Clear and Present Danger

"Truth needs a soldier."

1994 2h 21m EN

👍

6.6

SOLID

🍅

81%

FRESH

👌

METACRITIC

⭐

6.9

IMDB

★6.6TMDB · 1,763🍅81%Rotten Tomatoes●72Metacritic★6.9IMDB · 113,327

ActionDramaThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Agent Jack Ryan becomes acting Deputy Director of Intelligence for the CIA when Admiral Greer is diagnosed with cancer. When an American businessman, and friend of the president, is murdered on his yacht, Ryan starts discovering links between the man and drug dealers. As former CIA agent John Clark is sent to Colombia to kill drug cartel kingpins in retaliation, Ryan must fight through multiple cover-ups to figure out what happened and who's responsible.

“Truth needs a soldier.”

WhatsApp X Facebook Telegram

Where to watch · US

Paramount Plus EssentialSubscription

MGM PlusSubscription

Amazon VideoRent

Apple TV StoreRent

Google Play MoviesRent

Google Play MoviesBuy

YouTubeBuy

Fandango At HomeBuy

Cast

Harrison Ford
Jack Ryan
Willem Dafoe
John Clark
Joaquim de Almeida
Col. Felix V. Cortez
Henry Czerny
CIA Deputy Director Robert Ritter
Harris Yulin
National Security Advisor James Cutter
Donald Moffat
President Bennett
Miguel Sandoval
Ernesto Escobedo
Raymond Cruz
Domingo Chavez

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Phillip Noyce
Writers: Steven Zaillian, John Milius, Donald E. Stewart
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Mid-budget at $62M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 3.5× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

32 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "The Jack Ryan Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

CAST

Did you know

304+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Phillip Noyce, shot by Donald McAlpine. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by James Horner. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Neil Travis shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Phillip Noyce directs. Donald McAlpine behind the camera. James Horner scores. Neil Travis cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Mid-budget at $62M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.
2Made its money back 3.5× over at the box office.
332 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
4Part of the "The Jack Ryan Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
5304+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
6Directed by Phillip Noyce, shot by Donald McAlpine. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
7Original score by James Horner. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
8Editor Neil Travis shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
9Harrison Ford and Willem Dafoe and Joaquim de Almeida carry the top of the cast.
10Marketing tagline: "Truth needs a soldier.".
11IMDB entry: tt0109444 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
12Classified under 30 themes, including "sniper", "central intelligence agency (cia)", "helicopter", "assassination".
13Released under 14 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Donald McAlpine
Original score: James Horner
Editing: Neil Travis
Production design: Terence Marsh
Makeup / hair: Carol Meikle
VFX supervisor: John C. Wash
Sound: Michael Herbick
Stunt coordinator: Dick Ziker
Runtime: 141 min · 2h 21m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $62,000,000
Box office: $215,887,717
Return: 348% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: Clear and Present Danger (1994)
Rotten Tomatoes: 81% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 72/100
IMDB rating: 6.9/10 · 113,327 votes
MPAA: PG-13

Awards

Nominated for 2 Oscars. 3 wins & 11 nominations total

Part of

The Jack Ryan Collection

John Patrick "Jack" Ryan, Sr. is a fictional character created by Tom Clancy who appears in many of his novels and their respective film adaptations.

Also by

Phillip Noyce

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2019-03-23
★ 7/10
These drug cartels represent a clear and present danger to the national security of the United States. The third outing for Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan - and the second with Harrison Ford in the lead - is a tightly constructed political thriller. Condensing Clancy's door stoppers is no easy task, but the makers here, headed by director Phillip Noyce, have manged to keep the pic brisk and intelligent for entertainment worth. Plot essentially boils down to America's war on drugs and the Colombian cartel at the helm of such operations. Naturally all is a bit suspect in the American corridors of power, leading to corruption and abuse of power that puts Jack Ryan firmly at the front to sift and destroy the bad eggs staining the American Star Spangled Banner. This very much plays out for those who like a bit of politico subterfuge, whist being ok with long passages of like minded chatter is also a requisite. That we have a fine cast playing out the screenplay (Donald E. Stewart, Steven Zaillian and John Milius) is a big plus that gives credibility to the shifty machinations. There's a nagging annoyance throughout that this still should be a better film, especially given the overstretched run time of 2 hours 20 minutes, and the computer sections are dubious and the finale is something of a damp squib. However, we are in the company of great pros, both in front of and behind the camera - and also on the page (Clancy's brain superlative). With that in mind it's reasons to seek this out and enjoy if this splinter of political thriller is your bag. 7/10
CinemaSerf2022-07-04
★ 7/10
Luckily, this final outing for Harrison Ford's "Jack Ryan" is far more entertaining that his previous "Patriot Games" shenanigans from 1992 - so the Queen Mother's other cousins can relax. This time, he is promoted into the shoes of his terminally ill mentor "Greer" (James Earl Jones) as Deputy Director of Intelligence at the CIA. Everyone is working on plans to shut down the infamous Cali drug cartel in Colombia, but it soon becomes clear that there are wheels within wheels in the US administration, traitors all over the shop, and "Ryan" looks certain to take the fall when the dominoes start to tumble. This is a solid espionage thriller, with a complex plot peppered with a few extended action scenes and some decent performances from Ford, Willem Dafoe as the betrayed enforcer "Clark" and the combination of Messrs. "Ritter" (Henry Czerny) and "Cutter" (Harris Yulin) make poor old "Jack" realise that he might well be safer on the side of the drug lords! It's a bit too long, and certainly it takes maybe thirty minutes of plot development to get going, but once it does it's a quality adaptation of a more cerebral story of corruption, deceit and ass-covering that still holds up thirty years later.