Give me the opportunity to view again any films starring Sean Connery, starting with the James Bond 007 movies from 1962 to 1983, to his last film, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and I’d jump at the opportunity. The storyline of all his films is interesting, even if the plot might seem far-fetched at times. However, in hindsight, some of the films are becoming more and more plausible.

Case in point. The Hunt for Red October was released in 1990. I've seen that movie many times over the years. The latest was on TV a couple of weeks ago during lunch with Ginger, my Irish Setter. The storyline is about Sean Connery, who was the Soviet captain of a ballistic missile submarine, Red October. The sub had one extremely important ability; it was relatively undetectable by sonar. It had a caterpillar drive system (magnetohydrodynamic drive or MHD). Connery, for some unknown reason, kills one of his officers and then announces that they are going to have testing exercises of launching missiles off the coast of the US.

Connery’s new command for his sub rattled Soviet naval command in Moscow, along with the American government. Washington knows that the Russians are trying to search and destroy Red October, believing that Connery has gone rogue and wants to launch missiles at America.

However, one American, a CIA analyst, played by Alec Baldwin, has a dissenting theory. Baldwin theorizes that Connery wants to defect to the West along with his sub. He has been given three days to prove his case.

After cat-and-mouse endeavors off the US East Coast, Baldwin, the captain of the sub USS Dallas, and a crew member board the Red October. Connery tells Baldwin and the captain of the USS Dallas that he wishes asylum for himself and his officers. Unbeknownst to Connery, one of his officers was a saboteur, which creates a major problem on the Red October. Another Soviet sub launches another torpedo at the Red October. However, the USS Dallas avoided being hit by a torpedo, which was mistakenly fired at the Russian sub.

The Red October conducts an emergency blow, which forces it to the surface, and the crew is rescued. However, the Red October submerges again, and there is an explosion. The rescued crew believes that Connery sacrificed himself to avoid the Americans from capturing the Red October.

Connery, the captain of the Red October, and Baldwin, a CIA analyst, did not follow the orders from above, which allowed the two of them, along with the captain of the USS Dallas, to demonstrate the possibility of a better outcome when the military and a CIA analyst didn’t follow the commands of their superiors. It was a successful version of Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, not following orders.

This is the closing scene of The Hunt for Red October. Connery tells Baldwin, “A little revolution, now and then, is a healthy thing, don’t you think?”

Maybe someone needs to have our TACO president, along with Pete Hegseth, a former Fox host and head of the Defense Department, watch The Hunt for Red October.

This is the full movie of The Hunt for Red October.

This article, Naval News, discusses the first submarine to use the caterpillar drive system. In the movie The Hunt for Red October, it had such a drive system. Still, it took over three decades to actually create a submarine with a caterpillar drive.