list http://www.spout.com/ Recent community activity around Clear and Present Danger on Spout Copyright 2005-9 Spout, LLC Spout RSS http://www.spout.com/images/SpoutLogoRSS.jpg http://www.spout.com/ 136 30 http://www.spout.com/films/Clear_and_Present_Danger/91148/default.aspx Title: Clear and Present Danger
Year: 1994
Director: Phillip Noyce
Plot: This is the third film based on Tom Clancy's high-tech espionage potboilers starring CIA deputy director Jack Ryan. Harrison Ford, returning to the Ryan role after his first go-round in 1992's Patriot Games, is assigned to a delicate anti-drug investigation after a close friend of the President (a Reaganesque Donald Moffat) is murdered by a Colombian drug cartel. When Ryan discovers that the President's wealthy friend was in league with the cartel, the President's devious national security adviser (Harris Yulin) and an ambitious CIA deputy director (Henry Czerny) send a secret paramilitary force into Colombia to wipe out the drug lords. The force is captured and then abandoned by the President's lackeys. It falls to Ryan to enter Colombia and rescue them, aided only by a renegade operative named Clark (Willem Dafoe), with both his life and career on the line. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide
Times Tagged: 57
Number of Lists: 23
Number of blog posts: 6
Number of discussion threads: 3
SpoutRating: 3
]]>Mon, 11 May 2009 20:42:15 GMTClear and Present Danger1994Phillip NoyceThis is the third film based on Tom Clancy's high-tech espionage potboilers starring CIA deputy director Jack Ryan. <a href="/players/P____24238/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Harrison Ford</a>, returning to the Ryan role after his first go-round in 1992's <a href=/films/26229/default.aspx style='text-decoration:underline'>Patriot Games</a>, is assigned to a delicate anti-drug investigation after a close friend of the President (a Reaganesque <a href="/players/P____49852/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Donald Moffat</a>) is murdered by a Colombian drug cartel. When Ryan discovers that the President's wealthy friend was in league with the cartel, the President's devious national security adviser (<a href="/players/P____78288/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Harris Yulin</a>) and an ambitious CIA deputy director (<a href="/players/P____16403/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Henry Czerny</a>) send a secret paramilitary force into Colombia to wipe out the drug lords. The force is captured and then abandoned by the President's lackeys. It falls to Ryan to enter Colombia and rescue them, aided only by a renegade operative named Clark (<a href="/players/P____16547/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Willem Dafoe</a>), with both his life and career on the line. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide57Tag Target (>10)23633http://www.spout.com/ProductImages/t28134tmmva.jpghttp://www.spout.com/films/Clear_and_Present_Danger/91148/default.aspxFilm http://www.spout.com/blogs/the_mow/archive/2009/5/7/42108.aspx Post By: The_MOW
Post To: The_MOW Blog
Post Date: 5/7/2009 5:13:53 PM
Body: Harrison Ford plays "Jack Ryan" for the final time in the movie based on the the novel of the same name. This time, he is involved in the war on drugs eith one major complication -- the murdered friend of the President of the United States was a money launderer for the Columbian drug lords. This is not a shoot-em-up movie at all. It is more a mystery which moves quite slow at times, with more suspense than there is action. Even though the film is slow, it moves at a good pace that doesn't make the viewer lose interest. There is some gunplay, with maybe one or two good gun battles. There are also a few good explosions. However, they don't carry the film. Although there is violence in this film, blood is kept to a minimum. What does carry the film is the performances and the writing. Although the characters are not developed well, except maybe those who appeared in the previous films. I felt many of the characters were pretty much one-dimensional. The soundtrack really didn't impress me. It's all instrumental, and didn't really stand out in any of the scenes. In fact, I don't think the music was that loud at all to be noticed unless the other sound effects were quiet. The cinematography is pretty good, though not spectacular. There are some good scenes that were edited nicely. Gun battles and scenes with explosions are edited together with quick takes, but are a little short. There are some surprising twists and turns in this movie. Unless you've read the book, you might not really expect them. There is one plot twist that is quite obvious when it is revealed near the beginning of the movie that affects one of the supporting characters in a dramatic way. When this character meets his fate, you are not surprised at all. There were other twists I didn't expect. One disappointing part of the film is where they decided to end it. Thanks to the pacing and the performances in this film, "Clear and Present Danger" is worth taking a look at. However, I suggest you either read the series of novels or see the previous movies first.
