Review: Clear and Present Danger (4K)

Clear and Present Danger 4K ReviewAuthor Tom Clancy’s renowned CIA analyst returns this month when the new series “Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan” debuts on Amazon. In anticipation, fans can catch up on all of the celebrated character’s cinematic exploits when a new new 4K UHD/Blu-Ray Combo Collection which arrives today via Paramount.

With four times the resolution and more than double the number of colors available with full HD, the 4K UHD disc offers the highest quality picture for your home entertainment system. The 10-disc Jack Ryan Collection is available now at Amazon and Best Buy. Furthermore, the films are also available on 4K UHD Digital through select retailers.

Next up you get Clear and Present Danger. Harrison Ford returns as Jack Ryan, who becomes embroiled in an illegal war fought by the U.S. government against a Colombian drug cartel. The Blu-Ray includes a 29-minute behind-the-scenes feature.

Plot: Agent Jack Ryan (Harrison Ford) becomes acting deputy director of the CIA when Admiral Greer (James Earl Jones) is diagnosed with cancer. When an American businessman, and friend of the president, is murdered on a yacht, Ryan starts discovering links between the man and drug dealers. As CIA agent John Clark (Willem Dafoe) is sent to Colombia to kill drug kingpins in retaliation, Ryan must fight through multiple cover-ups to figure out what happened and who’s responsible.

Director: Phillip Noyce

Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1

Runtime: 141 min

Rating: Rotten Tomatoes 80% & IMDB 6.9/10

Unboxing (see below)

Review:

Like the first two films, this was shot on 35mm film and for this Ultra HD release, it was scanned in full native 4K and given a HDR color grade in both HDR10 and Dolby Vision. As before, there is a fine to heavy layer of grain that can be seen throughout the film and soft shots, but nothing that takes away from the movie.

The HDR is subtle, but it’s done in the right way again. All the tones are enhanced and the added detail and texture makes it look the way it was intended to. You won’t see this much in the first quarter of the movie due to boring office banter and build to the story, but once we get to South America things change.

All the greenery gets a bump with the textures coming through in the older built homes in Columbia — not to mention the roofs, streets and pathways shown in various locations too. This continues with the various battle scenes shown with up close views of painted faces, brush, trees, weeds, etc.

There were definitely some sharper scenes like in Chapter 12 as they’re bringing the coffin’s off the plane draped in American Flags. Outside of specifics there were more close up shots showing skin tones, pores, sweat and stubble than the first two. (This may be more apparent because of transitions between soft and sharp.)

Overall, what this transfer puts forth is a nice boost to the clarity with good-subtle use of HDR. As seen with the first two films, it’s not meant to be an eye-popping disc, but it’s a worthy addition with detail, depth and color being enhanced.

Conclusion:

This isn’t the best movie in the series, but it is a jump over the original Blu-Ray, so if you’re fan of the Jack Ryan series — it’s worth adding to your collection.

Maybe I’m alone here, but the touch of natural HDR, some 4K resolution and a pinch added of film grain works just fine for me. It brings films like this to it’s best form.

If you are reading this one first, check out the previous two films in review form: The Hunt for Red October Patriot Games.

Cheers,

Matt.

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