Patriot games is a movie released in 1992 adapted from a book of the same name by Tom Clancy. It starred Harrison Ford, Ann Archer and Sean Bean in pivotal roles. Jack Ryan (Ford) is a retired CIA agent who is on vacation to London. He witnesses an assassination attempt on Lord William Homes, the British Secretary of State for northern Ireland. Ryan intervenes to foil the assassination attempt and kills one of the terrorists. He is wounded in the process, but is a hero who earns the accolades for his bravery. He also testifies against Sean Miller, the apprehended terrorist part of the Ulster Liberation Army or ULA who is then sent to jail. Ford is awarded the knighthood for his good deeds and returns to USA. He returns to his mundane life and puts all the excitement behind him.
Sean Miller the captured terrorist is the brother of the slain one (Patrick Miller) and want revenge. While transferring him to another prison the ULA ambush the convoy, kill all the police officers and rescue Miller. Miller and his group then escape to North Africa. Seeking revenge the group follows Jack Ryan to America. Ryan is unaware of these intentions and barely survives an attempt on his life outside the United States Naval Academy. Miller attacks then his wife and daughter while driving and they suffer a horrendous crash. Ryan thus incensed re-joins the CIA and attempt to counter Miller.

Ryan concludes that Miller is hiding with a North African Warlord and send a SAS team to eliminate him. He sends in a SAS team to eliminate the terrorists and watches the slaughter through a satellite feed. He thinks that Sean is among the killed. But unknown to Ryan, Miller and his companions have escaped. Miller reaches the United states and locates Ryan’s house. Lord Holmes reaches Ryan’s house to present him with the KVCO and is ambushed by Miller. Jack Ryan leads his family and Holmes to safety but many troopers are killed.
Miller, consumed with the feelings of revenge try to follow Ryan. His companions disgusted with his actions persuade him to back off. Miller shoots them and pursues Ryan. After a game of cat and mouse Miller and Ryan face off each other. In a hand to hand fight Miller plunges in to a boat and is killed in the subsequent explosion. Ryan returns to his work and his family who await a new tomorrow and a baby.
The plot of the movie was so considerably different from that of the book that the author, Tom Clancy distanced himself from the film. However it was one of the top grosser’s of that year and still continues to be a popular action movie choice. The Prequel of the movie, The Hunt For Red October starring Alec Baldwin as Jack Ryan was made. Later the role was re-prised by Harrison Ford as Baldwin was unavailable. This was followed by the sequel Clear and Present danger starring Harrison Ford. This is a must for Action movie fans and followers of Harrison Ford.

Alistair MacLean is a Scottish writer who specialized in writing thrillers and crime stories. He was third son of a Scottish minister and joined the Royal Navy during the world war two. He was a senior torpedo operator at the height of his career. He was in the thick of the war theater during the world war and saw action on many fronts especially the arctic north. After retiring he started penning his novels based on the war he saw and many of them became best sellers. Maclean never looked back as a writer until his death in 1987.
Bear island is a detective thriller which is set up in the Norwegian seas. This is one of the later Alistair MacLean books where the who done it plot kept the action going. Typical of all MacLean Books the elements play an important part. In fact MacLean describes the cold Arctic so well that the reader gets the goose bumps.
A film crew sets sail to the Bear island, across the Barents sea ostensibly to shoot a feature film on a trawler which is renovated as a luxury sail boat called the Morning Rose. Most of the crew who are part of the film hardly know the script except for the director and the scriptwriter. Aboard the ship there is a medic Dr. Marlowe and couple of Mary’s.

Soon the mystery starts as the crew members are killed one by one by a murderer. Marlowe is puzzled by this and starts his investigation. The murders continue even as the crew is deposited on the Bear Island and are beyond the help of any law enforcing agencies. Marlowe is not what he professes to be. He is an agent with the US treasury and is shadowing the boat along with the police. The mysterious director Otto jergan is after the gold ingots and securities which was buried by a Nazi Admiral under the sea after the world war two. There are several sub plots which involves a Romanian count, hit mans, Admirals daughter etc which ultimately converges to the main plot. So after a lot of twist in the plot Marlowe uncovers their sinister designs and foils the murders.
Some times the book is a drag because of the multiple designs and activities. The past and the present collide rapidly that the reader keeps getting confused. As for ever MacLean does not give the women any credit or scenes for the women. Only thing which stands out in the book is the description of Bear Island. It is presented so very beautifully by MacLean that it can be copied by any tourist operator.
Bear Island was adapted to film in the 1980 movie directed by Don Sharp and starring Donald Sutherland, Richard Widmark, Vanessa Redgrave, and Christopher Lee. The film was shot in Canada and Alaska. The film bears little resemblance to the book and even the hero’s name is Lansing instead of Marlowe. The scenery described by Alistair Maclean is also absent from the movie. So go ahead pick up the book. Its worth a first time look.

