!!The novel:
* 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 wasn't classified information. Some high-up people were concerned that Clancy somehow got access to classified information when he extrapolated this himself.
* MarketBasedTitle: Early Spanish editions were simply called "The Hunt of the Russian Submarine". Later editions would use a faithful translation of the original name, [[{{Retronym}} made famous by the movie]].
* TechnologyMarchesOn: The supercomputer that needed twelve minutes to estimate the performance of the caterpillar drive is substantially less powerful than the typical smartphone of the 2020s era.

!!The film:
* ActorSharedBackground: Creator/SeanConnery and Creator/ScottGlenn both served in the navy before becoming actors. Connery served in the Royal Navy, Glenn served in the United States Marine Corps. The Marines are (along with the United States Navy) part of the U.S. Department of the Navy.[[note]] The two service branches have shared the Department since 30 June 1834.[[/note]]
* AllStarCast: What else do you call this combination? Creator/SeanConnery, Creator/AlecBaldwin, Creator/SamNeill, Creator/TimCurry, Creator/StellanSkarsgard, Creator/JamesEarlJones, Creator/ScottGlenn, Creator/CourtneyBVance, Creator/SvenOleThorsen, even Creator/GatesMcFadden ([[DeletedScene briefly]]) ...
* BackedByThePentagon:
** The scenes on the flight deck were shot on the actual ''Enterprise''.
** Creator/ScottGlenn (Mancuso) took an overnight cruise aboard ''USS Salt Lake City'' where he was treated as though he was the commanding officer, and the experience would influence his portrayal of Mancuso, basing it on the Salt Lake City's commanding officer, Commander Thomas B. Fargo.[[note]]Fargo would later be promoted to Admiral, and eventually serve as commander of the US Pacific Fleet[[/note]] 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'' and ''Film/TheFinalCountdown'' 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.
* {{Blooper}}: The movie is set in late 1984, and there are a couple of goofs in the setting:
** The USS ''Reuben James'' (FFG-57) wasn't commissioned until 1986. In the film, shots of the Soviet submariners in rafts clearly show USS ''Gary'' (FFG-51).
** In the scene introducing Jack Ryan, he is preparing for a trip to the United States. At one point, he puts a copy of the United States Naval Institute ''Proceedings'' into his briefcase. The issue in question was a special issue focusing on submarines and anti-submarine warfare, making it a good fit for the movie--except for the minor little detail that it was the October 1987 issue...
** 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.[[note]]This blooper actually extends to the ''book'', written in 1984, where the October is explicitly stated to be the seventh submarine of the Typhoon class[[/note]]
** The plane that crashes into the ''Enterprise'' is supposed to be an F-14, but what is shown is archival footage of an F-9 crash -- from the ''1950s.''
* TheCastShowoff: Creator/AlecBaldwin loves doing impressions, something he'd do more of in ''Series/ThirtyRock''.
* CastTheExpert: Some of the extras playing the USS ''Dallas'' crew were actual submariners.
* DescendedCreator: Director Creator/JohnMcTiernan came up with the idea that screenwriter Larry Ferguson play ''USS Dallas'''s COB[[note]]Chief of the Boat: a submarine's senior enlisted sailor[[/note]] after watching Ferguson play all the parts in the script during pre-production. Hilariously, Ferguson only found out about this after seeing his name on the call sheet and then took advantage of his position and rewrote the script so that he'd be present for nearly every scene set on the ''Dallas''.
* FakeBrit: Creator/GatesMcFadden puts on a British accent for Cathy Ryan. [[OohMeAccentsSlipping Until she doesn't.]]
* 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 Creator/RonaldGuttman (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.
* 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 naval aviation.
* TheOtherMarty: Creator/KlausMariaBrandauer 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 -- whom he had previously co-starred with in ''Film/NeverSayNeverAgain'' -- 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.[[note]]Ironically, Brandauer and Connery would end up appearing together in ''Film/TheRussiaHouse'', which came out later that year[[/note]]
* PlayingAgainstType: Creator/TimCurry is known for [[Film/TheRockyHorrorPictureShow flamboyant]] or [[Film/HomeAlone2LostInNewYork comedic roles]]. He's also noted for his tendency to chew the scene, especially when playing [[Film/Legend1985 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.
* PropRecycling: The teddy bear Jack Ryan gets his daughter at the end is the same teddy bear John [=McClane=] was bringing for his kids at the beginning of ''Film/DieHard'', also directed by Creator/JohnMcTiernan.
* RecycledSoundtrack: Music/BasilPoledouris' cue for the scene where Ramius and Borodin are talking about life ("Two Wives" on the soundtrack album) was dropped when the scene was changed during editing, and replaced with ''another'' Poledouris composition, "Payoff" from ''No Man's Land''[[note]]([[Film/NoMansLand not this one]], the 1987 movie starring Creator/CharlieSheen, executive produced by Creator/RonHoward and written by Creator/DickWolf)[[/note]].
* StarMakingRole: For Creator/AlecBaldwin.
* TechnologyMarchesOn: A whole lot of details of the Typhoon-class missile submarine, such as the fact that Real-Life Typhoons don't have a missile room, falls under this.
* TroubledProduction: A long standing Hollywood rumor was that Creator/SeanConnery's hairpiece cost $50,000 dollars. Many years later, a producer admitted that that number came from the cost of reshooting several scenes with the original hairpiece, which sported a small ponytail that Connery decided looked ridiculous after a few days of shooting.
* UncreditedRole: Creator/JohnMilius did uncredited work on the script, writing a few speeches for Ramius and all of his Russian dialogue. He was asked to rewrite the whole film but was only required to do the Russian sequences.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
** 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, [[CastTheRunnerUp but he would]] [[TheOtherDarrin 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/BruceWillis.
** In the script, the opening crawl was originally supposed to set the film in 1991 rather than 1984, mentioning the forced retirement of UsefulNotes/MikhailGorbachev and the Soviet Defense Minister taking power, leading to renewed Western fears of Soviet aggression in the Cold War. Had this crawl been kept, it would have been an eerie prediction of the August coup that attempted to oust Gorbachev from power, prior to the collapse of the UsefulNotes/SovietUnion in December 1991.
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