History Trivia / TheHuntForRedOctober

* AllStarCast: What else do you call this combination? Creator/SeanConnery, Creator/AlecBaldwin, Creator/SamNeill, Creator/TimCurry, Creator/StellanSkarsgard, Creator/JamesEarlJones, Creator/ScottGlenn, even Creator/GatesMcFadden ([[DeletedScene briefly]]) ...

* i havent seen this movie.

* TechnologyMarchesOn. Inverted. The crew of the Red October is shown to be using flat-screen and touchscreen displays (note the absence of valves and keyboards) that are more than 30-years more advanced than almost all of what was possible when the film was made, and some of which is barely possible today (2016).

* Kamarov boasts about being able to fly a plane with no windows in the Alps if he has a stopwatch and a compass. This is actually a real navigational method known as Dead Reckoning. If you know how fast you are going, what direction you are traveling in, and how far you need to go to get to a particular point, you can indeed use a compass and a stopwatch to reliably get there, barring unobserved changes in weather. You wouldn't normally use it to navigate through a ''canyon'' though. Submarines, for obvious reasons, use this technique far more often than airplane pilots, as submarines lack windows to see outside with and even if they had windows the lack of light at the depths at which they operate would make sight a ''very'' limited navigational tool.

* FakeRussian: It's a Hollywood flick, so it's a given that many of the major Russian characters were played by non-Slavic actors. Joss Ackland, Creator/SeanConnery, Creator/TimCurry (United Kingdom), Creator/SamNeill (New Zealand), Creator/StellanSkarsgard (Sweden), Tomas Arana (United States) and Ronald Guttman (Belgium) all play Soviets. The most obvious is Creator/SeanConnery as Lithuanian-born Captian Ramius, who doesn't even try to alter his Scottish accent. Averted, though, with most of the Soviet extras since most had obviously Slavic features.

* BigNameFan: UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan got this book as a Christmas present during his term as President, and loved it.

* AccidentallyCorrectWriting: Creator/TomClancy's description of submarine [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inertial_navigation_system inertial navigation system]] would have been considered as ShownTheirWork... if it's not classified information. Some high-up people were concerned that Clancy somehow got access to classified information when he extrapolated this himself.

** The USS ''Reuben James'' (FFG-57) wasn't commissioned until 1986.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: It's naturally become quite amusing to see how much Clancy gushes over then-cutting edge computing technology in 1984.

* TheOtherMarty: Acclaimed Austrian actor Klaus Maria Brandauer was originally cast as Marko Ramius, and participated in the production process to the point of getting costumes fitted and attending several rehearsals. And then he was in a car accident and broke both of his legs. It was at Brandauer's suggestion that Creator/SeanConnery was cast to replace him. Had Brandauer been able to finish the film, it would have had a very, very different feel to it than the actual finished product.

* BackedByThePentagon: The scenes on the flight deck were shot on the actual ''Enterprise''. Scott Glenn (Mancuso) also spent a month aboard ''USS Salt Lake City'' where he was treated as though he was the commanding officer. According to director John [=McTiernan=] he came back completely different, very soft-spoken and calm, with a manner he described as being similar to a college president. The Navy was fully onboard for the movie because they were hoping ''The Hunt for Red October'' would do for the submarine service what ''Film/TopGun'' had done for Naval aviation. In a way it worked, the crew of the ''real'' [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Dallas_%28SSN-700%29 USS Dallas]] adopted the films tagline, "The Hunt is On" as the boat's unofficial motto.

* PlayingAgainstType: Creator/TimCurry is known for [[Film/TheRockyHorrorPictureShow flamboyant]] or [[Film/HomeAlone2 comedic roles]]. He's also noted for his tendency to chew the scene, especially when playing [[{{Legend 1985}} Lords of Darkness]], [[{{Literature/It}} Monster clowns]] or any BigBad that he's often called to portray. The soft spoken, subdued Dr. Petrov is not your typical Tim Curry role.

** Jonesy says that they have six ''Typhoon''-class submarines in the computer. While it's true that the Soviets built six Typhoons, only three had been launched by the end of 1984. Two more were still under construction, and one hadn't been started yet.

* Kamarov boasts about being able to fly a plane with no windows in the Alps if he has a stopwatch and a compass. This is actually a real navigational method known as Dead Reckoning. If you know how fast you are going, what direction you are traveling in, and how far you need to go to get to a particular point, you can indeed use a compass and a stopwatch to reliably get there, barring unobserved changes in weather. You wouldn't normally use it to navigate through a ''canyon'' though. Submarines, for obvious reasons, use this technique far more often than airplane pilots, as submarines lack windows to see outside with.

