Firmly entrenched as one of the all-time best submarine Cold War spy thrillers, John McTiernan’s The Hunt for Red October was a minor miracle in old-fashioned, practical filmmaking, made well before the advent of CGI was a technological commonplace. But did you know that, despite the book being a runaway bestseller, nobody in Hollywood wanted to make the movie at first? Today we’ll find out how legitimate the movie was, from the authenticity of the submarines to the Naval training the crew had to go through to make the movie successful—starting with both Sean Connery and Scott Glenn serving as seamen in their native countries before making the movie. And how did Alec Baldwin playing Jack Ryan? Was there anyone else in the running?
With those key queries in mind and plenty more compelling factual tidbits to wade through, it’s only right we fit this sucker in the periscope and find out once and for all, what happened to The Hunt for Red October?!?
It all started in 1985, when American film producer Mace Neufeld optioned Tom Clancy’s The Hunt for Red October after reading it in galley form. Although the novel was published in 1984 and became a runaway bestseller, no one in Hollywood was keen to adapt the story into a feature film, deeming the submarine-tracking and military defection too complex and confusing for audiences to follow. As such, it took Neufeld roughly 18 months to convince a high-level executive at Paramount Pictures to read Clancy’s novel and reconsider the commercial potential of a film adaptation.
Once Neufeld went off to persuade the U.S. Navy to get their blessing, screenwriters Larry Ferguson and Donald E. Stewart were hired to flesh out the script. Although some top-ranking Naval officials expressed trepidation about the movie unveiling top-secret data and technology, some admirals reportedly enjoyed Clancy’s novel so much that they saw potential for a film version to do for Naval ships what Tony Scott’s Top Gun did for the Navy’s jet fighters: become a fast-paced action blockbuster that honors the risk-taking servicemen. Once Naval Captain Michael Sherman’s request to paint those who serve in a positive light was granted, the U.S. Navy officially approved and boarded the project in good faith.
As part of its participation, the U.S. Navy granted McTiernan and company access to several real-life ships to model their production design on, including the USS Chicago, USS Houston, USS Louisville, USS Portsmouth, and the USS Salt Lake City, all of which were docked in Los Angeles.
After the film was greenlit and ultimately given a $30 million budget, McTiernan hired masterful Dutch Director of Photography Jan de Bont, with whom he had previously worked on his landmark action film Die Hard. Believe it or not, McTiernan actually had to turn down Die Hard 2 to make Red October before returning for Die Hard: With a Vengeance. Not for nothing, but the giant teddy bear that John McClane brings to Los Angeles for his family in Die Hard is the same stuffed animal that Jack Ryan buys for his daughter Sally in Red October, which is seen when he flies back to London at the end of the film.
Regarding the casting process, Kevin Costner was initially approached to portray Jack Ryan, Clancy’s iconic Marine Lieutenant and CIA character who had yet to appear on screen. After Costner declined due to his busy commitment to Dances with Wolves, Harrison Ford was asked to play Jack Ryan. However, Ford felt the movie emphasized Captain Marko Ramius far more than Ryan and also declined in the belief that audiences wouldn’t be interested in a submarine movie. Of course, Ford would go on to become the definitive on-screen Jack Ryan, starring in 1992’s Patriot Games and 1994’s Clear and Present Danger, respectively.
After Ford declined Red October, Alec Baldwin was approached in late 1988 to play a character, though it was not for Jack Ryan at the time. Baldwin later claimed that playing Jack Ryan was the role that catapulted his career to the highest level of fame and notoriety, despite previously playing several minor parts in multiple movies. Perhaps feeling too big for his britches, Baldwin asked for a significant pay raise to reprise Jack Ryan in Patriot Games. When the producer saw the figure, he famously quipped, for that money, we can get Harrison Ford. And hey, they did just that, despite Baldwin holding firm on his salary requests.
