Hi-Def Preview

The Jack Ryan Collection

The Hunt For Red October

Paramount Home Entertainment

Released: 10/23/07

Review By: Joshua Noyes

Picture Quality - 3/5

Audio Quality – 3.5/5

Special Features - 0/5

Overall – 3.25/5

Patriot Games

Paramount Home Entertainment

Released: 10/23/07

Review By: Joshua Noyes

Picture Quality - 3/5

Audio Quality – 3.5/5

Special Features - 0/5

Overall – 3.25/5

Clear And Present Danger

Paramount Home Entertainment

Released: 10/23/07

Review By: Joshua Noyes

Picture Quality - 3/5

Audio Quality – 3.5/5

Special Features - 0/5

Overall – 3.25/5

The Sum Of All Fears

Paramount Home Entertainment

Released: 10/23/07

Review By: Joshua Noyes

Picture Quality – 2.5/5

Audio Quality – 3.5/5

Special Features - 0/5

Overall – 3/5

Comments On The Collection: This release of The Jack Ryan Collection comes in a cardboard box, which contains each of the movies in its own HD-DVD case. It appears that Paramount put little effort in to this release. On each case is lists Special Features for each movie, however upon playing any movie, Special Features do not exist. Not quite sure how this passed the QC Department? Each movie in the collection also contains a fair amount of Edge Enhancement (EE). I find is strange that many of the HDM companies continually use EE on these 1080p releases.

All four movies in this collection contain a fair amount to a large amount of film grain. This leads each movie to look somewhat soft and washed-out. I also noticed a great deal of film debris throughout the collection, especial in “The Hunt For Red October” and “The Sum Of All Fears.” Out of the 4 movies in the collection, there is no doubt in my mind that “Clear And Present Danger” was by far the best overall presentation, both visually and sonically. It was by far the best in eliminating film debris and noise and it too had the best color accuracy.

A positive for this release is that each film contains a new Dolby TrueHD track, of which is a substantial improvement over the sound of each of their DVD counterparts. I especially liked the TrueHD track on “The Hunt For Red October.” It truly created the feel of living on a submarine.

In conclusion I am let down overall by this release as it contains 3 of my favorite movies of all time and it appears that little effort was put in to this production. It is absurd to think that each movie case in the collection lists multiple Special Features, yet none of these Special Features exist on the discs themselves. I can only recommend this purchase if you are a diehard fan of these films and do not already own the DVD’s.