Showing posts with label black ops. Show all posts
Showing posts with label black ops. Show all posts

Friday, October 11, 2013

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.




Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Tom Clancy Week: Clear and Present Danger

How do avid readers and welcome back for Day 3 of Tom Clancy Week.  You might be wondering if I have enough films for this week and well yes that would be correct.  There all nerves are calmed.  Shh, shh, shhh…  Moving right along I think it is time for some scandalous behavior from the government…kinda like taking their marbles and going home.  Will Jack Ryan be able to pull our fat out of the fire?  This is Clear and Present Danger.

Miss my bullwhip.


Ritter: Spoiler! The world is gray, Jack!










Our favorite desk jockey Jack Ryan (Harrison Ford of Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Patriot Games and Cowboys & Aliens) is back with the CIA and his boss Admiral Greer (James Earl Jones of End of the Road, Claudine, Exorcist II: The Heretic, Conan the Barbarian, Patriot Games and Field of Dreams) is giving the reigns of director of the CIA to Jack as he is the only man he has ever trusted.  Not long on his watch, the Coast Guard find a clipper finding the corpses of an American banker and his family murdered in their beds with several Columbians armed with AKs surrendering immediately.  Must be the 50 caliber that will skuttle the ship they are worried about.

Hey, Jimmy Johns. We need 4 club sandwiches, chips and cokes please.















President Bennett (Donald Moffat of The Thing, One Life to Live and the Unbearable Lightness of Being) finds it was a close personal friend that was skimming close to $650 million in cash from a Columbian drug cartel. National Security Advisor James Cutter (Harris Yulin of Scarface, Another Woman, Narrow Margin and Cutthroat Island) confabs with the President who tells him these cartels represent a danger to the U.S. and must be dealt with immediately; giving an unofficial nod of approval bring the hammer down on the men responsible for his friend and family’s death. 


As Jack takes over for Greer he is asked to go before Congress and plead for $70 Million in the on-going operations in Columbia.  Congress and Jack are blissfully unaware that the funding with be for a black-ops mission.

Jack out of the loop for his Boy Scout ways starts to hear chatter about explosions and crops being destroyed in Columbia but no direct case workload coming through his office.  Old instincts kick in as the Deputy Director of Operations Ritter is not communicating with him Jack starts digging around.  Ritter links up with an older agent, John Clark (William Dafoe of Platoon, The English Patient, The Boondock Saints and Spider-Man) to run point with a special forces team. 

Sir, can we break for lunch? I'm thinkin' Arby's
 













With Columbian cartels losing patience with these attacks on their people and crops, the head of the cartel turns to his intelligence officer, former Colonel Cortez (Joaquim de Almeida of Desperado, Behind Enemy Lines,The Lovebirds and Three 60) of Cuban Intelligence is digging into his own investigation into the possibility of US soldiers in Columbia.  Can Jack save the soldiers, terminate this operation and bring the wrong doers before justice? 


Well go look up the movie.  It is a pretty decent thriller after all.