However, the biggest casting coup on Red October was Sean Connery, who not only joined the production just three days before filming was scheduled to begin, but also originally declined due to a clerical snafu. Connery was a last-minute replacement for Austrian actor Klaus Maria Brandauer, who was originally cast as Ramius but broke his leg before filming. Brandauer suggested Connery, his longtime friend, as a substitute. Once the script was faxed to Connery, he immediately turned it down, citing the plot as too implausible and unrealistic given the current geopolitical climate of the Cold War.
However, the script was missing a crucial opening page that established that the historical story was set before Mikhail Gorbachev came to power in Russia. After Connery received the missing page and deemed the plot far more conceivable, he agreed to star as Captain Marko Ramius. Arriving in Hollywood three days before filming commenced, Connery insisted on a last-minute day of rehearsals before the camera began rolling.
Although he hadn’t much time to rehearse, Connery was fortunate to fall back on his real-life experience, serving for three years in the Royal Navy. To prepare for his role, Connery also spent time aboard the submerged USS Puffer, where he was granted honorary Commander status and allowed to practice giving commands underwater beside the ship’s captain, John M. Will Jr.
Similarly, Scott Glenn, who plays Commanding Officer of the USS Dallas Bart Mancuso, also brought his experience serving three years in the U.S. Marine Corps to his performance. Despite his intimate knowledge, Glenn joined Baldwin in an extensive naval training regimen, including spending the night aboard the USS Salt Lake City, under the command of Thomas B. Fargo, whom Glenn directly patterned his cool, calm, and collected performance on. Fargo told his crew to treat Glenn as an equal, for which Glenn expressed heartfelt gratitude. Meanwhile, Baldwin also learned to steer a submarine attacker before filming occurred.
Rather than training background extras on the specifics of submarining, several real-life experts participated in the film, including members of the USS La Jolla, such as Lt. Mark Dixon, and the USS Houston, which completed as many as 40 emergency surfacing warnings during filming and rehearsals while doubling for the USS Dallas in the movie.
Before filming commenced, venerated Apocalypse Now and Red Dawn screenwriter John Milius was brought in to do uncredited script revisions, namely polishing Connery’s English dialogue and writing all of Ramius’ Russian speeches. Although Milius was invited to do a page-one rewrite of the entire screenplay, he focused on making the multilingual characters as clear and the language transitions as smooth as possible. Notice how the movie opens with characters speaking in Russian with English subtitles, only for them to switch into English once the word “Armageddon,” which is the same translation in both languages, is mentioned by Lt. Ivan Putin (played by Peter Firth). Of course, one of the most curious choices in the film is Connery opting to sport his native Scottish accent for most of the film, despite playing a Soviet captain.
According to Connery and Firth, Putin’s death happened to be filmed on the day that high-ranking Russian government officials visited the set, which must have raised tensions to the highest degree since the Cold War was still underway at the time, even though Russia’s current leader, Vladimir Putin, hadn’t seized power yet. Speaking of death scenes, in the novel, Captain Borodin (played by the late Sam Neill) survives and never sustains a gunshot wound. Meanwhile, Kamarov (played by Michael Welden) is killed in the novel but lives in the movie.
Anchored with a $30 million budget, The Hunt for Red October commenced principal photography in Los Angeles on April 3, 1989, and wrapped the three-and-a-half-month shoot on July 20. For as realistic as the movie remains, even the most hardcore fans will be surprised to know that none of the interior submarine scenes were filmed inside an actual sub. Deemed far too unworkable due to the cramped spaces, the production instead used five Paramount soundstages to build massive, full-size submarine replicas for the Red October and USS Dallas. The massive ships were mounted on two 50-square-foot platforms situated atop hydraulic gimbals, which were remotely controlled to simulate the smooth and choppy movements of each submarine as needed. According to Connery:
“It was very claustrophobic. There were 62 people in a very confined space, 45 feet (14 m) above the stage floor. It got very hot on the sets, and I’m also prone to seasickness. The set would tilt to 45 degrees. Very disturbing.”
