The fictional character was created by author Tom Clancy and featured in his Ryanverse novels, which consistently topped the New York Times bestseller list over 30 years. Jack is depicted as a former U.S. Marine and stockbroker who becomes a civilian history professor at the United States Naval Academy. He then joins the CIA as an analyst and occasional field officer, and after retiring, he later served as National Security Advisor and Vice President before suddenly becoming President of the U.S. following a terrorist attack. Since Clancy’s death in 2013, four other authors have continued the franchise and its other connecting series with the approval of the Clancy family estate.
On screen, other A-listers have also sunk their teeth in the everyday hero role. Over the years, the Jack Ryanfilms have been nominated for four Academy Awards, winning one for Sound Effects in The Hunt for Red October. As we await the release of Jack Ryan’s third season, here’s a closer look at every film that’s featured Tom Clancy’s iconic character.
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5 Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014)
Skydance Media
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014) was rebooted as the intended first film in a new series. Due to mixed reception, a sequel was never made. Despite this, however, the franchise lives on with Krasinski’s TV series on Prime Video, which has garnered critical acclaim across the board. In Shadow Recruit, Tom Clancy’s Cold War hero is reborn for 21st century audiences — and portrayed by Chris Pine, coming off his Star Trek success. In the story, the young covert C.I.A. analyst uncovers a Russian plot to crash the U.S. economy with a terrorist attack.The plot has gaping holes of logic, but the filmmakers honor Clancy’s work well by sticking to the origin story that was depicted in the novels.
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4 The Sum of All Fears (2002)
Paramount Pictures
In The Sum of All Fears, America’s Cold War fears are rekindled after the President of Russia dies and is succeeded by a man with a cryptic past. But East-West tensions erupt when the CIA suspects that renegade Russian scientists are developing more nuclear weapons. Mobilized into action by CIA Director William Cabot (Morgan Freeman), Jack Ryan (Ben Affleck) follows a danger-ridden trail to a shocking conclusion: Terrorists plan to provoke a war between the U.S. and Russia by detonating a nuclear bomb at a championship football game. Co-starring James Cromwell and Liev Schreiber, the film received generally favorable reviews. Affleck’s acting would get better with age, but he still holds his own in this early 2000s effort.
3 Patriot Games (1992)
Before Pine and Affleck, there was Harrison Ford, in the years following his Han Solo and Indiana Jones days. In Patriot Games, Jack’s days as an intelligence agent are behind him, as the former CIA analyst is now married with a child in London. Meeting his family outside of Buckingham Palace, Jack is caught in the middle of a terrorist attack on a member of the Royal Family. He helps to thwart Holmes’ assailants and becomes a local hero. But Jack’s courageous act marks him as a target in the sights of the terrorist (Sean Bean) whose brother he killed. Now, he must return to action for the most vital assignment of his life: to save his family.
2 Clear and Present Danger (1994)
Following the success of Patriot Games, Harrison Ford quickly returned to the Jack Ryan franchise. This time, Jack is drawn into an illegal war fought by the U.S. government against a Colombian drug cartel. As in the novel, Jack is appointed CIA Acting Deputy Director and discovers he is being kept in the dark by colleagues who are conducting a covert war against the cartel — apparently with the approval of the President. The film was a major financial success, earning more than $200 million at the box office. During an interview with Today back in 2019, Ford revealed that out of all his memorable one-liners from over the years, his all-time favorite comes from Clear and Present Danger: “I’m sorry, Mr. President, I don’t dance.”
1 The Hunt for Red October (1990)
“You always remember your first,” said John Krasinski during that aforementioned Variety interview. Well said, as was the case with young Alec Baldwin’s portrayal of Jack Ryan even before Ford stepped into the role. Directed with perfection by Die Hard’s John McTiernan, Sean Connery also stars in The Hunt for Red October, one of the greatest ’90s action movies that also features one of the best film scores of the ’90s. Overall, the film seethes with high-tech excitement and sweats with the tension of men who hold Doomsday in their hands. A new technologically-superior Soviet nuclear sub, the Red October, is heading for the U.S. coast under the command of Captain Marko Ramius (Connery). The American government thinks Ramius is planning to attack. A lone CIA analyst named Jack Ryan (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. The film is a rare case where the film is on par with the original source material — Tom Clancy’s epic novel.
