Tom Clancy Week: Op Center

Welcome back ladies and gents to Day 5 of Tom Clancy Week.  No, we will not be reviewing the Sum of All Fears due to I have not found a decent copy of it so we will hit another TV movie of excellent portrayal with a top notch crew so get to analyzing, predict the next move and get ready to thwart the terrorist acts.  This is Op-Center.

 

Now move the coffee table!!

We can’t let the spoilers win!

As we all know the first day of the job can be hectic but nothing compares to Paul Hood’s (Harry Hamlin of Clash of the Titans, L.A. Law, Ink, Movie Stars, Veronica Mars and Mad Men) first day.  Nuclear missiles have been hijacked from the former Soviet Republic by a former KGB leaving little to no trace.  With more than a few attached to the body count and 20 hours behind the clock our crew is deeply concerned about what will be.

As head of the National Crisis Management Center or Op-Center, an organization that handles both domestic and international crises Hood is required to report to the President himself which he jokingly calls Op-Center an information clearing house with SWAT capacity. With units comprised with British SAS, Russian Spetnaz and US Green Berets, Navy SEALS and Rangers, these individuals tackle the problem head on.  As a post-Cold War operation based on statistics and simulations is deemed a waste of tax payers money attempts to point out its worth when the crisis is made known.

The secret meet and greet of Hollywood pretty boys.

Our terrorists/entrepreneurs seem to be selling said warheads on the black market to even more morally corrupt individuals in the Middle East.  Despite the best efforts of the military and joint intelligence teams trying to block the cargo shipping, the terrifying tonnage is in motion.

Hood becomes paranoid about how easily these KG used to Bs have been able to thwart them at every turn and is convinced that there is a leak of information.   At first suspects his teammates but brushes that thought far from his mind.  He comes to the conclusion that the leak has originated in the White House.    Can the threat of a nuclear holocaust be halted, the villains responsible jailed and puppies’ tummies rubbed?

Well now we are at the part where I put my two cents worth in.  This film in question is actually a four hour mini-series that allows for more for more character and plot exposition giving the story a more rounded view of the scope of the story.  The main characters are fairly flushed out and the tension is well sorted.  I do have a few complaints on how easily our intelligence agents come to their results.  It felt a bit too child’s play for them to crunch the numbers; hit the contacts and draw conclusions but again I know next to nothing about spy work.  You know with the exception of time zones and SAT calls, being able to organize a full military team in a matter of hours on set mission may be out of my area of expertise.  

Day of Our Lives fans will be happy to see Deidre Hall (Dr. Marlena Evans) playing a strong and capable woman that has NOT been possessed by the Devil nor been dropped into about 10 comas.  Also the VHS released version is only 114 minutes and does not cover HALF of what it should.  The only version to view is the 170 minute version which gives the full view of the story.

Required reading prior the Bush Administration.