Speaking of disturbing, get this. Connery arrived on his first day of filming with a ridiculous wig fitted with a long ponytail after going behind McTiernan’s back and consulting the hair and makeup department on his own. Although McTiernan was irate over Connery’s wardrobe choice, he was too intimidated to say anything. After all, this was James f*cking Bond. It wasn’t until the second day of shooting with the ponytail that Jan de Bont burst into laughter while watching dailies, telling Connery that his odious hairpiece looked like “a limp, swinging dick”.
After this became an in-joke among the crew, Connery became so upset by the constant ribbing that he got rid of the wig and forced McTiernan to reshoot a major scene with a shorter hairpiece. McTiernan later quipped that Connery’s original wig cost $20,000, which was actually the price of the reshoots and paled compared to the cheap $10 wig Connery used in the film. The funniest part of this story? Connery got his wish and sported the nastiest ponytail ever in the 1992 film Medicine Man, also directed by McTiernan, who passed up Patriot Games to make it.
Now back to the regularly scheduled programming.
In a staggering feat of ingenuity, practical craftwork, and superb editing, the model used for the Red October was never placed underwater while filming. Instead, the ship was suspended on a dozen wires and sprayed with mist and smoke from dry machines to make it appear as though it was underwater. Hanging from an overhead grid, the sub had the maneuverability to tilt and turn as needed for any given scene. Nascent computer-generated imagery was used sparingly to create the illusion of bubbles and water molecules.
In the Red October’s elaborate mock-up, only the left side of the submarine was decorated with authentic set details and production design, making the interior much easier to navigate while filming. When the right side of the ship is seen in the movie, the image is simply flipped and reversed. In addition to the Red October, the interior sets for the USS Dallas were supervised by real-life submarine architects who worked for the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company, adding hatches, lights, and other items to magnify the movie’s realism.
Additionally, some interior shots of the Red October were filmed inside the USS Blueback, the Navy’s last operating diesel-powered submarine, which is now docked outside the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry near Portland.
Although full-scale replicas were used for the submarine interiors while shooting, the exterior shots often used footage of real ships filmed off the coast of Los Angeles and in Port Angeles, Washington. For instance, the opening sequence of the Red October emerging from the water was built by welding two barges together and towing them with a Navy yard oil ship. Meanwhile, the scene set in a Maryland shipyard in the movie was filmed at a submarine base in Point Loma, San Diego. Most of the flight deck scenes were filmed in Puget Sound, Washington, aboard the USS Reuben James.
To help audiences distinguish between the opposing submarines in the film, each one was given a specific, nuanced color code. For example, the Red October is bathed in blue with black interiors and chrome trim, the USS Dallas is tinged in red with grey interiors, and the V.K. Konovalov is given a green hue with black interiors and chrome trim.
Somewhat surprisingly, one of the most difficult aspects of production entailed finding the pitch-perfect pinging noise for the submarines’ radars. According to sound designer Frank Sarafine, the sound department “must have created 500 different pings” before McTiernan settled on one he deemed the best. The pings heard in the film were created electronically, blending ocean waves with reverb and other real-life sources. Most remarkably, the distressing bellows the subs make were taken from Disneyland’s Splash Mountain rollercoaster cars as they bend around turns.
As for the Seahawk helicopter detaching from the flight deck to transport Ryan to the USS Dallas, the scene was filmed out of the Naval Air Station in Whidbey Island, Washington. Shockingly, the shot of Ryan being lowered onto the deck of the USS Dallas in a torrential downpour moments later was filmed in a parking lot at the Mole Pier at the Long Beach Naval Station on a clear, sunny day. Thanks to the power of editing, the scene makes it seem as if Ryan is being lowered in the middle of the ocean during a punishing rainstorm.
Right after Ryan is lowered onto the sub, a jet fighter crashes onto the flight deck in one of the movie’s most harrowing moments. Believe it or not, the scene utilized stock footage recycled from a real-life 1951 F9F Panther test flight piloted by George Chamberlain Duncan. Not only did Duncan survive the incendiary crash, but he also returned to flying a few months later after sustaining minor burns.
