Classic typical 90s movie.

Excellent Jack Ryan movie based on one of the best Tom Clancy novels. Wished they did more of them with Ford in the 90ies.

With Clear and Present Danger, the franchise puts the family in the background again, and Ryan in the center seat. A more central seat even, that of acting CIA director, so that he can act as the last honest man in Washington and go toe-to-toe with the President of the United States himself. I wonder what seems more dated today? The use of fax machines, beepers and dial-up; the so-called "computer duel"; or the Colombian cartel plot? The large cast is rather variable for me, with some villains sneering like it's a silent film while Willem Dafoe provides a sympathetic performance as a man who lives in the gray world of covert ops. He doesn't get nearly enough space to develop the role. Ryan is, by comparison, a clumsy schmoe, though I do embrace a return to more grounded action beats. According to the "making of", the sequence where the diplomatic cards are boxed in by the cartel's men is used in Secret Service training, and I agree it's as strong a set piece as any. Still, it's no Hunt for Red October.