]]>Thu, 07 May 2009 21:13:53 GMTThe_MOWThe_MOW Blog5/7/2009 5:13:53 PMHarrison Ford plays "Jack Ryan" for the final time in the movie based on the the novel of the same name. This time, he is involved in the war on drugs eith one major complication -- the murdered friend of the President of the United States was a money launderer for the Columbian drug lords. This is not a shoot-em-up movie at all. It is more a mystery which moves quite slow at times, with more suspense than there is action. Even though the film is slow, it moves at a good pace that doesn't make the viewer lose interest. There is some gunplay, with maybe one or two good gun battles. There are also a few good explosions. However, they don't carry the film. Although there is violence in this film, blood is kept to a minimum. What does carry the film is the performances and the writing. Although the characters are not developed well, except maybe those who appeared in the previous films. I felt many of the characters were pretty much one-dimensional. The soundtrack really didn't impress me. It's all instrumental, and didn't really stand out in any of the scenes. In fact, I don't think the music was that loud at all to be noticed unless the other sound effects were quiet. The cinematography is pretty good, though not spectacular. There are some good scenes that were edited nicely. Gun battles and scenes with explosions are edited together with quick takes, but are a little short. There are some surprising twists and turns in this movie. Unless you've read the book, you might not really expect them. There is one plot twist that is quite obvious when it is revealed near the beginning of the movie that affects one of the supporting characters in a dramatic way. When this character meets his fate, you are not surprised at all. There were other twists I didn't expect. One disappointing part of the film is where they decided to end it. Thanks to the pacing and the performances in this film, "Clear and Present Danger" is worth taking a look at. However, I suggest you either read the series of novels or see the previous movies first. http://www.spout.com/blogs/dibot/archive/2009/3/25/41244.aspx Post By: dibot
Post To: dibot Blog
Post Date: 3/25/2009 2:46:42 PM
Body: Over 30 reviews behind! This time, I'm blaming Facebook and all it's addictive applications. So the reviews will be short and sometimes sweet, but I'm going to try to catch up a bit today.Billy Liar was the last of the flimspotting Angry Young Men marathon. A young man with dreams of becoming a screenwriter fantasizes his way through a day of his humdrum existence. Again, though I can respect the quality of the filmmaking, I just did not understand the character motivations. I'm starting to think it's because we don't really have a class system in America and so I can't really grasp the pain of the working class in Britain.Sean Penn ("All the King's Men") totally deserved the Oscar for his turn in Milk. He transforms into Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man to hold elected office. The film doesn't show Milk's entire life, but begins when he moves to San Francisco. And though it focuses on the politics, it's also a bit of a love story, showing how Milk's relationships were affected by his running for office. Very well done film. Moving with lots of food for thought.The Spiral Staircase is a tense little thriller that relies more on shadows and suspense than jump-out scares. The plot involves a series of murders in which all of the victims have been handicapped in some way. The heroine has lost her voice and we watch her navigate a dark, scary house unable to call for help as the murderer stalks her.Harrison Ford ("Crossing Over") really is the epitome of action star. In Clear and Present Danger, he plays CIA agent Jack Ryan who must uncover a plot that goes all the way to the presidency. And though much of the time Ford is embroiled in office politics, he makes it look tense. And then it's time to kick butt and he's good at that too. Some of the computer stuff is dated and seems silly now, but for the most part, the film holds up.I remember really liking Wolf when I saw it upon it's initial release. It's still entertaining, but now dated. Jack Nicholson ("The Bucket List"), who looks the part and I think is the inspiration for Wolverine's make-up in X-Men, stars as an aging editor who's bitten by a wolf and then begins to change. Along the way, he bites a very smarmy James Spader ("Shadow of Fear") and they both inappropriately sniff Michelle Pfeiffer ("Stardust").
]]>Wed, 25 Mar 2009 18:46:42 GMTdibotdibot Blog3/25/2009 2:46:42 PMOver 30 reviews behind! This time, I'm blaming Facebook and all it's addictive applications. So the reviews will be short and sometimes sweet, but I'm going to try to catch up a bit today.Billy Liar was the last of the flimspotting Angry Young Men marathon. A young man with dreams of becoming a screenwriter fantasizes his way through a day of his humdrum existence. Again, though I can respect the quality of the filmmaking, I just did not understand the character motivations. I'm starting to think it's because we don't really have a class system in America and so I can't really grasp the pain of the working class in Britain.Sean Penn ("All the King's Men") totally deserved the Oscar for his turn in Milk. He transforms into Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man to hold elected office. The film doesn't show Milk's entire life, but begins when he moves to San Francisco. And though it focuses on the politics, it's also a bit of a love story, showing how Milk's relationships were affected by his running for office. Very well done film. Moving with lots of food for thought.The Spiral Staircase is a tense little thriller that relies more on shadows and suspense than jump-out scares. The plot involves a series of murders in which all of the victims have been handicapped in some way. The heroine has lost her voice and we watch her navigate a dark, scary house unable to call for help as the murderer stalks her.Harrison Ford ("Crossing Over") really is the epitome of action star. In Clear and Present Danger, he plays CIA