During different parts of the film, two torpedoes are launched at the Red October. The first comes from a Bear-Foxtrot bomber that Ramius deliberately rams into in an underwater trench. The second comes from a Seahawk helicopter once the sub surfaces during the suspenseful climax. If you look closely at the impact and surrounding splashback, the same shot of the torpedo is used for both attacks, filmed from different angles.
Sticking with the climactic ending, Ramius quotes a poem by Christopher Columbus as the film closes. In reality, the poem was completely fabricated by screenwriter Larry Ferguson, who also plays the USS Dallas’ Chief-of-Boat. Another cool cameo includes John McTiernan’s father, who appears as one of the advisors attending Ryan’s National Security briefing for Jeffrey Pelt.
Sadly, the most tragic mishap during production occurred when filming the USS Houston. The heavy cruiser got snagged on a 1,000-foot steel towing cable connected to two rock shipping barges and the commercial tugboat called the Barcona, which resulted in the Barcona sinking 10 miles off the coast of Long Beach. The tugboat’s 32-year-old pilot, Brian Ballenger, drowned during the fatal tragedy, while two other crew members, Captain Mike Link and deckhand Daniel Rodriguez, managed to escape and swim to safety.
Once photography wrapped in July 1989, eight months were spent editing the movie before it was released theatrically on March 2, 1990. Between the time the movie was filmed and released, the Cold War had officially ended, with the Soviet Parliament eliminating the Communist Party from the government. For a story so dependent on the international tensions resulting from the Cold War, there was some consternation among producers that the end of the war would harm the movie’s appeal and impact on the audience.
To allay these concerns, the opening title crawl states that the story takes place in 1984, ensuring viewers understand that the movie is set during the Cold War, even though it had just ended in reality. Meanwhile, to accentuate the techno-thriller aspects of the story over the political intrigue, the Soviet-inspired poster art was deliberately dipped in stark red, black, and white.
Although the Cold War was all but over when the film opened, one sequence raised high national security concerns, with many intelligence officials expressing concern that it exposed a top-secret black project. As the USS Dallas pursues the Red October through an underwater gorge, a crewman is overheard noticing several “milligal anomalies”. The phrase betrayed the U.S. Navy’s use of gravimetry as a crucial technological method of silent navigation, essentially exposing the Navy’s classified strategies. Although the tactic was explained in detail in Clancy’s novel, an estimated billion dollars were invested into gravimetry navigation dating back to 1973, but it was ultimately scrapped by 1990. Fortunately, putting the Navy’s top-secret technology on blast did not compromise the United States’ national security.
Speaking of 1990, The Hunt for Red October opened on March 2nd of that year and became a bona fide critical and commercial hit. During its theatrical run, real-life Navy recruiters camped out and set up booths in movie theater lobbies to round up new enlistees, hoping that the film would do for Naval submariners what Top Gun did for Naval airmen. Later, when the film was released on VHS in 1991, it was issued on cool red videotapes.
In addition to earning rave reviews and grossing over $200 million worldwide, the film spawned a mega-popular Jack Ryan movie universe, which includes seven features to date. The most recent entry, Jack Ryan: Ghost War, was just released in May 2026, with John Krasinski playing the title role after Alec Baldwin in Red October, Harrison Ford in Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger, Ben Affleck in The Sum of All Fears, Chris Pine in Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, and Michael B. Jordan in Without Remorse. Of course, Krasinski also played the role in Prime Video’s Jack RyanTV series, which ran for four seasons between 2018 and 2023.
And for the most part, that’s precisely what happened to The Hunt for Red October. In addition to Sean Connery’s last-minute casting, the all-time great Cold War thriller was made with old-school, practical filmmaking, tactile special effects, and very little CGI. With the U.S. Navy’s blessing, McTiernan and company had intimate access to real-life submarines, which were used to design the interiors of the full-scale replicas. Thirty-six years after it became a runaway hit, The Hunt for Red October remains one of the best movies based on a Tom Clancy novel to date.