Clear and Present Danger (Special Collector's Edition-Dts) (1994)

New York Times
",,,[A] fast, gripping spy story with some good tricks up its sleeve....Dialogue that is both colorful and swift..." 08/03/1994 p.C11

Entertainment Weekly
"...Heart-stopping action....State-of-the-art 1990s intrigue." -- Rating: A- 01/27/1995 p.59

Los Angeles Times
"...A pleasantly complex story line....Ford is an actor who believes his word to the audience is a bond guaranteeing the best he has to give..." 08/03/1994 p.F1

The Washington Post 7 of 10
For what it is, "Clear and Present Danger" is fun to sit through. Director Phillip Noyce (who helmed "Patriot Games") keeps the action crisp and varied in this post-James Bond drug-cartel scenario. But if the movie doesn't lose the entertaining pace set by its predecessors, it does little to break free of the pack. Screenwriters Donald Stewart, Steven Zaillian and John Milius can't completely freshen the over-familiarity, as the U.S. government tiptoes around Congress to battle Colombian drug merchants, a renegade CIA operations deputy director (Henry Czerny) does business with mysterious field operatives and a national security adviser (Harris Yulin) seems to be the guy really running things in the White House...Director Noyce shines in a few scenes that are worth the price of admission. In the best of all, Ford -- suspecting one of his own team members -- manages to break the suspect's personal computer access code. But when Ford logs on, he inadvertently alerts the bad guy. A furious and thrilling keyboard race ensues, as Ford tries to read and print incriminating evidence while his opponent feverishly deletes his computer records. But noteworthy moments like these are lost in the movie's general rush towards its formulaic completion. And unless you back up your memory of the good scenes with floppy disks, "Clear and Present Danger" will purge from your mind as soon as you reach the parking lot. - Desson Howe
 
ReelViews 7 of 10
Like Patriot Games and The Hunt for Red October before it, Clear and Present Danger takes liberties with its source material. Whether this is "good" or not will be left to Clancy-o-philes to mull over. With all the hype attendant to it, however, this particular Jack Ryan adventure is somewhat disappointing. Beneath its posturing as a "techno-thriller", Clear and Present Danger is really little more than a high-class blast-and-bang festival. It's Sniper with more plot, a better cast, and an hour of extra running time...Clear and Present Danger is all plot and no characters. The people running around on screen have about as much depth as the sheen of sweat on Harrison Ford's forehead...At least there's more complexity evident here than in The Pelican Brief, the straightforward John Grisham thriller that dealt less effectively with high-up Washington corruption. Nevertheless, whether because of or in spite of Clear and Present Danger's involved plot, too many corners are cut. The uneven flow is as likely to lead to a snoozing viewer as to one on the edge of their seat. Clear and Present Danger is enjoyable, but it's a shallow enjoyment that doesn't leave me hungering for Paramount Pictures' next Clancy adaptation. - James Berardinelli