Clear and Present Danger

The filmmakers haven't simply tamed the rogue elephant of Clancy's narrative; they've turned it into something that moves as gracefully and as powerfully as a gazelle.

Narrative complexity and momentum make this a true cinematic equivalent of an absorbing page-turner.

Another fast, gripping spy story with some good tricks up its sleeve.

An absorbing, if overlong adaptation of Tom Clancy's bestseller.

Enjoyable, but it's a shallow enjoyment.

Earlier Clancy films alternated between the dull and the ridiculous. First-rate writers like Steven Zaillian and the great John Milius have managed to make this considerably meatier.

True-blue Ford keeps 'Clear' out of danger. [3 August 1994, p.D1]

We have seen a lot of movies about US government covert operations. This is just one more. The script is not difficult to explain: at sea, the family of a US president's friend is massacred by a Colombian drug cartel, and it turns out that there were interests and business between them. Realizing the power of the cartels, the US president, backed by the CIA director general, decides to make the phrase "war on drugs" literal by ordering a covert operation that aims to dismantle the cartel. An operation that will be funded directly by the Senate without anyone - not even Jack Ryan, who makes the request for funding - knows that the money will be used to send soldiers to the ground. The movie is nothing particularly different from many others involving the same ingredients. There is a group of serious men who are really trying to stop that drug cartel without doing anything illegal, and others who will not look at the means, and do not mind sacrificing some innocent lives in the process. There are truly good action scenes, although the movie was not made as an action movie. Personally, I consider the Bogotá ambush and chase scenes one of the best in the movie. The sound, visual and sound effects are those that existed at the time, and they do well as expected. Phillip Noyce did a good job as a director. As for the actors, we have a good Harrison Ford, convincing and capable in the leading role. Willem Dafoe is equally capable in his role. Henry Czerny, Harris Yulin, and Donald Moffat have all managed to be truly machiavellian, as good career politicians, and made their characters truly obnoxious. Miguel Sandoval did well as Escobedo, but the one who impressed me the most was Joaquim de Almeida. The Portuguese actor, who appears humbly almost halfway through the film, gradually reveals himself and makes his character one of the most important for the outcome of the film. He is an excellent actor, even though his background makes him better known to the Portuguese than to the American public. Not being a brilliant movie, nor original in its essence, its able to entertain the audience and give us a good story. It has a good and committed cast, fulfilling its purpose and giving us a good final product.

Nice sequel to Patriot Games, CAPD has intriguing plot and good acting. Good stuff.

Clear and present danger is a decent clancy thriller yet some greater moments feel hampered by a slightly 'off' pacing issue. The political drama here feels a little weak compared to other ryan outings but all in all its a great addition to the series.

unstable and out-dated mishap of politics.. Cleared And Present Danger 2 And A Half Out Of 5 Clear And Present Danger is a plot driven political thriller about a culmination of all the usual agendas that fuels an act of war, brewing in by the darker forces. Ticking for almost two and a half hours, the overkill sets in early due to its subjective procedure that is not only off-putting but also follows a textbook structure. All the action and chase sequences are nicely shot with amazing sound effects and fine editing amongst all the mind-numbing explosions. The politics and reasonings are justified with no usual flaws which doesn't suggest its excellence but the safe play that it plays. As much as lousy its final act grows the little tactics that used to work in its predecessor fails to upbeat or elevate the momentum as it used to. The writing is overstretched and not elaborative, there is a fine line between them that makers often crosses it unknowingly. The result of such acts can draw a nod out of the audience but fails to impress them. It is short on technical aspects like visual effects, background score and cinematography and neither is its camera work plausible for it to seek attention through it. Ford is bang on his bucks on revisiting his role with amazing supporting cast like Dafoe, Archer and Jones. Noyce; the director has done a decent work on executing the feature but the real culprit is its sloppy script that isn't sincere enough to breed the essential crisp out of the screen. The clean satirical political act and sharp sound effects are the only high points of the feature. Clear And Present Danger is an unstable and out-dated mishap of politics that may be accurately tossed but unfortunately overcooks its outcome.

Il s’agit d’une clancynerie, c’est-à-dire d’une connerie habituelle (de roman de gare) du gars Tom Clancy, un expert en bouquins patriotiques complètement hallucinés où la puissance de l’Oncle Sam permet de résoudre tous les problèmes dans le monde, et aussi, notamment, de sauver le monde libre et de le rendre meilleur et plus sûr… et patati et patata, etc, etc… Alors à cet égard, ce « Danger Immédiat » voit donc ce personnage improbable (incarné par le grand Ford en pilotage automatique) qui travaille toujours au Renseignement bien sûr, démêler et mettre à jour une conspiration interne et internationale qui a maille à partir avec -notamment- des trafiquants de drogue sud-américains (et patati et patata) et autres magouilleurs… Le « boy scout » de la CIA monte donc au créneau et se met à fouiller, encore pire qu’un fouille-merde de base, afin de rétablir la justice et l’ordre, l’honnêteté et la probité et ainsi de suite… certes, nous ne nions pas les écarts et les mensonges au sein de l’administration americaine mais tout de même, que de maladresses et de gros sabots ici ! Néanmoins pendant un certain temps, le film demeure assez intéressant à suivre, d’autant qu’il peut y avoir ici et là quelques sacrées explosions ! l’intrigue ou l’espèce d’intrigue à la mords-moi-le-noeud demeure claire et bien exposée malgré évidemment -encore- des maladresses -à moins que ce ne soit des plaisanteries involontaires. On appréciera aussi cette ambiance d’époque avec les ordinateurs de l’époque (1994 quand même, le machin !) ainsi que la réalisation sérieuse et sans fioritures, efficace avant tout. Cela étant dit, ‘Danger machin’ reste bien trop long, trop naïf et ennuyeux et trop moralisateur à la petite semaine pour espérer convaincre, même en tant que simple divertissement (c’est du Tom Clancy de base… à la base).