Cold War Fuels Heat in ‘Hunt for Red October’

In the final scene of the movie “The Hunt for Red October,” CIA Agent Jack Ryan turns to Soviet Capt. Marko Ramius and says, “Welcome to the new world, sir.”

In that brief moment, the Cold War book by Tom Clancy tries to become a post- glasnost movie, and it sounds just like George Bush welcoming Mikhail S. Gorbachev into the family of nations.

Never mind the scene was preceded by two hours of good, old-fashioned Cold War, with dogma-spewing commissars pitted against CIA agents who love their kids, and chain-smoking, sweaty Russian fanatics battling cool-headed “ring knockers” from the U.S. Naval Academy.

Ramius (Sean Connery), commander of the Soviets’ newest submarine, called Red October, is running from both the U.S. and Soviet navies and threatens to bring the two countries to war.

But forget the politics. It’s time for action, and “Red October” fires a broadside. Opening Friday, “Red October” is high-tech, underwater adventure--a kind of sea-soaked “Star Trek.”

The underwater scenes even look like outer space; the dark sea is filled with particles that twinkle like stars. The subs, which in real life handle like a Coupe DeVille skidding across a frozen pond, move in the film with the speed and grace of the Starship Enterprise.

The big boats are lovingly photographed from every angle, in dry dock and at sea, usually accompanied by loud, ponderous music that makes the subs seem even more ponderous.

How much did the Navy pay for this two-hour recruiting ad? If you can believe it, the producers actually paid the Navy $325,000 for fuel and other expenses incurred during shooting.

The last Hollywood hit to become a recruiting aid was “Top Gun,” which made heroes out of Navy pilots. As if in revenge, “Red October” features only three fliers: one brags about how airsick he gets, another is a wimp who wants to abort a mission and the third crashes into the deck of an aircraft carrier.

The CIA also gets good publicity. Ryan (Alec Baldwin), far from the stereotypical psycho-killer CIA man favored by Hollywood, is “just an analyst” who can practically read the mind of Ramius.

Which brings us back to politics. With relations warming between the United States and the Soviet Union, “Red October” will seem quaintly out of date to those who already are spending their “peace dividend.”