History Film / PatriotGames

** The Marine sentry at the Annapolis gate [[spoiler: saves Jack from an assassin on his way home.]] The BritishRoyalGuards are a more minor example in the intro. Also, Cathy Ryan is a physician, which comes in quite handy when Jack is injured in the melee.

* DragonWithAnAgenda: Miller is this to O'Donnell. After his brother is killed, he doesn't care about O'Donnell's plans on kidnapping Lord Holmes. He only wants to get revenge on Ryan and his family for the death of his brother. [[spoiler: In the final battle, Miller ends up [[TheStarscream shooting both O'Donnell and Annette]] as they attempt to turn the boat around to get Holmes as Ryan uses himself as bait for the terrorists.]]

* ExactWords: Paddy O'Neil tells Jack that he would never reveal where Sean Miller is hiding as he'd never betray a fellow Irishman. [[spoiler: However Annette, who is part of his outfit, is English, not Irish.]]

* FreudianExcuse: Miller and his brother’s parents were killed and they were taken in by O'Donnell, who indoctrinated them into the IRA.
* FriendOrFoe: Lord Holmes's aide, the mole who's been supplying inside information to the terror cell, gets killed when Sean Miller [[ATeamFiring sprays the basement indiscriminately]] with submachine gun fire, earning him a WhatTheHellHero from his boss.

--> "Get on with it and be on your way."

* HomeFieldAdvantage: An assassin attempts to attack Jack [[TooDumbToLive within sight]] of a pair of armed Marine sentries, all but guaranteeing an immediate armed response. Later, the film's climactic battle takes place [[spoiler: in the Ryans' home]].

-->'''CIA Agent''': That is a kill. (sips coffee)

-->'''Miller''': This is not my mission!

-->'''Cathy''': It was him, wasn't it? He's never gonna leave us alone...

-->'''Jack Ryan''': Listen! Who are we looking for here, huh? IRA terrorists or some ultra-violent faction of the IRA, fighting the cause their way?

* ShoutOut: O'Donnell [[spoiler: while waiting for his assassin]] is watching ''Harry's Game'', a miniseries about a British Army officer undercover in the IRA. The main score can be heard in the background during the scene.
* SpySatellites: The film features a scene where Ryan watches a live satellite feed of a British [=SAS=] team attacking the terrorist camp. [[spoiler:Unbeknownst to him, Sean Miller is not at the camp.]]

-->Kathy: OK, Tell us... thank you!
-->'''Kathy grins at Jack, Jack nods at her waiting for an answer.''' ''-{{Beat}}-'' '''Credits Roll'''.
* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: [[spoiler: At the end, Miller is killed when [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice he is impaled on a boat anchor by Ryan]], followed by him getting blown up to pieces as the boat Ryan and Miller are fighting on crashes into large rocks in a massive [[StuffBlowingUp fiery]] [[MadeOfExplodium explosion.]]]]

* UselessSpleen: {{Averted}}. Jack Ryan's daughter loses her spleen after an attack by the terrorists, and later Miller, while taunting Ryan, makes a point of mentioning how she'll be disadvantaged.

* AdaptationInducedPlothole: [[spoiler: The betrayal of Lord Holme's secretary comes right out of left field compared to the passing justification given in the novel.]]

** Same with Holmes' traitorous secretary, who makes it possible for O'Donnell and Miller to ambush Ryan and Holmes at the former's home; he is found out and left to his comrades, and is mistakenly gunned down by Miller in his pursuit of Ryan.

* NiceJobFixingItVillain: If the splinter cell hadn't liberated Miller, their plans to kidnap Lord Holmes might've worked. It was ultimately his lust for revenge against Ryan that led to the plan failing. Their loyalty to him proved the undoing of the group.

* DarkActionGirl: Annette, girlfriend of Kevin O'Donnell and the DarkChick member of the main team of villains.

** Sean and his driver are on their way to murder a mother and daughter, but stop short and wait for a group of schoolgirls to cross the street rather than run them down to pursue their target. Were they to run them down, they'd likely damage their vehicle and attract too much attention while their target, in a much faster car (equipped with a mobile phone), notices and escapes.

* RealityEnsues: When the IRA assassin is about to [[spoiler:shoot]] Ryan in the middle of the street, he is [[spoiler:promptly shot]] by a Marine Security Guard who noticed the pair brawling a few seconds earlier.

* CaliforniaDoubling: The highway chase in Maryland was filmed in Los Angeles County in Southern California.

* RealityEnsues: When the IRA assassin is about to [[spoiler:shoot]] Ryan in the middle of the street, he is [[spoiler:promptly shot]] by a Marine Security Guard who noticed the commotion earlier.

''Patriot Games'' is a 1992 film starring Creator/HarrisonFord, Creator/SeanBean, Creator/SamuelLJackson, Creator/JamesEarlJones, Ann Archer, and Creator/RichardHarris, adapted from the [[Literature/PatriotGames novel of the same name]] by Creator/TomClancy. The second film in the original Jack Ryan trilogy, it is the sequel to 1990's ''Film/TheHuntForRedOctober'' and was followed by a third film, ''Film/ClearAndPresentDanger'', two years later. Notably, this installment recasts every major role from the first film (with the exception of Creator/JamesEarlJones, who returns as Vice Admiral Greer), with the follow-up retaining these changes.

* AdultFear: Step in to help strangers from being killed by masked gunmen? One of them wants revenge for you killing his brother, and has violently escaped from prison, and he will cross oceans to seek {{Revenge}} on you by going after your family in turn.
-->'''Cathy''': It was him, wasn't it? He's never gonna leave us alone...