agent Jack Ryan who must uncover a plot that goes all the way to the presidency. And though much of the time Ford is embroiled in office politics, he makes it look tense. And then it's time to kick butt and he's good at that too. Some of the computer stuff is dated and seems silly now, but for the most part, the film holds up.I remember really liking Wolf when I saw it upon it's initial release. It's still entertaining, but now dated. Jack Nicholson ("The Bucket List"), who looks the part and I think is the inspiration for Wolverine's make-up in X-Men, stars as an aging editor who's bitten by a wolf and then begins to change. Along the way, he bites a very smarmy James Spader ("Shadow of Fear") and they both inappropriately sniff Michelle Pfeiffer ("Stardust"). http://www.spout.com/groups/Coming_Soon/2_27_Harrison_Ford_is_STILL_THROUGH_messing_arou/216/40602/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: SkyPilot
Post To: Coming Soon
Post Date: 2/23/2009 5:01:58 PM
Body: NEW TO THEATERS 2/27 The video game movie you never expected -- Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li Watch the trailer. What do you think? After the film, will we look like this: Or this: Harrison Ford is STILL through messing around! -- Crossing Over (limited) Starring Sean Penn, Ashley Judd, and Harrison Ford. The trailer makes it look like Crash, only all the stories are focused on immigration. And it looks like Ford's performance is another in his line of "I'm through messing around!" performance. Hey, he's sure good at this stuff, though... Harrison Ford's Top 3 "I'm Through Messing Around" Movies 1. The Fugitive 2. Clear and Present Danger 3. Air Force One 3-D Jonases, watchable at will! -- Jonas Brothers 3-D Experience Love 'em or hate 'em, you just can't deny that those Jonas Brothers made a concert movie. Want proof? Watch the trailer. Great concert films What's the best concert films you've ever seen? I highly recommend the Rolling Stones film Gimme Shelter (watch the trailer). Every time I see it, I'm chilled by the real violence that the Maysles captured with their cameras. As you may know, this was the concert where the Hell's Angels provided the Stones' "security." I also really enjoyed the Talking Heads' Stop Making Sense. Jonathan Demme is credited as the director, but I've heard that the film's style is very much a brainchild of David Byrne. _______________________________________________ NEW TO DVD 2/23 -- WARNING! THERE IS POTTY HUMOR! City of Ember -- Watch the trailer. The guys on FilmCouch liked this one. Listen to the FilmCouch review. Wooo, Bill Murray! Read the SpoutBlog review. What Just Happened -- Watch the trailer. This Hollywood-based comedy didn't get good reviews, but it stars Robert Deniro, Sean Penn, John Turturro, and Bruce Willis. How can it not be good, right? Huh, I guess everybody poops once in a while. Extreme Movie -- This parody of teen sex comedies stars Michael Cera and was partly written by SNL's Will Forte and Adam Samberg. I can't remember it ever even playing in theaters...but everyone poops, am I right, people? 88 Minutes -- Watch the trailer. Starring Al Pacino. Who poops. Splinter -- Watch the trailer. A virus infects people with an insatiable thirst for human blood. This could be good; but isn't there a rule of thumb that whenever an effects guru directs a movie, you should run for the hills? I'd be happy if Splinter proves me wrong.
]]>Mon, 23 Feb 2009 22:01:58 GMTSkyPilotComing Soon2/23/2009 5:01:58 PMNEW TO THEATERS 2/27 The video game movie you never expected -- Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li Watch the trailer. What do you think? After the film, will we look like this: Or this: Harrison Ford is STILL through messing around! -- Crossing Over (limited) Starring Sean Penn, Ashley Judd, and Harrison Ford. The trailer makes it look like Crash, only all the stories are focused on immigration. And it looks like Ford's performance is another in his line of "I'm through messing around!" performance. Hey, he's sure good at this stuff, though... Harrison Ford's Top 3 "I'm Through Messing Around" Movies 1. The Fugitive 2. Clear and Present Danger 3. Air Force One 3-D Jonases, watchable at will! -- Jonas Brothers 3-D Experience Love 'em or hate 'em, you just can't deny that those Jonas Brothers made a concert movie. Want proof? Watch the trailer. Great concert films What's the best concert films you've ever seen? I highly recommend the Rolling Stones film Gimme Shelter (watch the trailer). Every time I see it, I'm chilled by the real violence that the Maysles captured with their cameras. As you may know, this was the concert where the Hell's Angels provided the Stones' "security." I also really enjoyed the Talking Heads' Stop Making Sense. Jonathan Demme is credited as the director, but I've heard that the film's style is very much a brainchild of David Byrne. _______________________________________________ NEW TO DVD 2/23 -- WARNING! THERE IS POTTY HUMOR! City of Ember -- Watch the trailer. The guys on FilmCouch liked this one. Listen to the FilmCouch review. Wooo, Bill Murray! Read the SpoutBlog review. What Just Happened -- Watch the trailer. This Hollywood-based comedy didn't get good reviews, but it stars Robert Deniro, Sean Penn, John Turturro, and Bruce Willis. How can it not be good, right? Huh, I guess everybody poops once in a while. Extreme Movie -- This parody of teen sex comedies stars Michael Cera and was partly written by SNL's Will Forte and Adam Samberg. I can't remember it ever even playing in theaters...but everyone poops, am I right, people? 88 Minutes -- Watch the trailer. Starring Al Pacino. Who poops. Splinter -- Watch the trailer. A virus infects people with an insatiable thirst for human blood. This could be good; but isn't there a rule of thumb that whenever an effects guru directs a movie, you should run for the hills? I'd be happy if Splinter proves me wrong. http://www.spout.com/groups/FilmCouch/Re_Question_from_FilmCouch_97_Are_there_any_pur/302/37584/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: mciocco
Post To: FilmCouch
Post Date: 11/24/2008 1:58:27 PM
