A fine reminder that not all Cold War-era period pieces are unabashed feasts of propaganda. _Red October_ certainly paints the Russians in a very secretive light, but such treatment isn't unfair and the Americans on the other side of the ocean are hardly championed as the infallible superheroes they portray in many similar pictures (and Clancy's original book).

Despite a few technical flubs, the tale is plenty smart and generally authentic, but also understandable enough for a layperson to follow. It's not an easy act to merge simplistic storytelling with a complicated plot, but director John McTiernan manages to deliver both without shortchanging either. An excellent sense of timing and steady, effective pace are most responsible for that success; though a great majority of the film is lost to dialog, the action is spaced out enough to keep the audience comfortably on its toes.

Sean Connery is a tough sell as the Russian captain at the center of the storm, particularly as he makes no effort to hide his Scottish accent, but his charisma and conviction still manage to transform a fairly passive character into a stern, take-no-excuses captain with a pointed political message. Alec Baldwin's cautious, vanilla performance as famed protagonist Jack Ryan is less impressive, but serviceable.