Movie Review: 'The Hunt for Red October'
Pros: Fine performances by Baldwin and Connery. Cons: Movie-wise, no. See review for quibbles. One of the things I've learned about screenplay writing is that adapting a book, particularly a popular novel, is not always an easy task. Syd Field's book, Screenplay , devotes an entire chapter to the subject of adaptation. Field points out, and I am paraphrasing here, that novels and screenplays are two different forms of writing. Each has its own rules and each one differs vastly in purpose. A novel, for instance, is meant to be read by a large audience and each reader can read it at his or her own pace. Screenplays, on the other hand, are the blueprints for the making of movies. Both tell a story, and if a novel is being adapted into a screenplay, often the same story. I offer this caveat because many Tom Clancy fans often feel that movie versions of their favorite novels often disappoint them. Scenes and characters - even entire subplots and/o...
