Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.5

Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan: Season One Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman August 24, 2019

Amazon Prime's Jack Ryan looks nothing like its cinema counterparts. Rather than a contained story based strictly on Author Tom Clancy's various novels, this series serves as more of a re-imagining set in contemporary times (Ryan first appeared in Clancy's 1984 novel The Hunt for Red October) but building a Ryan who is instantly familiar: a young up-and-coming CIA analyst who is thrust into a world of danger brought by his dedication to and excellence in his profession. Season one is a winner, a comprehensive yet never overstrung work that drops the character in the middle of a terrorist plot that spans well beyond international borders. It builds a seamless universe of character depth, intrigue, and action and is both a fitting interpretation of the character and frenzied, violent examination of the dangerous modern world.

Young CIA analyst Jack Ryan’s (John Krasinski) focus and monitor on Yemen leads him to identify suspicious SWIFT transactions he believes point to a new terrorist threat, a man named Mousa Bin Suleiman (Ali Suliman) who Ryan believes could very well be the next Usama Bin Laden. He reports his findings to his superior, the recently demoted and disgraced James Greer (Wendell Pierce), his new group chief. Despite overwhelming evidence, Greer dismisses his work, fearing that taking the young analyst at his word could cost him his already perilous position in the agency should Ryan’s theory prove to bear no fruit. But Ryan remains convinced, goes behind Greer’s back, and has another department freeze the account. Soon, Ryan and Greer find themselves forced to set aside their personal and professional differences and work together to unravel and foil a horrific terror threat to the world.

Jack Ryan has a feel of 24 about it. It’s a bit less frenetic and more compact in terms of season length but more sprawling in terms of timeframe and globetrotting but there’s an unmistakable brotherhood amongst the shows, even if the characters are a bit different (Bauer being more of a highly trained killer and Ryan a man forced to learn the art of death in the field and on the fly). Still, they both deal in imminent terror danger with intimate connections to the main characters, both of them essentially the only persons standing in the way of terrible violence. Jack Ryan deals in complex, timely, and relevant international politics and intrigue and various internal bureaucracies as obstacles to action, also similar to 24. The season is ultra-violent in a realistic manner, never shying away from the realities of the modern asymmetrical warfare landscape, often with an increased feel of danger with Ryan’s lack of field work knowledge not stymieing his work but certainly in many ways defining his approach. The show presents intense focus on the other side, too. Episode one bookends with a graphic, harrowing exploration of what has led the season’s antagonist to become the man he is. It’s a necessary dynamic that unmasks a character, his ideology, and his motivations that many other shows might have simply ignored for audience ease and comfort. It’s well acted all around, production values are terrific, and pacing is electric. This is a fine interpretation of Clancy’s source and one of the better shows on today.

The following episodes comprise Jack Ryan: Season One. Summaries are courtesy of the Blu-ray packaging.

Disc One:

• Pilot: In the series premiere, CIA analyst Jack Ryan uncovers a series of suspicious transactions that take him and his boss James Greer out from behind their desks into the field to hunt down a powerful new threat to the world. Hanin begins to question her husband's affairs after be brings a mysterious outsider into their home.
• French Connection: Jack and Greer decode a fresh piece of intel that takes them to Paris and one step closer to the elusive Suleiman. Hanin’s husband returns home with a renewed fervor for his secretive mission, leaving her unsure of their family’s future.
• Black 22: Drone pilot Victor struggles with the immense responsibility attached to his job. Jack and Greer join French Intelligence officers on a mission to track down Suleiman’s brother. Hanin is forced to make a dangerous decision for the sake of their children.
• The Wolf: As Jack and Cathy grow closer, Jack’s double-life is put to the test. A show of force from Suleiman adds to his ranks and brings him one step closer to his next attack.

Disc Two:

• End of Honor: After the horrific Paris church attack, Jack and Greer discover a deeper strategy behind Suleiman’s actions, forcing Jack to suggest an unusual trap for him. Hanin faces new challenges in her quest for freedom.
• Sources and Methods: Jack’s moral code is tested when he and Greer use a Turkish criminal to help them track down a high-value target who may be able to lead them to Suleiman. Hanin tries to evade her pursuers and keep her daughters safe. Cathy investigates an outbreak of a virulent form of Ebola that may point to something more ominous.
• The Boy: Jack and Greer try to convince their superiors to lead a covert ground assault to capture Suleiman. Jack’s double life costs him an important relationship.
• Inshallah: Jack and Greer fear Suleiman’s next attack could be on U.S. soil. They must figure out how to stop him or risk enormous costs.

Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan: Season One Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Jack Ryan: Season One was digitally photographed and, as expected, noise appears throughout the season, heavier in darker scenes but still visible in some well-lit locations. Otherwise, the image is extremely efficient, intimately detailed, and naturally colorful. Skin textures are terrific; check out an unorthodox interrogation scene in chapter five of episode one. The sweaty beads, the fine pores, and the facial hair are incredibly rich and alive, bringing the viewer intimately into the scene. Fine detail is exquisite throughout; it's consistently razor-sharp, yielding high end clarity across an entire spectrum of characters, clothes, and environments. There's not a texture that's nothing short of excellent. Colors are bold and satisfying, exploding with richly vibrant hues, again across clothes and various environments. Fireballs are intense, skies are naturally shaded, and blood pops with command. Skin tones appear perfect and black levels rarely show any signs of appearing overly raised or, on the other end of the spectrum, crushed. Technical bugaboos like aliasing and banding are kept to an absolute bare minimum. This is a first-rate transfer from Paramount.

Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan: Season One Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Jack Ryan: Season One features one of the best Dolby Atmos soundtracks on the market. Music thrives. The opening 80s beats deliver excellent stage-filling notes and the regional score to follow is even more lively, alive with active surround and well-manicured overhead usage. Explosions to follow are seriously intense, with debris resultantly expanding through the chaos and jet fighters literally screaming overhead, in total one of the best pure Atmos moments the format has yet had on offer. Action scenes are superior. A firefight at the end of episode one delivers terrifying gunfire zip and depth. Shots ring out form all over the stage, explosions rock the listening area with rewarding and realistic bass, and several other high intensity action scenes throughout mimic the sensation, delivering high energy and high yield sonic excellence. Music throughout the season is very intense and engaging, making full, complex use of the entire sound system. Office atmospherics nicely filter through the stage, whether light office din or more involved and engaging city ambience at the 27-minute mark of episode one. Dialogue is clear and center focused. It is well prioritized for the duration, the proverbial feather in the cap of a reference quality soundtrack that spans eight of the most sonically polished television episodes in the Blu-ray library.

Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan: Season One Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Jack Ryan: Season One only contains a few deleted scenes for four of the eight season one episodes. No DVD or digital copies are included. This release ships with an embossed slipcover.

Disc One:

• Deleted Scenes (1080p): Scenes from "French Connection" (0:15) and "The Wolf" (0:54).

Disc Two:

• Deleted Scenes (1080p): Scenes from "End of Honor" (0:34) and "The Boy" (1:08).

Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan: Season One Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Jack Ryan is a narratively gripping, visually harrowing, and emotionally charged show that might feel a little familiar in spots, and rightly so, but it grows into itself and the characters are written and performed in such a way as to distinguish them from several contemporaries and offer just enough separation within a broader familiarity against previous screen Ryans to find its own path. It's brisk, well written, superbly performed, and its action scenes are amongst the best television currently has to offer. Paramount's Blu-ray is severely lacking extra content but video is solid and audio is of reference grade. Highly recommended.