Body: Spy movies have definitely gotten away from the sort of glamorous travelogues that the original Bond movies kinda were. Most portray the life as being a tough, gritty one filled with betrayal, sacrifice and other depressing stuff. Even the "action" subgenre of spy films has that sort of thing (i.e. Bourne features all sorts of stuff about how being the spy eats up your life, etc...) So some examples of recent, less actiony spy flicks that you haven't mentioned in the podcast or in your post would include: Traitor (2008 - can't find it with the link to a movie tool thingy) - This is the recent movie starring Don Cheadle. There is some action and it's actually pretty cliched, but it's somewhat entertaining and it's much more focused on the psychology of terrorists than the spy aspect of it... The Good Shepherd - Again, not at all glamorous, but this seems to be a dry recounting of early CIA machinations. I didn't much care for this movie, but it's not an action oriented spy film and the one thing I did like was the sorta brinkmanship between Matt Damon's character and his Soviet counterpart. Syriana - Not glamorous and another movie I didn't particularly love, but it's got some interesting non-action spy stuff going on (mostly in the Cloony plotline - the others are not as spy oriented). It's too bad the plot is so intentionally obtuse. I got the feeling that Gaghan was attempting to play obscurity and for depth here. Three Days of the Condor - Ok, so this isn't anywhere close to recent, but it's a pretty good spy story told from a non-action-oriented standpoint. But I also agree with your inclusion of Spy Game, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, and Breach, all of which I rather enjoyed (er, more than the films I listed above) I also thought of the Tom Clancy movies (Hunt for Red October, Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger, and yes, even The Sum of All Fears), but those might better be characterized as action movies (still, there's an inordinate amount of non-actiony stuff in those films that kinda works well). Another that jumped to mind was Sneakers, though I'm not sure you could really characterize that as a spy film... That's all for now, but I'm positive I'm leaving something out...
]]>Mon, 24 Nov 2008 18:58:27 GMTmcioccoFilmCouch11/24/2008 1:58:27 PMSpy movies have definitely gotten away from the sort of glamorous travelogues that the original Bond movies kinda were. Most portray the life as being a tough, gritty one filled with betrayal, sacrifice and other depressing stuff. Even the "action" subgenre of spy films has that sort of thing (i.e. Bourne features all sorts of stuff about how being the spy eats up your life, etc...) So some examples of recent, less actiony spy flicks that you haven't mentioned in the podcast or in your post would include: Traitor (2008 - can't find it with the link to a movie tool thingy) - This is the recent movie starring Don Cheadle. There is some action and it's actually pretty cliched, but it's somewhat entertaining and it's much more focused on the psychology of terrorists than the spy aspect of it... The Good Shepherd - Again, not at all glamorous, but this seems to be a dry recounting of early CIA machinations. I didn't much care for this movie, but it's not an action oriented spy film and the one thing I did like was the sorta brinkmanship between Matt Damon's character and his Soviet counterpart. Syriana - Not glamorous and another movie I didn't particularly love, but it's got some interesting non-action spy stuff going on (mostly in the Cloony plotline - the others are not as spy oriented). It's too bad the plot is so intentionally obtuse. I got the feeling that Gaghan was attempting to play obscurity and for depth here. Three Days of the Condor - Ok, so this isn't anywhere close to recent, but it's a pretty good spy story told from a non-action-oriented standpoint. But I also agree with your inclusion of Spy Game, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, and Breach, all of which I rather enjoyed (er, more than the films I listed above) I also thought of the Tom Clancy movies (Hunt for Red October, Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger, and yes, even The Sum of All Fears), but those might better be characterized as action movies (still, there's an inordinate amount of non-actiony stuff in those films that kinda works well). Another that jumped to mind was Sneakers, though I'm not sure you could really characterize that as a spy film... That's all for now, but I'm positive I'm leaving something out... http://www.spout.com/blogs/cinemarian/archive/2008/10/31/36834.aspx Post By: CinemaRian
Post To: CinemaRian Blog
Post Date: 10/31/2008 3:19:22 AM
Body: Clear and Present Danger is basically a drama that pretends to be an action movie. It as if the director, Phillip Noyce, wanted to make a film about ideas and was forced by the studio to add action sequences to dumb down the movie and make it more commercial. I don't really know why, without the need to be a summer blockbuster this might have been a Christmas Oscar contender. The movie is a quasi-sequel to Patriot Games, which was an even more quasi- sequel to The Hunt for Red October. All films are based on novels by Tom Clancy concerning his signature character, Jack Ryan. Although the plotlines don't continue into the new films, the characters do, sort of. All three pictures feature James Earl Jones as Ryan's mentor, Admiral Greer, but in October Ryan is played by Alec Baldwin. The continuity is a bit greater between the second and third pictures- both are directed by Noyce and both feature Harrison Ford as Ryan, Anne Archer as his wife, and Thora Birch as his daughter but Ryan doesn't have the same friends or associates in Danger. Go figure. Anyway, Clear and Present Danger opens with an incident on a Columbian ship that involves the death of a high ranking US ambassador and a personal friend to President (Donald Mofatt). Ryan is called in to investigate and he eventually uncovers a Watergate-like string of corruption that leads to high levels of the government. Because Ryan and his friend Greer (ill with cancer) seem to be the only people in the