[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Clancy fans!!! (Page 1 of 2)
Posted: 5/4/2006 8:39:57 AM EDT
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Which of clancys novels do you think is the best. Which movie was best and who was the best Jack Ryan. Although I don't like reading Clancy (prefer Goodkind & Jordan) I do greatly enjoy his movies. Sum of all fears, IMHO has the best action, whereas Patriot Games had the best plot. Harrison Ford best played Jack Ryan. He just looks the part and has the personality to go with the character better than the others. Tell us your opinion on the subject. Edited to add: How much help do you think his novels provide to potential terrorists as far as operational ideas? |
Yep. Followed closely by Without Remorse. I got tired of supermoral G-Man Jack Ryan with the perfect wife and kids. I know fiction is supposed to be escapism, but he did everything but ascend into Heaven flanked by Moses and Elijah. A touchy-feely whiny overlymoralizing SNAG like him would NEVER survive past the GS-9 level in DC politics 
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The movies have about 3% of the information contained in one of his books. If you have not read the books, the movies are probably great. Unfortunately I have a hard time just watching the movie and not saying "wait, they cut all the good details out". Red Storm Rising still has to be my favorite. Good luck making a movie out of that one! |
Agreed on sum of all fears being poorly done. My reference to the action was in the story line, not the actors or production. Clear and present danger was a bit too slow. I did, really enjoy Hunt for red October. Especially since it had my former Senator in it. I guess I will have to start reading the novels now. Damn, why did you all do this to me. Now I have another series of books that I have to keep up with having read everything by Asimov, Piers Anthony, Robert Jordan and Terry Goodkind as well as a few others (you notice my preferences run to sci-fi/Fantasy) |
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Favorite book: Red Storm Rising / Without Remorse (can't decide) Favorite movie: The Hunt For Read October. I had no reason to hate Alec Baldwin when it came out so I still like it even though now he's a dick. Cool story, great cast (AB notwithstanding), pretty good effects for the time. Favorite Jack Ryan: Harrison Ford. Probably because he was a veteran actor compared to the others when the moves were filmed so he does a better job. I hardly consider what Ben Aflac does as "acting". LL |
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Rainbow Six was good all the way up to when they...Just caught the guys in the nick of time and got information out of them and went on a man hunt to the jungle... it seemed really rushed like he got sick of writing the book and just wanted to finish... Rainbow Six is still good, but Without Remorse makes me wanna..... .... |
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What really ticked me off about Sum of All Fears was that the Hollywood script writers couldn't bring themselves to make the badguys from the ME and make them Islamic whackos like they were in the book. Instead we get some fake group of white supremacists? Red Storm Rising was grade A excellent. Without Remorse was great; kind of good to read after hearing about the Boy Scout Jack Ryan all the time. I also liked Debt of Honor. Wasn't a big fan of some of his newer works like Red Rabbit. |
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"Without Remorse", where John Clark kicks ass in Vietnam, is probably the most interesting read, in my opinion. Although, "Rainbow Six" had the best action in many ways. Since both are going to be made into films, I will say that both will be better than any of the current Clancy films. Both are set for 2007 or 2008 release. Currently it is said that Joaquin Phoenix has been cast as John Clark. Let's hope that's true, the guy can act. For the record, John Clark kicks more ass than Jack Bauer. He is the original badass. |
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I still think Executive Orders is the best. The movies were entertaining, but nothing more. They can't hold a candle to the books. And yes, I'll admit it: The best Jack Ryan was played by Alec Baldwin, which is how I have always envisioned Ryan, even before that movie came out. Same goes for Ramius and Connery, too. Clark will look like Dafoe the day pigs fly. 
