Solid adaptation of the Tom Clancy novel is an exciting read - well structured, pulling the action along. We meet Ramius, then Ryan, then the mission starts, Ryan figures out something's up. The complications feel logical and are well spread out - a political officer is murdered, the Soviets try to kill Ramius, the Soviets declare Ramius is insane and try to kill him, another Soviet sub is after them, there's a spy on the sub.
The leads get hero moments - Ryan figures it out and shoots the spy, Ramius does some captaincy wizardry, Mancuso (the US sub captain) gets to take over the Russian sub. I thought maybe more could've been done with the spy and the characters aren't terribly individual - that's why it helped so much that in the film version they were played by stars. They might've made more of Jack Ryan being a fish out of water, if you excuse the pun i.e. a nerd in a world comprising of men of action - but that was probably too tricky to attract a leading man.
Also, and this is in hindsight, I think the film benefited from John Milius' polish of Ramius' dialogue, giving it a historical poetic flair - this draft it's a little dull. But a strong script - it didn't get my heart racing the way say Patriot Games and Sum of All Fears did but it still works.
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