government left with any integrity, Ryan is torn. If he tells the truth, his career is threatened, if he lies, his soul is. Although there have been lots of films made about characters whose personal integrity are threatened, it must be said that Ford's movie star presence adds a lot to this material. Despite his strong physical presence, the actor has a Pacino-like ability to be intense while underplaying his scenes. Although Archer's part is stereotypical and underwritten, the rest of the cast is excellent. Jones is so good (as usual) that I wished he had a larger part. Where the movie gets bogged down is in most of the action in Columbia. A subplot involving a former Marine (Willem Dafoe) is unnecessary and slows down the picture. I also felt that it was a mistake for Ryan himself to head to South America, he seems more like a desk analyst than a real action hero. And of course, the numerous scenes of military strikes near a drug kingpin's villa are irrelevant, slow down the movie, and frankly not very exciting. I would not say that Clear and Present Danger is required viewing, but it has a lot strong elements to it that make it worth a rental if you are interested in this material. And although I haven't seen The Sum of All Fears, I have a strange feeling that Harrison Ford is a better Jack Ryan than Ben Affleck. Clear and Present Danger (1994)
]]>Fri, 31 Oct 2008 07:19:22 GMTCinemaRianCinemaRian Blog10/31/2008 3:19:22 AMClear and Present Danger is basically a drama that pretends to be an action movie. It as if the director, Phillip Noyce, wanted to make a film about ideas and was forced by the studio to add action sequences to dumb down the movie and make it more commercial. I don't really know why, without the need to be a summer blockbuster this might have been a Christmas Oscar contender. The movie is a quasi-sequel to Patriot Games, which was an even more quasi- sequel to The Hunt for Red October. All films are based on novels by Tom Clancy concerning his signature character, Jack Ryan. Although the plotlines don't continue into the new films, the characters do, sort of. All three pictures feature James Earl Jones as Ryan's mentor, Admiral Greer, but in October Ryan is played by Alec Baldwin. The continuity is a bit greater between the second and third pictures- both are directed by Noyce and both feature Harrison Ford as Ryan, Anne Archer as his wife, and Thora Birch as his daughter but Ryan doesn't have the same friends or associates in Danger. Go figure. Anyway, Clear and Present Danger opens with an incident on a Columbian ship that involves the death of a high ranking US ambassador and a personal friend to President (Donald Mofatt). Ryan is called in to investigate and he eventually uncovers a Watergate-like string of corruption that leads to high levels of the government. Because Ryan and his friend Greer (ill with cancer) seem to be the only people in the government left with any integrity, Ryan is torn. If he tells the truth, his career is threatened, if he lies, his soul is. Although there have been lots of films made about characters whose personal integrity are threatened, it must be said that Ford's movie star presence adds a lot to this material. Despite his strong physical presence, the actor has a Pacino-like ability to be intense while underplaying his scenes. Although Archer's part is stereotypical and underwritten, the rest of the cast is excellent. Jones is so good (as usual) that I wished he had a larger part. Where the movie gets bogged down is in most of the action in Columbia. A subplot involving a former Marine (Willem Dafoe) is unnecessary and slows down the picture. I also felt that it was a mistake for Ryan himself to head to South America, he seems more like a desk analyst than a real action hero. And of course, the numerous scenes of military strikes near a drug kingpin's villa are irrelevant, slow down the movie, and frankly not very exciting. I would not say that Clear and Present Danger is required viewing, but it has a lot strong elements to it that make it worth a rental if you are interested in this material. And although I haven't seen The Sum of All Fears, I have a strange feeling that Harrison Ford is a better Jack Ryan than Ben Affleck. Clear and Present Danger (1994) http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2008/10/15/36353.aspx Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 10/15/2008 10:01:17 AM
Body: Forget about Don Cheadle replacing Terence Howard as James Rhodes / War Machine in Iron Man II, which smells a lot like the “we’ll threaten to replace Tobey Maguire with Jake Gyllenhaal” tactic that Sony used for Spider-Man II –– Hollywood has been doing this for years. It was bad enough back in the days of television with Dick Sargent replacing Dick York in Bewitched, but now it’s becoming pretty commonplace for producers to replace actors in iconic roles. Although now it’s more common due to monetary concerns, which seems to be what has taken Howard out of the War Machine suit, it’s also common to see an actor ankle a role because they don’t like the source material, or the direction the character is taking. We’ve put together several different re-castings, which all happened for a variety of reasons: money, dissatisfaction with the script, test audience reactions, and actors just growing tired of playing the same character. Check them out after the break. Alec Baldwin –> Harrison Ford –> Ben Affleck –> Ryan Gosling (?) In Tom Clancy’s series of “Ryanverse” books, action politician and former teacher Jack Ryan has dne everything from rescue a rogue Russian submarine to become the President of the United States. Alec Baldwin first played the role in 1990’s The Hunt for Red October, but he was unavailable for the sequel Patriot Games (which in the books is a prequel), due to a stint on Broadway. The producers then approached Harrison Ford, who took over the role for two movies, with Clear and Present Danger being the highest grossing Ryan film to date. Ford decided not to play the role a third time, and for 2002’s The Sum of All Fears they decided to try and jumpstart the franchise with a young Jack Ryan, casting Ben Affleck