A faction of the IRA attempt to kidnap Lord William Holmes, a member of the British Royal Family who also happens to be a Government minister, but the crime is thwarted by the courageous actions of Jack Ryan, an American tourist in London with his family. During the ensuing scuffle, Ryan shoots dead one of the terrorists, Patrick Miller. Miller's elder brother Sean is jailed for his part in the attack, but is rescued by his comrades, and vows vengeance on Ryan, who is a former marine and CIA operative. When Ryan realises that Sean Miller is targeting his family he returns to work for the CIA to help with the fight against terrorism.

There are a number of fairly obvious goofs and plot holes. No member of the British Royal Family could serve as a Government minister, as they are constitutionally obliged to remain politically neutral. If a foreign citizen were being made a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (one of the highest awards in the British honours system) he would be invited to a formal ceremony in Buckingham Palace to be knighted by the Queen in person. He would not be presented with the decoration in his own home by a junior member of the Royal Family. It seems unlikely that any Irish republican terror group would carry out an attack on American citizens on American soil, as to do so would risk losing the support their cause has long enjoyed among sections of the Irish-American community. As others have pointed out, it seems illogical for Ryan to take his family to their isolated summer home to get them away from Miller; doubtless the CIA could have found a safer location for them.

The film lacks the political implications of "Clear and Present Danger", Philip Noyce's next attempt to film a Tom Clancy thriller which involved Watergate-type misconduct by the President and his closest aides. (That film also starred Harrison Ford as Ryan). Despite the involvement of the IRA, "Patriot Games" makes no attempt to analyse the complexities of the Northern Ireland situation. The film also lacks any detailed characterisation. The moral divisions are straightforward- Ryan, his wife Cathy and his CIA colleagues are good and Miller and his gang are bad.

The film does, however, have a strong hero in Harrison Ford. Ford has always been good in the thriller genre, and gives another good performance here as Ryan, combining decency with a strong sense of intelligence. Anne Archer and Sean Bean are also good as Cathy and the villainous Miller. There is a good cameo from Polly Walker as Miller's glamorous but ruthless female associate Annette. Despite the occasional implausibilities of the plot, this is a tense and fast-moving thriller with some good action sequences. It is not Ford's best thriller (that must be either "Witness" or "The Fugitive"),but it is nevertheless a good one. 7/10

A solidly effective Tom Clancy thriller that sees reliable action-man Harrison Ford adopting the Jack Ryan mantle and going after a gang of IRA terrorists. PATRIOT GAMES might not have quite the verve and excitement of its sequel, CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER, but it still provides plenty of decent thrills along the way.

Things get off to a great start with a fantastic opening set-piece (sadly, the rest of the film never quite equals this moment) which ably sets the plot in motion. What follows is fairly predictable, but nonetheless engaging, as Ford finds himself and his family on a hit list. Sean Bean is the chief bad guy, and not quite as effectively nasty as he would be later in his career; put it down to inexperience maybe.

The rest of the film is populated by familiar face after familiar face. You get the then-new actors (Polly Walker, Samuel L. Jackson) and the reliable old-timers (James Earl Jones, James Fox),and they all run through their scenes efficiently and with gusto. It's also nice to find an American film in which the IRA aren't quite presented as the freedom fighters battling the dastardly Brits, as of course the real-life situation was a lot more complicated than that.

Jack Ryan (Harrison Ford) has left the CIA and is in Britain speaking to their military. His wife Cathy (Anne Archer) and daughter Sally (Thora Birch) get caught up in an assassination attempt on Lord Holmes (James Fox) and his family in London. Ryan saves the day. Sean Miller (Sean Bean) is captured while his brother is killed. Kevin O'Donnell (Patrick Bergin) escapes. He leads a splinter group of Irish terrorists along with his girlfriend Annette (Polly Walker). They break out Miller and set off to take revenge on the Ryan family.

This is a good but not great Jack Ryan movie. Harrison Ford does this type of role quite well. The film could have tighten the tension a bit more in the first half. The courtroom achieves little. Sean Bean screaming at Harrison Ford after the shootout would have been more intense. His escape could have been a great car chase but it's surprisingly static. Other than the cold blooded killings, there's nothing interesting there. Even Jack and Cathy's phone call before the crash could have been more intense. He has literally escaped death and yet he's so coy about the danger.

I do like the section where he's looking for the terrorists in North Africa with the satellite. It's cerebral and probably the most memorable part of the movie. On the other hand, the terrorists seem to be everywhere which seems odd. First they take the slow boat to America, then escape to North America and then somehow return back to America.