What can you say about a war which killed and robbed the young men of their most valued possession, their future? The Longest Day is the story about that day where men and women gave their lives for peace. It tells you about the intrigues, planning, objectives, military strikes which leads to the ultimate Normandy landings to defeat the Germans.
Longest day is adapted from the book by Cornelius Ryan who did the screen play for the movie. Directed by a series of directors like Ken Annakin, Andrew Marton, Bernhard Wicki and Darryl F Zanuck, the movie boasts of a stellar cast of John Wayne, Robert Mitchum, Henry Fonda, Robert Ryan, Sean Connery, Rod Steiger, Mel Ferrer, Robert Wagner, Eddie Albert, Edmond O’Brien, Richard Burton, Kenneth More, Peter Lawford, George Segal, Richard Todd, Red Buttons, John Gregson, Leslie Phillips, and many more.
The opening scene of the film shows us the young soldiers indulging in a play of cards and the camera pans to reveal the large number of them concentrated in the barracks ready for the fighting. Then you can see the German soldiers and officers debating the possibility of the attack. Many Germans do not anticipate the attack on Normandy. Then comes the scene where a German soldier distributing tea to the officers looks up to the horizon seeing almost five thousand ships and just gasps. And then the ships start firing.

The Paratroopers are airdropped into the enemy territory with of them stuck on a steeple forced to watch the battle from above. Long shots of French troops running in to battle with German planes mowing them down is one cinematic spectacle. There are real poignant situations where allied and German troops march side by side with out even knowing and the murdered and wounded in the streets of Normandy helped by the locals.
This movie also shows the German point of view, with their war preparedness as well as their Bureaucratic wrangles and indecisiveness. The Germans expecting an attack on Calais (Hitler was expecting an attack there based on a skilled program of deception), are caught unawares at Normandy. The film depicts the desperation of German officers like Rommel who understands that the war is fought and won on the beaches.
All the officers like General Eisenhower, Theodore Roosevelt Jr, Norman Cota, John Howard and all soldiers are almost accurately pictured. Another interesting feature is that all the soldiers speak their own mother tongue which is delivered to the audience through subtitles. I feel that this is more of an anti-war film because it does not show the battle but the men who sacrifice a lot through battle. At the end of the movie you are overcome with respect for the dead irrespective of the nationality for they did what you wouldn’t do.
This movie is shot entirely in black and white to give you the stark picture of the war. It was one of the box office successes too. It won the Oscars for best cinematography and special effects. Also nominated for 5 other awards including the best picture it has raked up numerous other awards too. See it for the men who fought for to keep civilization from going under the rule of tyranny.

Alistair MacLean is a Scottish writer who specialized in writing thrillers and crime stories. He was third son of a Scottish minister and joined the Royal Navy during the world war two. He was a senior torpedo operator at the height of his career. He was in the thick of the war theater during the world war and saw action on many fronts especially the arctic north. After retiring he started penning his novels based on the war he saw and many of them became best sellers. Maclean never looked back as a writer until his death in 1987.
MacLean’s characters are men who fight against all odds. They are ordinary men who are thrown in to situations which are physically and emotionally demanding. Many of them never think about surviving, and their only instinct is to fight the odds. Some succeed, some redeem themselves and some sacrifice. But in the end all are heroes. This story is based on the battle of Leros during world war two. This is one of the most successful of MacLean’s books which was made in to a successful motion picture.

The battle takes place in the year 1943 during the the world war two (based on the battle of Leros) where more than 2000 English troops are holed up. Their evacuation is possible only if the route through the island of Navarone is opened up, but this is not possible till the route is made safe from the huge guns overlooking the route which threaten any ship trying to pass through. It is needed to remove these guns, something which seems incredible, and this impossible task is put to a crack team is put together to neutralize the guns of Navarone.
The team is led by Captain Keith Mallory, a mountaineer from New Zealand who is also a commando, Andrea Stavros, a Greek colonel, Corporal Dusty Miller (an American explosives expert), Petty Officer Casey Brown (a Royal Navy personnel, from the Special Boat Service), and many others. They ultimately set sail to Navarone disguised as Greek fisherman.
Their boat has to fight the ever present enemy – the water and the sea, but eventually they reach the foot of the cliff and have to climb the sheer cliff in a storm, where the experience of Mallory proves invaluable.
They are one step ahead of the Germans, but just, and they have a timeframe whereby they have to blow up the guns to give the trapped men a chance through a relief convoy; in addition, like you would expect from such a book, one of the people supporting them is also betraying them. How do they manage to get into the fortress, and destroy the guns ?