in the role. At the time, Ford reportedly told Affleck, “Knock yourself out. I don’t want to do these movies anymore.” Which contrasts with what he just told AOL’s Moviefone: “I thought that we hadn’t quite exhausted the potential of the Jack Ryan character. Those films were, I think, very good movies. I wouldn’t mind doing another of those.” Nevertheless, there’s a rumor that Ryan Gosling will become the new Jack Ryan in Without Remorse, which is currently in development. Personally? I thought Baldwin made the best Jack Ryan, but he’s a better Jack Donaghy. Jodie Foster –> Julianne Moore When Foster declined to reprise the Clarice Starling role from Silence of the Lambs in Hannibal, the producers considered a list of actors that ranged from Winona Ryder to Gillian Anderson, who lost the role because her contract at Fox said she couldn’t play another FBI agent. Even though Foster had initially said she’d do it and had specific notes on the script, eventually Julianne Moore won the part, but in the end it wasn’t much of a prize –– it’s hard to remember that Ridley Scott directed this movie, because it just didn’t have a the spark or charisma of the original. Similarly, if you rent the excellent Manhunter, you’ll see William Petersen in a non-CSI role playing FBI agent Will Graham, who actually captured Hannibal Lecter (oddly spelled Lecktor in this movie), played by Brian Cox. Later Hollywood remade this movie as Red Dragon (the name of the book) with Anthony Hopkins reprising his Lecter role, and Ed Norton playing Will Graham. Although if we include remakes on this list, it’ll stretch on far too long. Katie Holmes  –> Maggie Gyllenhaal Katie Holmes turned down a big payday when she decided not to return for the sequel to Batman Begins, and missed out on being in the biggest movie of this year. It’s still unclear if her decision shows Tom Cruise’s influence at work, or if she just didn’t want to do it now that she’s a mommy, but it was one of those head-scratching moments that just makes you wonder what happened. Maybe she bristled at the paltry two million dollars she was being offered for the role, especially since the part was beefed up for The Dark Knight. Claudia Wells –> Elisabeth Shue and Crispin Glover –> Jeffrey Weisman Back to the Future Part II saw two major roles get recast, and in some cases rewritten completely. Claudia Wells, who played Marty’s girlfriend Jennifer in the first film, decided to leave acting since her mother was diagnosed with cancer, and she later took more time off to have children. Her part was recast with Elisabeth Shue stepping in, and they had to re-shoot the ending sequence of the original movie since that’s how Back to the Future II opens. Additionally, Crispin Glover found out that the producers were using his image without his approval for the sequel, and he sued the directors and producers, including Steven Spielberg. The case was settled out of court, and the Screen Actors Guild later implemented rules to prevent this from happening again. As a result, Glover’s part was recast with Jeffrey Weisman playing George McFly, and most of his scenes show the back of his head, or him floating upside down (he’s supposed to be in traction, having hurt his back) and wearing heavy prosthetics. Burt Reynolds –> Jackie Gleason –> Jerry Reed This story is so strange that it makes me want to go back and watch this movie again, even though I remember how terrible it was when I saw it as a kid. This movie was originally titled Smokey and the Bandit III: Smokey IS The Bandit, with Jackie Gleason playing both Buford T. Justice, and the role of the Bandit. We sure would have like to see him as the Bandit, but apparently audiences didn’t and were too confused by the dual roles. So the studio dumped Gleason as the Bandit, and rewrote the film to have Jerry Reed as the Bandit. If you remember from the first two movies (and it’s forgiveable is you don’t have the lore of Smokey and the Bandit memorized at this point), Reed was the Bandit’s best buddy, Cledus Snow, who drove the big truck. However in this third installment, the Enoses (I swear I’m getting dumber by remembering all of this stuff) decided that the Bandit was too egotistical, and hire Snow to do their bidding. In the climactic scene, when Smokey finally catches the Bandit, he seems him as Burt Reynolds, who reprised the role just for that one moment. Now I need to go get a stiff drink. If someone out there can find the footage of Gleason as the Bandit, you’ll make my day. Thank god he made Nothing In Common with Tom Hanks before he died, because this would have a been a terrible film to end a career with. I was going to include Michael Gambon replacing Richard Harris in the role of Dumbledore, which opens up a whole realm of actors who had to be replaced because they died. Then I realized there’s actually quite a lot of those, so look for that in a future post. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog
]]>Wed, 15 Oct 2008 14:01:17 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com10/15/2008 10:01:17 AM Forget about Don Cheadle replacing Terence Howard as James Rhodes / War Machine in Iron Man II, which smells a lot like the “we’ll threaten to replace Tobey Maguire with Jake Gyllenhaal” tactic that Sony used for Spider-Man II –– Hollywood has been doing this for years. It was bad enough back in the days of television with Dick Sargent replacing Dick York in Bewitched, but now it’s becoming pretty commonplace for producers to replace actors in iconic roles. Although now it’s more common due to monetary concerns, which seems to be what has taken Howard out of the War Machine suit, it’s also common to see an actor ankle a role because they don’t like the source material, or the direction the character is taking. We’ve put together several different re-castings, which all happened for a variety of reasons: money, dissatisfaction with the script, test audience reactions, and actors just growing tired of playing the same character. Check them out after the break. Alec Baldwin –> Harrison Ford –> Ben Affleck –> Ryan Gosling (?) In Tom Clancy’s series of “Ryanverse” books, action politician and former