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Rainbow Six and Without Remorse are going to be movies? Oh dear God, no!! Any of you think these will be worth watching? before you answer that think of Sum of All Fears and Clear and Present Danger.. both of which had little to do with either of their respective books.. Part of me would like to see Red Storm Rising, R6, and Without Remorse as movies (well miniseries for Red Storm), but the logical half of me head tells me it'll be a disapointment.. |
Probably because the character of Jack Ryan and possibly John Clark were part of Clancy's divorce settlement. So if he publishes a book using those characters his wife gets a chunk of the action. By using Jack's son (a new character) Clancy can accomplish two things: 1) Doesn't have to make royalty payments to the Ex 2) Gets to 'start over' as once Jack sr became POTUS it's going to be hard imagining him doing spy stuff anymore. As least that is how I heard it. |
| My favorite book is probably Rainbow Six, followed by Without Remorse. The best movie was probably The Hunt for Red October, in spite of Alec Baldwin. I caught The Sum of All Fears on TV once and it sucked as much as I figured it would. The one bright spot in it was Liev Schreiber's portrayal of John Clark. I know he wasn't the right age to play the character, but he had the attitude of "quiet competence" that you associate with Clark down cold. |
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Red Storm Rising is one of his best book, also is the one that got him interviewed by DOD. I like Rainbow Six, especially going after the greenies, plus I like the game too. Movie wise, Red October seems to follow the book as much as they can, and regrettable, Alec Baldwin playing Jack Ryan is what I envisioned when I read his books. On the other hand, I like Sean Connery playing Ramius. |
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Red Storm Rising seems to be the big favorite. I liked the book and movie. And Alec Baldwin was a good Jack. Without Remorse should be required reading at ARFCOM! I have read it a few times. When they make the movie of it, I hope they don't ruin it. But I know they will. I stopped reading Clancy after 9/11. I read Rainbow 6, and have the next one ( dragon and bear- or something) but never read it. Seemed sorta irrelevant with the Russian antagonist theme that is usually running through his stuff. Was that book worth reading? Does he have any fiction that is recent? Teeth of the tiger? |
I get the same feeling with "The Bear and the Dragon" Great, elaborate lead up to the final battle which basically goes "Americans show up, drop a few bombs, China defeated" Felt way too abrupt of an ending for something as huge as a shooting war invloving the US, Russia, and China. It could have been a two parter like "Debt of Honor" and "Executive Orders" Those two are the best of his I feel. After reading Debt of Honor, I went out as soon as I finished it and picked up EO. I mean the instant I finished, I hopped in the car and bought the second book. |
+1 Red Storm Rising was the first major novel I ever read (13-14yo). I picked it up on a whim at the checkout line at the supermarket  .
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Books: Without Remorse, Sum of all Fears, Executive Orders and Cardinal of the Kremlin. Movie: Clear and Present Danger The Hunt for Red October and Red Storm Rising were great books too, as well as the movie version of HfRO. The movie version of the Sum of all Fears had absolutely no resemblance to the book other than the title. Debt of Honor was a little bit of a disappointment in the beginning, but got better as the book went on. Executive Orders made me want to list Jack Ryan as a write in candidate for President. Rainbow Six was ok. YMMV |
| Without Remorse followed closely by Rainbow 6 and Teeth of the Tiger I loved the part in Teeth of the Tiger where the FBI agent broke a stool or table or something to make the child molester grab his knife so that the agent could justify shooting him, and I loved Without Remorse from start to finish Ive read it at least twice if not 3 times |
Yes. In Dragon & Bear the Russians are the 'good guys' - evil China get's a smackdown.
Teeth of the Tiger is very 'timely' and is his most recent. Though it's been a year or two and I'm waiting on the followup (the end left you kind of hanging). Tiger of the Teeth deals with ROP terrorists, smuggling them accross the border, and their subsequent attacks - and our response . Good read overall (especially as my workplace is mentioned).
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Best book ......"Without Remorse" Best Movie ......."Patriot Games" Best "Jack Ryan"...... Harrison Ford, By a mile. "Sum Of All Fears" was teh ghey as a movie, but very good as a book. I read somewhere that there would be a new Clancy book this summer, anyone else hear that? |
Wha? WTF?  First I've heard of this..... |
+1 Sum of All Fears was his best book but the worst movie. Red Storm was a close second and Cardinal of the Kremlin was very good too. |
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Without Remorse is definately my favorite book, I've read pretty much all of them several times but I've read WR at least half a dozen times. Movie - The Hunt for Red October, I liked Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger but they were bastardized too much from the books. I won't even get into how bad Sum of All Fears sucked, though I do believe the guy that played Clark in that one has been the most believable and kind of fits the image that the books portray. Harrison Ford is the best Ryan without a doubt. |