproval of the script and other aspects of the film in the time up until its release, at which point a studio head was able to break peace with the influential author. Ford was paid 9 mil. $ for his performance in the film. Shooting took place from November 1991 - February 1992 in Virginia, Maryland, California and in London, UK. The budget ballooned from 28 mil. $ during production, and the ending was reshot to the tune of millions of dollars. Another approximately 20 mil. $ was used to market the film. It opened #1 to a 18.5 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another weekend at #1 and then another 2 in the top 5 (#3-#5), grossing 83.3 mil. $ (46.8 % of the total gross). Roger Ebert gave it a 2.5/4 star review, translating to a notch over this one. Jack Ryan returned in Ford's guise with Noyce back at the helm in Clear and Present Danger (1994). Noyce first returned with Sliver (1993). Ford first returned in The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (1993, TV-series) and theatrically in The Fugitive (1993). Patriot Games is fresh at 72 % with a 6.80/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Patriot Games?

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William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

James Caan has died

Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

William Hurt has passed away

Born in Washington D.C., Hurt's first film role was the lead in Altered States (1980). Later credits include Body Heat (1981), The Big Chill (1983), Gorky Park (1983), Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985), for which he earned his only Oscar as Best Actor; Chilrdren of a Lesser God (1986), for which he was also Oscar-nominated; Broadcast News (1987), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; Smoke (1995), A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), A History of Violence (2005), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; The Good Shepherd (2006), Into the Wild (2007), Robin Hood (2010) and many more. Hurt passed away at age 71. R.I.P.

Ivan Reitman has passed away

Born in Chechoslovakia, now Slovakia, Reitman's family fled the Soviet regime to Austria, then Toronto, when he was 4 years old. Reitman broke into movies as a director with Foxy Lady (1971). Later credits include Cannibal Girls (1973), Meatballs (1979), Stripes (1981), Ghostbusters (1984), Twins (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Kindergarten Cop (1990), Junior (1994), Father's Day (1997), Evolution (1998), No Strings Attached (2011), Draft Day (2014) and more. Reitman's son Jason Reitman is also a great filmmaker. Reitman passed away at age 75. R.I.P.

Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

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8/21/2023

Patriot Games (1992) - Lacking story fundamentals mar Ford's first Ryan performance

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