teacher Jack Ryan has dne everything from rescue a rogue Russian submarine to become the President of the United States. Alec Baldwin first played the role in 1990’s The Hunt for Red October, but he was unavailable for the sequel Patriot Games (which in the books is a prequel), due to a stint on Broadway. The producers then approached Harrison Ford, who took over the role for two movies, with Clear and Present Danger being the highest grossing Ryan film to date. Ford decided not to play the role a third time, and for 2002’s The Sum of All Fears they decided to try and jumpstart the franchise with a young Jack Ryan, casting Ben Affleck in the role. At the time, Ford reportedly told Affleck, “Knock yourself out. I don’t want to do these movies anymore.” Which contrasts with what he just told AOL’s Moviefone: “I thought that we hadn’t quite exhausted the potential of the Jack Ryan character. Those films were, I think, very good movies. I wouldn’t mind doing another of those.” Nevertheless, there’s a rumor that Ryan Gosling will become the new Jack Ryan in Without Remorse, which is currently in development. Personally? I thought Baldwin made the best Jack Ryan, but he’s a better Jack Donaghy. Jodie Foster –> Julianne Moore When Foster declined to reprise the Clarice Starling role from Silence of the Lambs in Hannibal, the producers considered a list of actors that ranged from Winona Ryder to Gillian Anderson, who lost the role because her contract at Fox said she couldn’t play another FBI agent. Even though Foster had initially said she’d do it and had specific notes on the script, eventually Julianne Moore won the part, but in the end it wasn’t much of a prize –– it’s hard to remember that Ridley Scott directed this movie, because it just didn’t have a the spark or charisma of the original. Similarly, if you rent the excellent Manhunter, you’ll see William Petersen in a non-CSI role playing FBI agent Will Graham, who actually captured Hannibal Lecter (oddly spelled Lecktor in this movie), played by Brian Cox. Later Hollywood remade this movie as Red Dragon (the name of the book) with Anthony Hopkins reprising his Lecter role, and Ed Norton playing Will Graham. Although if we include remakes on this list, it’ll stretch on far too long. Katie Holmes  –> Maggie Gyllenhaal Katie Holmes turned down a big payday when she decided not to return for the sequel to Batman Begins, and missed out on being in the biggest movie of this year. It’s still unclear if her decision shows Tom Cruise’s influence at work, or if she just didn’t want to do it now that she’s a mommy, but it was one of those head-scratching moments that just makes you wonder what happened. Maybe she bristled at the paltry two million dollars she was being offered for the role, especially since the part was beefed up for The Dark Knight. Claudia Wells –> Elisabeth Shue and Crispin Glover –> Jeffrey Weisman Back to the Future Part II saw two major roles get recast, and in some cases rewritten completely. Claudia Wells, who played Marty’s girlfriend Jennifer in the first film, decided to leave acting since her mother was diagnosed with cancer, and she later took more time off to have children. Her part was recast with Elisabeth Shue stepping in, and they had to re-shoot the ending sequence of the original movie since that’s how Back to the Future II opens. Additionally, Crispin Glover found out that the producers were using his image without his approval for the sequel, and he sued the directors and producers, including Steven Spielberg. The case was settled out of court, and the Screen Actors Guild later implemented rules to prevent this from happening again. As a result, Glover’s part was recast with Jeffrey Weisman playing George McFly, and most of his scenes show the back of his head, or him floating upside down (he’s supposed to be in traction, having hurt his back) and wearing heavy prosthetics. Burt Reynolds –> Jackie Gleason –> Jerry Reed This story is so strange that it makes me want to go back and watch this movie again, even though I remember how terrible it was when I saw it as a kid. This movie was originally titled Smokey and the Bandit III: Smokey IS The Bandit, with Jackie Gleason playing both Buford T. Justice, and the role of the Bandit. We sure would have like to see him as the Bandit, but apparently audiences didn’t and were too confused by the dual roles. So the studio dumped Gleason as the Bandit, and rewrote the film to have Jerry Reed as the Bandit. If you remember from the first two movies (and it’s forgiveable is you don’t have the lore of Smokey and the Bandit memorized at this point), Reed was the Bandit’s best buddy, Cledus Snow, who drove the big truck. However in this third installment, the Enoses (I swear I’m getting dumber by remembering all of this stuff) decided that the Bandit was too egotistical, and hire Snow to do their bidding. In the climactic scene, when Smokey finally catches the Bandit, he seems him as Burt Reynolds, who reprised the role just for that one moment. Now I need to go get a stiff drink. If someone out there can find the footage of Gleason as the Bandit, you’ll make my day. Thank god he made Nothing In Common with Tom Hanks before he died, because this would have a been a terrible film to end a career with. I was going to include Michael Gambon replacing Richard Harris in the role of Dumbledore, which opens up a whole realm of actors who had to be replaced because they died. Then I realized there’s actually quite a lot of those, so look for that in a future post. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog http://www.spout.com/groups/Movie_Games/Re_More_than_one_trilogy/598/29752/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: usesoap
Post To: Movie Games
Post Date: 5/22/2008 2:04:05 PM
Body: Samuel L. Jackson: Star Wars and Jurassic Park Al Pacino: Godfather and Ocean's 13 Leslie Nielson: Naked Gun and Creepshow (even though the third was straight to DVD) Johnny Depp:Pirates of the Caribbean and Once Upon a Time in Mexico Bruce Willis Look Who's Talking, Die Hard\ Willem Dafoe: Once Upon a TIme in Mexico, Spider Man, Clear and Present Danger, My brain hurts now.