* BackedByThePentagon: The scenes on the flight deck were shot on the actual ''Enterprise''. Scott Glenn (Mancuso) also spent a month aboard ''USS Houston'' where he was treated as though he was the commanding officer. According to director John [=McTiernan=] he came back completely different, very soft-spoken and calm, with a manner he described as being similar to a college president. The Navy was fully onboard for the movie because they were hoping ''The Hunt for Red October'' would do for the submarine service what ''Film/TopGun'' had done for Naval aviation. In a way it worked, the crew of the ''real'' [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Dallas_%28SSN-700%29 USS Dallas]] adopted the films tagline, "The Hunt is On" as the boat's unofficial motto.

* TheOtherMarty: Klaus Maria Brandauer was originally cast as Ramius, but two weeks into filming he had to quit because of a serious injury (he broke both his legs in a car accident). He recommended Creator/SeanConnery, with whom he starred in ''Film/NeverSayNeverAgain'', to take over the role.

** Acclaimed Austrian actor Klaus Maria Brandauer was originally cast as Marko Ramius, and participated in the production process to the point of getting costumes fitted and attending several rehearsals. And then he was in a car accident and broke both of his legs. It was at Brandauer's suggestion that Creator/SeanConnery was cast to replace him. Had Brandauer been able to finish the film, it would have had a very, very different feel to it than the actual finished product.

* FakeBrit: Creator/GatesMcFadden puts on a British accent for Cathy Ryan.

* AndYouThoughtItWouldFail: Creator/TomClancy really struggled to get the book published, dealing with massive publisher disinterest. He finally tried taking it to the Naval Institute Press, for whom he had previously written a number of nonfiction articles, and they agreed to print it as their first-ever foray into fiction. The novel turned into a surprise bestseller after President UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan read it and spoke in favor of it.

** Creator/KevinCostner turned down the role of Jack Ryan in order to make ''Film/DancesWithWolves''. He would later co-star in ''Film/JackRyanShadowRecruit''. Creator/HarrisonFord turned down the role, because he felt the script focused more on Ramius than Ryan, [[TheOtherDarrin but he would take the role]] for the sequels ''Film/PatriotGames'' and ''Film/ClearAndPresentDanger''. Other candidates included Creator/JeffBridges, Creator/RichardGere, Creator/MelGibson, Creator/MichaelKeaton, Creator/ValKilmer, Creator/ChristopherLambert, Creator/StephenLang, Creator/BillPaxton, Creator/RonPerlman, Creator/KurtRussell, Creator/SylvesterStallone, Creator/PatrickSwayze, Creator/JohnTravolta and Creator/Bruce Willis.

** Creator/KevinCostner turned down the role of Jack Ryan in order to make ''Film/DancesWithWolves''. He would later co-star in ''Film/JackRyanShadowRecruit''. Creator/HarrisonFord turned down the role, because he felt the script focused more on Ramius than Ryan, [[TheOtherDarrin but he would take the role]] for the sequels ''Film/PatriotGames'' and ''Film/ClearAndPresentDanger''. Other candidates included Creator/JeffBridges, Creator/RichardGere, Creator/MelGibson, Creator/MichaelKeaton, Creator/ValKilmer, Creator/ChristopherLambert, Creator/StephenLang, Creator/BillPaxton, Creator/RonPerlman, Creator/KurtRussell, Creator/Sylvester Stallone, Creator/PatrickSwayze, Creator/JohnTravolta and Creator/Bruce Willis.

* ActorAllusion: Creator/GatesMcFadden playing [[Characters/StarTrekTheNextGeneration a doctor with a husband named Jack]].

** Creator/KevinCostner turned down the role of Jack Ryan in order to make ''Film/DancesWithWolves''. He would later co-star in ''Film/JackRyanShadowRecruit''. Creator/HarrisonFord turned down the role, because he felt the script focused more on Ramius than Ryan, [[TheOtherDarrin but he would take the role]] for the sequels ''Film/PatriotGames'' and ''Film/ClearAndPresentDanger''.

* FollowTheLeader: Plot-wise, averted, since it's nothing like ''Film/TopGun''[[note]]the novel it's based on was released while ''Top Gun'' was being produced[[/note]], but production-wise, this trope is played straight, since the Navy hoped this film would do for submarines what ''Top Gun'' did for the Air Force.

** Jonesy says that they have six ''Typhoon''-class submarines in the computer. While it's true that the Soviets built six Typhoons, only three had been launched by the end of 1984.