The Hunt for Red October
Marko Ramius (Sean Connery) is captain of the Soviet ballistic missile submarine Red October, which features caterpillar drive--a revolutionary silent propulsion system that renders the boat virtually undetectable. At the start of the film, Ramius takes the boat out to sea for exercises with the submarine V.K. Konovalov, commanded by Captain Tupolev (Stellan Skarsgård), a former student of Ramius.
Once underway, Ramius murders political officer Ivan Putin (Peter Firth), the one man aboard not under his command and the only man aboard besides himself who knows the sub's official orders. Ramius then burns the original orders and informs the crew that their mission is to conduct nuclear missile drills off America's east coast. The USS Dallas, an American submarine on patrol nearby, detects Red October but loses contact once Ramius engages the silent drive.
The next morning, CIA analyst Jack Ryan (Alec Baldwin) briefs several senior U.S. government officials on the departure of Red October and the threat it poses. In the briefing, Ryan learns that the Soviet Navy has deployed the bulk of its Atlantic fleet to find and sink Red October. The officials in the briefing fear that Ramius may be planning an unauthorized first strike against the U.S., but Ryan suggests that Ramius plans to defect. Ryan is sent out into the North Atlantic with a brief opportunity to prove his theory before the U.S. Navy will be ordered to sink Red October.
While under way, Red October's caterpillar drive suddenly fails, and sabotage is suspected. No longer silent, the sub comes under attack by Soviet forces and begins a series of risky maneuvers through undersea canyons. Meanwhile, Seaman Jones (Courtney B. Vance), a sonar analyst aboard Dallas, reconstructs Red October's path and plots an intercept course. Ryan learns of his findings and arranges a hazardous mid-ocean rendezvous to get aboard Dallas, where he convinces the sub's Captain, Bart Mancuso (Scott Glenn) to attempt communication with Ramius through morse code in order to determine his true intentions. Ramius, stunned that the Americans guessed his plan to defect, accepts their cooperation and agrees to a new course.
Nearing the Grand Banks, Ramius stages a nuclear reactor emergency and orders the bulk of his crew to abandon ship, telling Red October's doctor that he will scuttle the sub rather than let it be captured. After Ramius submerges, Ryan, Mancuso and Jones come aboard via mini-sub, at which point Ramius formally requests asylum in the United States for himself and his officers.
Thinking their mission is complete, the Red October's skeleton crew are surprised by a torpedo attack from Konovalov, which has tracked them to the Grand Banks. As the two Soviet subs maneuver against each other, the Red October's cook (and apparently the saboteur) reveals himself and opens fire, fatally wounding Ramius's first officer before retreating into the missile launch area. Ryan follows, finds the saboteur and guns him down just before he can detonate one of the missiles and destroy the sub.
Meanwhile, with some help from Dallas, Red October makes a series of evasive maneuvers, causing one of Konovalov's own torpedoes to circle around and destroy it. The evacuated crew of Red October on board a U.S. Navy rescue ship witness this explosion and, not knowing that there is a second Soviet sub in the area, they assume it was Red October that was destroyed. Their subterfuge complete, Ryan and Ramius sail Red October to a haven in the Penobscot River in Maine.