* TheMole: Geoffrey Watkins, aide to Lord Holmes, is responsible for making possible the splinter cell's first attempt on Holmes's life.

** The tube train leaving Aldwych (then a minor spur in the centre of London, now closed) and "stopping at Oxford Circus, Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square, Green Park, Acton Town, Hammersmith, Marble Arch, Hounslow East, South Ealing and Hyde Park Corner" before terminating at Hatton Cross. This route bends London geography in interesting ways.

* DarkerAndEdgier: Probably the darkest of the ''Literature/JackRyan'' films. It's also the only ''Jack Ryan'' movie to be given an R rating.

* HumanShield: In the opening sequence, Cathy shields Sally with her body, and Ryan shields them both with his as the shooting starts.

* GoOutWithASmile: Ned Clark goes out with a vague grin after being fatally shot when Jack demands Miller's location from him. It immediately clues him in to where Miller plans to strike next.

* RealityEnsues: Middle-aged Jack gets his ass kicked by the much-younger Ned Clark and it's only the fast action of the Marine guards that saves his life.

''Patriot Games'' is a 1992 film starring Creator/HarrisonFord, Creator/SeanBean, Creator/SamuelLJackson, Creator/JamesEarlJones, Ann Archer, and Creator/RichardHarris, adapted from the [[Literature/PatriotGames novel of the same name]] by Creator/TomClancy. The second film in the original Jack Ryan trilogy, it is the sequel to 1990's ''Film/TheHuntForRedOctober'' and was followed by a third film, ''Film/ClearAndPresentDanger'', two years later. Notably, this installment recasts every major role from the first film, with the follow-up retaining these changes.

* HostageSituation: When Miller's cohorts attack the convoy, they take the bridge keeper hostage and threaten to kill him unless the van doors are opened. Inspector Highland tells the other officers to open the door. When they protest that they should wait, Highland snaps, "But what?! For them to kill him and ''then'' open the door?"

* FaceDeathWithDignity: When the prison convoy is ambushed, Inspector Highland tells Miller to just kill him and get it over with.

* HandSignals: A tech uses a spy camera to peek under a door at an IRA bomb factory and holds up four fingers to tell the officers behind him how many suspects there are inside. The cops proceed to relay the signal back to those behind them in the stairwell.

** Although he's the main character, Jack Ryan is himself one, as an ex-CIA, former Marine who intervenes with an assassination attempt. When the terrorists try to assassinate ''him'' in vengeance, they get the weight of the American government dropped onto them.

* {{Irony}}: Sergeant Owens makes an angry reference to finding TheMole responsible for Lord Holmes' assassination attempt. [[spoiler:Geoffrey Watkins, later revealed to be the mole, is standing right next to him]].

* NiceJobFixingItVillain: If the splinter cell hadn't liberated Miller, their plans to assassinate Lord Holmes might've worked. It was ultimately his lust for revenge against Ryan that led to the plan failing. Their loyalty to him proved the undoing of the group.

** While O'Donnell and a few of the members of his cell grant Miller some resources and leeway for exacting revenge against Ryan for Patrick's death, they warn him not to get too obsessed with Ryan, as it interferes with their plans to kidnap or assassinate Lord Holmes, and the greater political goal of their terrorist acts in general. When his assassination attempts against Ryan and his family fail and he still wants more revenge, they chide him for disregarding their earlier warning and order him back to work on their kidnapping/assassination project.

* HostageSituation: When Miller's cohorts attack the convey, they take the bridge keeper hostage and threaten to kill him unless the van doors are opened. Inspector Highland tells the other officers to open the door. When they protest that they should wait, Highland snaps, "But what?! For them to kill him and ''then'' open the door?"

* HostageSituation: When Miller's cohorts attack the van, they drag the driver from it and threaten to kill him unless the van doors are opened. Inspector Highland tells the other officers to open the door. When they protest that they should wait, Highland snaps, "For what? For them to kill him and ''then'' open the door?"

** While O'Donnell and a few of the members of his cell grant Miller some resources and leeway for exacting revenge against Ryan for Patrick's death, they warn him not to get too obsessed with Ryan, as it interferes with their plans to kidnap or assassinate Lord Holmes, and the greater political goal of their terrorist acts in general. When his assassination attempts against Ryan and his family fail and he still wants more revenge, they chide him for disregarding their earlier warning and order him back to work on their kidnapping/assassination project. Then, as the IRA realizes Miller's stirring up Ryan against them has become a major liability to their cause, they sell out his splinter faction for being more trouble than it's worth. Plus he'd already killed one of the IRA's brigade commanders, who had sent men to kill him because of the dangers that his plan had for them. That alone would be enough for them to disown O'Donnell and sell him out.

* EvenEvilHasStandards: Sean and his driver are on their way to murder a mother and daughter, but stop short and wait for a group of schoolgirls to cross the street rather than run them down to pursue their target.

* PragmaticVillainy: While O'Donnell and a few of the members of his cell grant Miller some resources and leeway for exacting revenge against Ryan for Patrick's death, they warn him not to get too obsessed with Ryan, as it interferes with their plans to kidnap or assassinate Lord Holmes, and the greater political goal of their terrorist acts in general. When his assassination attempts against Ryan and his family fail and he still wants more revenge, they chide him for disregarding their earlier warning and order him back to work on their kidnapping/assassination project. Then, as the IRA realizes Miller's stirring up Ryan against them has become a major liability to their cause, they sell out his splinter faction for being more trouble than it's worth. Plus he'd already killed one of the IRA's brigade commanders, who had sent men to kill him because of the dangers that his plan had for them. That alone would be enough for them to disown O'Donnell and sell him out.