Jack Ryan vs. Jack Ryan

Jack Ryan vs. Jack Ryan

“Jack Ryan was nearly killed twice in a half an hour.”   That’s the opening used in Patriot Games, a novel by Tom Clancy.   After the book became a best-seller, Clancy received a call from Charles H. Maguire to make his novel into a movie.   Earning $82.6 million worldwide, the resulting film won the ASCAP award for Top Box Office Film. Even though both versions told the same story, one did it in a more artistic, more interesting, and more convincing way.   Comparing the two versions is like comparing the colors purple and mauve, there’s a difference, but it’s subtle.   To understand this difference, one must analyze both versions.  
      When on vacation in London, Jack Ryan gets shot when he foils an assassination attempt on the Royal Family.   On nothing but instinct drilled into him from his service in the Marines, he kills one of the assassins and wounds another.   The assassins belong to an ultra-violent, ultra-left group of Irish called the Ulster Liberation Army (U.L.A.).   After being caught, the captured terrorist, Sean Miller, is put on trial and sent to prison, but escapes into the English Channel when being transported.   As he escapes into the water, Miller, whose plans always go as planned, plots for revenge on the man who destroyed his perfect record.   Miller and the rest of U.L.A. recuperate and train at a remote camp in an African desert during the following months.   Meanwhile, Ryan begins working at the C.I.A. on days when not teaching at the Navel Academy.
      Miller moves his base of operations to America before extracting his revenge on Ryan.   He plans to take out Cathy Ryan on her way home from picking up her daughter, Sarah, from her daycare.   This eliminates Ryan’s will to fight and Miller wins.   On the day of the strike, Miller waits for Cathy in an unmarked van.   When Cathy drives by, the van speeds to catch up, attracting the attention of a pair of patrolling state troopers.   Just as Miller fires his weapon, Cathy slows down to...