]]>Thu, 22 May 2008 18:04:05 GMTusesoapMovie Games5/22/2008 2:04:05 PMSamuel L. Jackson: Star Wars and Jurassic Park Al Pacino: Godfather and Ocean's 13 Leslie Nielson: Naked Gun and Creepshow (even though the third was straight to DVD) Johnny Depp:Pirates of the Caribbean and Once Upon a Time in Mexico Bruce Willis Look Who's Talking, Die Hard\ Willem Dafoe: Once Upon a TIme in Mexico, Spider Man, Clear and Present Danger, My brain hurts now. http://www.spout.com/blogs/lopezdash/archive/2008/5/18/29431.aspx Post By: lopezdash
Post To: The Movie Blog
Post Date: 5/18/2008 7:01:09 PM
Body: YouTube user Flineo re-edits the movie trailer for the 1994 political thriller Clear and Present Danger, re-casting Sen. Barack Obama as the enemy of the "enemy from within," given his associations with William Ayers, Louis Farrakhan, Malik Zulu Shabazz, Tony Rezko, and Saul Alinsk.This is a more overt example of the way race is operating negatively in the race. It certainly is an attempt to use comments from individuals connected to (sometimes very loosely) to Sen. Obama to make whites uneasy about the prospect of an Obama presidency.Although I'm generally a fan of Flineo's videos, and believe the topics covered will certainly be a part of any Republican strategy in the fall, I prefer those YouTube videos which call out Sen. Obama on his real shortcomings, and not faults imagined or created.(h/t Liberal Rapture) Originally posted on:Cerebral Politics
]]>Sun, 18 May 2008 23:01:09 GMTlopezdashThe Movie Blog5/18/2008 7:01:09 PMYouTube user Flineo re-edits the movie trailer for the 1994 political thriller Clear and Present Danger, re-casting Sen. Barack Obama as the enemy of the "enemy from within," given his associations with William Ayers, Louis Farrakhan, Malik Zulu Shabazz, Tony Rezko, and Saul Alinsk.This is a more overt example of the way race is operating negatively in the race. It certainly is an attempt to use comments from individuals connected to (sometimes very loosely) to Sen. Obama to make whites uneasy about the prospect of an Obama presidency.Although I'm generally a fan of Flineo's videos, and believe the topics covered will certainly be a part of any Republican strategy in the fall, I prefer those YouTube videos which call out Sen. Obama on his real shortcomings, and not faults imagined or created.(h/t Liberal Rapture) Originally posted on:Cerebral Politics http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2008/3/19/26400.aspx Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 3/19/2008 3:01:31 PM
Body: After reading the news that Paramount has tapped Sam Raimi to revive the Jack Ryan franchise (The Hunt for Red October, Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger, The Sum of All Fears), I had one thought: who could have predicted this? And then I quickly had another thought: didn’t Paramount already attempt to youngify this character? Regarding my first thought, I believe the Fark.com subby snarked it best by presuming “Jack Ryan might be wielding a chainsaw in his next film.” Sure, the joke is a bit obvious, and a bit outdated now that Raimi has done three very tame Spider-Man flicks, but the guy did manage to slip a chainsaw in the second (aka the best) installment with that terrific horror-homaging surgery sequence. So, perhaps it’s not even a joke; maybe Ryan will wield a chainsaw. The better — because it’s less plausible — joke would be to speculate that Ryan will be fighting skeletal terrorists (I didn’t say it was the funnier joke). (more…) Originally posted on:SpoutBlog
]]>Wed, 19 Mar 2008 19:01:31 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com3/19/2008 3:01:31 PMAfter reading the news that Paramount has tapped Sam Raimi to revive the Jack Ryan franchise (The Hunt for Red October, Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger, The Sum of All Fears), I had one thought: who could have predicted this? And then I quickly had another thought: didn’t Paramount already attempt to youngify this character? Regarding my first thought, I believe the Fark.com subby snarked it best by presuming “Jack Ryan might be wielding a chainsaw in his next film.” Sure, the joke is a bit obvious, and a bit outdated now that Raimi has done three very tame Spider-Man flicks, but the guy did manage to slip a chainsaw in the second (aka the best) installment with that terrific horror-homaging surgery sequence. So, perhaps it’s not even a joke; maybe Ryan will wield a chainsaw. The better — because it’s less plausible — joke would be to speculate that Ryan will be fighting skeletal terrorists (I didn’t say it was the funnier joke). (more…) Originally posted on:SpoutBlog http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/murder/MemberTagFilms.aspxmurder
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