Clear and Present Danger - Television Tropes & Idioms

"You see this? That's your new target, unless it's not big enough."

—John Clark

Jack Ryan must investigate the murder of a life-long friend of the POTUS in relation to what appears to be a drug cartel in Columbia, only to be pulled into a war illegally started by the US government.

Written by Tom Clancy with film adaptation starring Harrison Ford.

This film contains examples of:

Action Duo
Action Survivor
Armchair Military: When the operation starts to unravel and people not cleared start to figure it out, one person states rather bluntly that if the CIA had actually bothered to include the organizations they were suborning, the operation would have run smoother, would not have been discovered, and would've been a hell of a lot more deniable, basically a screed against the Armchair Military that set up the operation in the first place.
Badass: John Clark
Calling the Old Man Out: "How dare you, sir!"
Coast Guard: USCGC Panache, a definite Cool Boat, plays a very prominent role in the book. In the film it's an unnamed Coast Guard cutter.
Deceased Fall-Guy Gambit: In the movie, the President threatens to do this to Admiral Greer. In the book, John Clark does this successfully to Admiral Cutter.
Don't Sneak Up On Me Like That!: This exact line is said by Clark when the pilot Larson walks up behind him without warning first. Actually incredibly stupid of Larson, since Clark just killed four heavily armed mercenaries.
Drugs Are Bad
Even Evil Has Standards - Cortez has the mindset of a professional intelligence officer, so while he mostly has a lot of Pragmatic Villainy moments, he does show genuine disgust with the methods used by the Cartel to intimidate their rivals (even paraphrasing Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil at one point in the book).
Every Helicopter Is A Huey: Justified in the film by Rule of Symbolism.
Everything is Online: Mocked. After Cortez and Ryan both start to suspect that a car bombing was actually caused by a missile, they research the issue. Ryan, the Deputy Director of the largest intelligence organization in the world, has to pull an all-nighter alone looking through Jane's Armaments. Cortez just searches a slick, high-tech database.
- Inverted in the original novel, where the cardboard cover of the book is how Cortez figures out how the bomb didn't leave any traces.
False Flag Operation
Friendly Sniper: "Ding" Chavez, who becomes a major recurring character.
- Only in the movie. In the book, he's a reconnaissance specialist.
Get Out of Jail Free Card: Which is interpreted differently in each version. In the movie, it exists to protect Ritter from the consequences of his actions. In the book, it's to protect the CIA as a whole.
Gilligan Cut: Jack Ryan knocking on the cartel boss's door.
Hauled Before A Senate Sub Committee
Hollywood Hacking: Averted.
Incurable Cough of Death: Admiral Greer, we hardly knew ye.
Ironic Echo Cut: "What the hell is this..."
Leave Behind a Pistol
Literary Allusion Title: the "Clear and present danger" clause in law. Title Dropped in the book. Interestingly, it is related to the First Amendment freedom of speech provision and has little, if any, relevance to the plot.
Neck Snap: Moira, in the film.
Odd Friendship: Alan Trent, a gay Democrat from Massachusetts and Sam Fellows, a Mormon Republican from Arizona.
Puppet Gun
Rescued From Purgatory: ...sort of
Revised Ending: Or, in the movie's case, reversed ending. The book ends with Ryan agreeing to keep the whole operation secret (which causes him trouble years later), Cutter Driven to Suicide and the Administration protected. The movie ends with Ryan angrily telling off the President, then spilling everything to a Senate committee.
Running Gag: "Plus change."
Right Man In The Wrong Place
Ruthless Modern Pirates
Shoot Out the Lock: Played straight for once, when Larson shoots out the lock at an airplane strip where Colonel Johns's chopper lands to refuel before heading out to Panache. Though it is slightly justified in that he uses five rounds to do so and specifically aims to separate the lock mechanism from the door.
Smug Snake
Spy Speak
Commando: "The chicken is in the pot."
Clark: "Cook it."
BOOM
The Cartel
The Cavalry: after everything goes to hell, Ryan and Clark help organize a rescue for the troops left behind on the ground. The book goes into much further detail, with the Pave Low, their MC-130 support, Larson's King Beech, and the Panache all playing big roles.
The Starscream: Col. Cortez
Title Drop
Western Terrorists
You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: The drug cartel intelligence officer Felix Cortez snaps Moira Wolfe's neck after getting from her the information his employer desired.
- This is in contrast to the book, where she's left alive, but made unavailable due to Escobedo using the information that Cortez had collected for an attack on a US delegation visiting Colombia. After the US discovers the source of the leak and gets her cooperation in capturing him, his returning to the US would have resulted in being arrested.

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