Patriot Games is based on the Tom Clancy novel of the same name. After interfering with an assassination attempt, former CIA analyst Jack Ryan (Harrison Ford) is ruthlessly hunted down by the IRA faction responsible for the attack.

It is always expected that the action in a Harrison Ford movie is going to be exciting but also a little unrealistic. The action in Patriot Games was certainly exciting but fortunately not too unrealistic. However, I was disappointed that there wasn't as much action in Patriot Games as there is in his other films. Don't get me wrong, there was some incredible action but I just wanted to see more of it. The action sequences (with the exception of the final twenty minutes of the film) were also quite short and were often over before the audience even realised that it had begun.

Patriot Games was quite confusing for a variety of reasons. Firstly, it had a complicated story and the audience member had to be wide awake to follow along and unfortunately, I don't think I was wide awake when I saw the movie. There were also many characters and it could be quite hard to follow all of them. However, I think that these problems could not have easily been fixed and would have likely resulted in a worse movie. I have also been told that every time that the movie is rewatched, the audience will understand it more and things will be clearer. The same goes if the viewer has already read the novel which I will be doing shortly.

The movie felt like it should have been more suspenseful than it was and I think that the music was partly to blame. I don't often criticise music in films as there is often nothing to criticise but in Patriot Games, the music could have been done better. The soundtrack for the movie was phenomenal and the music is fun to listen to outside of the context of the movie but this does mean that it worked well in the movie. Imagine pairing a Taylor Swift album with Jurassic Park. The music at times didn't feel right for certain moments and didn't reflect the suspense that I thought I should have been feeling.

I have nothing to say about the acting in Patriot Games apart from how good it was as should be expected. All the actors interpreted their respective characters to a high standard and did not appear to be influenced by the interpretations of these characters in a previous Jack Ryan film. I of course adored seeing three Star Wars actors (Harrison Ford, Samuel L. Jackson, and James Earl Jones) in one movie but would have loved to see more of James Earl Jones's character.

It should be noted that Patriot Games is technically a sequel to The Hunt for Red October as it is also a Jack Ryan movie and is set before Patriot Games. However, this is easy to miss as neither movie has Jack Ryan in the title of the film and almost all the characters were recast for Patriot Games. I was also disappointed that Patriot Games hardly tied in with The Hunt for Red October. I think as a whole I preferred The Hunt for Red October over Patriot Games but the two are quite hard to compare.

Patriot Games is the kind of movie that should be expected from Harrison Ford. Full of high-quality action (although lacking in the quantity), incredible music (though at times misused), and of course amazing acting. So perhaps not Harrison Ford's greatest movie but a Harrison Ford movie nonetheless.

Director: Phillip Noyce

Starring: Harrison Ford, Anne Archer, Patrick Bergin, Sean Bean

Year released: 1992

My rating: 7/10

Review by Tristan Carr

Last edited: 26/09/2021