A stab at The Hunt for Red October analysis

analysis
#1

I rewatched The Hunt for Red October last night with an eye to trying to figure out its storyform. Here’s what I came up with:

MC: Jack Ryan, an analyst in the CIA
Resolve: Steadfast - he never doubts that Ramius plans to defect (although he wishes at times he would have just “put it in a memo”)
Jack is a Do-er - he gets on a plane even though he hates it, he puts his life on the line to help Ramius numerous times, even though he met the man only once at a dinner.
I’m not sure about his PS style, but since this is an action movie I’m guessing Logical.
Outcome: Success
Judgment: Good - Jack overcomes his fear of flying, which was his biggest personal problem.

IC: There are several, but the one who changes the most would be Bart Mancuso, the submarine captain, who goes from serious skepticism to giving Ramius his weapon!

OS Throughline: Situation - a man has taken a nuclear submarine without authorization, and his motivation is unclear

Concern: probably The Present - will Ramius blow up the US and start WWIII?

I’m liking Attempt as the Issue:

  • Jack is attempting to do something no one thinks he can.
  • Ramius is doing the same.
  • Jonesy (the radarman) attempts to find a sub that no one is sure is even there, even when being mocked for trying.
  • The Soviets are trying desperately to find and kill Ramius yet not sure they can either.

Problem: Protection?

  • Ramius trying to keep the Red October away from the Soviets
  • The US trying to keep the Soviets away from a juicy opportunity

Not sure about how the IC and MC fit into this. Maybe each is trying to get the other to quit interfering in what they’re trying to do … Mancuso wants this crazy guy off his boat, where Ryan wants to save Ramius from the Soviets

That would put the Consequence as Contemplation, which makes sense.

MC Throughline: Activitiy - duh, action movie :wink:
MC Problem: Nonacceptance - Ryan can’t accept that Ramius would take the Red October for any other reason but to defect
MC Issue: Preconditions - Ryan’s got this in spades - everyone is trying to tell him what he can and can’t do, down to the snippy guy upset with how he’s dressed

I find it interesting that the story engine is giving me a Critical Flaw of Attraction. Could Ryan’s empathy with Ramius risk taking him too far, so far that he actually doesn’t succeed? I didn’t see that in the film, but this is something worth thinking about. What other ways could Attraction cause his downfall? I suppose if Ramius wasn’t as brilliant a man as Ryan thought, following his apparently suicidal commands could have gotten them into a heap of trouble.

Anyway, this is what I came up with. Thoughts?

#2

First thing is Ryan’s Problem-Solving Style - if you look at the scene where he’s in the war room with all the generals…he’s the one who “out of nowhere” puts the pieces together, looking to the relationship between Ramius and the anniversary of his wife’s death.

Ryan works the balance between things throughout the entire story. This would give him a Holistic Problem-Solving Style.

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#3

Just throwing this out there – is there any possibility that Ramius himself could be the IC?

The reason I ask is that I don’t remember any other characters very well, and I do kind of remember a neat relationship between Ryan and Ramius felt through their attempts to figure out the other side’s intentions. And I sort of recall their meeting at the end as being the emotional heart of the story.

But I haven’t seen the film in at least 15 years so please dismiss my thoughts if they don’t seem right. (Sometimes with long absence your memory does a great job of recalling just the structure … but at some point you forget important stuff too!)

One thing about the MC Throughline, it should be about his personal issues. At one point you suggest they’re about his fear of flying, but in your illustrations you seem to be talking about other stuff. (Your illustration of Issue is pretty good.)

#4

Good point. If I recall the movie lacks a decent MC Throughline

#5

I thought about Ramius as the IC. But I don’t feel that Ramius changed much, which is why I went with Mancuso instead. Mancuso’s 180 during the movie marked him as the Change character to Ryan’s Steadfast one.

What are the best examples in movies of holistic thinking?
#6

Well, his fear of flying stems from his helicopter accident. He’s avoided any kind of flying since then, probably linking the two due to PTSD. He seems to be a follower but only to a point. I mean, he gets on a plane even though it terrifies him, because his bosses told him to (and his insanely curious mind: what kind of sub is this?), but doesn’t back down in front of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He’s idealistic, indulgent of his daughter (as opposed to his hard-nose wife), driven, and obsessed with submarines. Which of these are personal problems and which are just quirks isn’t clear.

#7

@mlucas @jhull I do wish the movie would have gone into the fear of flying more. This is a huge deal. The movie only hints at it, and although Alec Baldwin tries his best to make those hints feel realistic, I didn’t feel it came through nearly strongly enough.

#8

Okay, sounds good Patty. Glad you considered Ramius as IC anyway.

I wonder if the fear of flying could be a way of showing how his personal drive is problematic for him. i.e. it’s not the fear of flying that’s the root of his problems, but rather, the fact that he is so driven to (solve this mystery, whatever) that he has to expose himself to stuff he can barely stand, helicopter flights and other danger.

And maybe this is just a movie that’s mostly skewed toward OS, like 70% OS throughline, and 10% each of the others.

It’s funny that Jack Ryan can do such a good Trump impression…

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