Sean Bean was excellent as the revenge-obsessed villain, a member of a “splinter group,” as its labeled – not really an IRA extremist, but one too out-of- control for any group. Ford is the man best able to stop him and the film is involving start-to-finish and smart enough not to overdo the violence. Suspenseful is probably the best word to describe the movie as Bean goes after Ford’s family.

Anne Archer, as Ford’s wife, along with the rest of the cast, actors such as Patrick Bergen, James Earl Jones, James Fox, Richard Harris and a young Thora Birch make this a well-acted movie.

This is simply tough to beat as a modern-day thriller.

Dolby TrueHD Audio English 3611 kbps 5.1 / 48kHz / 24-bit / 3611kbps (AC3 Core: 5.1 / 48kHz / 640kbps)

Dolby Digital Audio French 640 kbps 5.1 / 48kHz / 640kbps

Dolby Digital Audio Spanish 640 kbps 5.1 / 48kHz / 640kbps

Subtitles: English / English SDH / French / Spanish / Portuguese

Number of chapters: 22

#Cast and crew interviews (SD, 24 minutes)

#Theatrical trailer (HD, 2 minutes)

I really enjoy the first 3 Jack Ryan films, the 4th not so much because of Ben Affleck and because it’s just too out of sync with the previous trilogy. The first 3 are classic political thrillers that do a great job of bringing Tom Clancy’s books to the big screen. His vision and Jack Ryan character are for the most part, executed very well on these films. Many have their preferences as the stronger and better of the bunch but I like Hunt for Red October, Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger individually for their own qualities and suspenseful action.

I’ve seen all of the Jack Ryan’s on HD DVD, and sure enough, the Blu Ray’s are exactly the same. Which is too bad because Paramount didn’t do a very good job remastering them and they just don’t look nearly as good as they should in hi def. I suspect that many Blu Ray owners will be pretty disappointed with the lack of visual pop that they’re hoping for. Each of the Jack Ryan’s looks better than the one before it which is typical as newer films upgrade easier to high def. And at least they all look better than their standard def counterparts. The problem is, is that most hi def owners have seen older films than these look better than these. Which brings us to wonder, what went wrong here? Granted, these films are a difficult upgrade as most of the scenes take place inside a submarine, house, office, or outside on overcast days, making it more difficult to provide that 3D pop we’re looking for. But there are specks and dirt in the transfers and while I didn’t find them in abundance or distracting, I do feel it’s inexcusable at this point in the Hi Def’s life cycle, especially for these movies. There’s no reason for them not to be squeaky clean by now, even if they’re going to look a little flat. But they are the best transfers available and the best we’ll see until they provide us a proper remastering. But one is due.

The audio, well this is finally where these discs pop. And I mean POP!!! We’re given some truly thunderous transfers here in Dolby TrueHD. These films sounded good to begin with on standard dvd (especially October) but these new transfers are just incredible. They easily trounce the old ones. The scores, sound effects, gun shots and explosions are absolutely thrilling. This is all moot if you don’t have a proper surround system to decode and dish out the TrueHD tracks though. If thats the case, then you may want to consider keeping your standard discs if you have them because the audio is the clear selling point for the upgrade.

Despite my dissatisfaction with the flimsy visual upgrades, I’m still satisfied with these discs. I’d recommend them for any Blu Ray (and home theater) owner looking for a worthy upgrade for their favorite Tom Clancy films. Again, I stress you’ll be much more impressed by the HD audio here rather than the passable but not demo worthy HD video. I give this set a 4 out of five because even though difficult, I believe if they really wanted to, Paramount could’ve and should’ve given these films a better makeover than they got. The powerful audio will help ease the disappointment with the video. Overall, I still recommend them.