Jack Ryan Movies In Order [How To Watch Jack Ryan Series]

Jack Ryan, is a popular fictional Detective character which is created by Tom Clancy. Inspired by Tom Clancy’s Books, five movies are made, and here is the list of all Jack Ryan movies in order of release

The Hunt for Red October (1990)
Patriot Games (1992)
Clear and Present Danger (1994)
The Sum of All Fears (2002)
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014)

About Jack Ryan Movie Series

Jack Ryan Character was introduced to the world in 1984 with Tom Clancy’s first novel The Hunt for Red October.

The first novel becomes a huge hit and within the time of three decades, it developed into a complete Ryanverse with several books, five full-length movies, video games, and television series.

Who is Jack Ryan?

Jack Ryan is a fictional Character created by Tom Clancy who works as a CIA analyst and has previously worked as a US Marine. He is a smart and regular guy who takes out America from Dangerous situations using his experience and skills.

In what order should I watch Jack Ryan movies

Jack Ryan Movies In Order: How To Watch Jack Ryan Series?

Jack Ryan series started three decades ago in 1990 with its first installment The Hunt for Red October, after a huge success of the first installment, the franchise released two more Jack Ryan movies with Alec Baldwin playing the role of Jack Ryan.

The Sum of All Fears is the fourth installment and is a reboot movie with Ben Affleck playing the role of Jack Ryan. Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014) is the fifth installment in which the character of Jack Ryan is played by Chris Pine and the movie is based on an original story instead of a Tom Clancy’s novel.

Are the Jack Ryan movies connected?

The first three movies are based on Tom Clancy’s book while the fourth movie is a reboot and the fifth book is based on an original story instead of Tom Clancy’s book. Hence the first three movies are connected in terms of character and story of Jack Ryan while the last two movies are standalone.

What order should I watch Jack Ryan movies?

There are three ways you can watch Jack Ryan movies, In chronological order, Release order, or watch first three movies in order and last two as standalone. The best order would to be follow the Production order of the series, aka the order in which franchise wants to tell you the story of Jack Ryan.

Here is the list of all Jack Ryan movies in order of release

The Hunt for Red October (1990)

Director: John McTiernan
Stars: Sean Connery, Alec Baldwin, Scott Glenn, Sam Neill
Writer: Larry Ferguson, Donald Stewart
Runtime: 2h 17m

Patriot Games (1992)

Director: Phillip Noyce
Stars: Harrison Ford, Sean Bean, Anne Archer, Patrick Bergin
Writer: Larry Ferguson, Donald Stewart
Runtime: 2h 17m

Clear and Present Danger (1994)

Director: Phillip Noyce
Stars: Harrison Ford, Willem Dafoe, Anne Archer, Joaquim de Almeida
Writer: Donald Stewart, Steven Zaillian, John Milius
Runtime: 2h 21m

The Sum of All Fears (2002)

Director: Phil Alden Robinson
Stars: Ben Affleck, Morgan Freeman, Ian Mongrain, Russell Bobbitt
Producer: Mace Neufeld
Runtime: 1h 58m

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014)

Director: Kenneth Branagh
Stars: Chris Pine, Kevin Costner, Keira Knightley, Kenneth Branagh
Writer: Adam Cozad, David Koepp
Runtime: 1h 45m

The Hunt for Red October (1990)

The movie sets in November 1984, A Soviet submarine captain Marko Ramius, commander of nuclear missile submarine Red October releases false order to exercise submarine drill at the east coast of America. As they begins their mission, Red October gets detected by U.S. Navy.

Jack Ryan briefs government about the threats of Red October and hypothesizes about the intentions of Ramius. After getting a three days time to confirm his theory, Jack sets to mid-Atlantic in an aircraft carrier and starts to the mission to find out the actual intentions of Ramius.

Meanwhile, the Caterpillar drive malfunctions and Red October gets detected by US Navy again. In the fear of a Nuclear Attack, the US government deals with Soviet Ambassador and plans to Sink Red October.

Patriot Games (1992)

The movie starts with Jack and his Family Enjoying their vacations in London while they witness assassination attempt on Lord William Holmes. Ryan Intervenes in the attack and kills one of the Terrorist, while Sean Miller gets arrested.

Jack Testifies and Miller gets convicted but manages to escape from prison to North Africa where he plans to again attack Holmes and eliminate Ryan’s family. When Ryan’s Family gets injured badly in a car accident plotted by Miller, Jack starts his mission to track down Miller.

Clear and Present Danger (1994)

The movie starts with the murder of an American Businessman who has connections with Drug Dealers. President Bennett tells James Cutter (national Security Advisor) that this represents a Clear and Present Danger to the United States.

James Cutter keeps Jack Ryan in the dark who is working as the deputy director of the CIA starts a mission “Reciprocity” to take down the Drug Cartel. Meanwhile, Jack Ryan goes to Columbia to investigate the connection of the Businessman Hardin with drug dealers.

The Sum of All Fears (2002)

This movie is the fourth Jack Ryan movie and Ben Affleck is in the role of Jack Ryan. Jack and Cabot goes to Moscow to meet President Nemerov. While explaining the Nuclear Weapon, Ryan notices the absence of three scientist listed in the facility’s roster.

Cabot orders Agent John Clark to investigate whose tracks the missing scientist to a former Soviet military facility in Ukraine. Cabot learns that they are building a secret nuclear weapon. Ryan starts to investigate to uncover what is actually going on.

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014)

This movie is a prequel movie and sets in 1973 explaining the early days of Jack Ryan whose role is played by Chris Pine.

Jack Ryan is working for the CIA on Wall Streets and is eavesdropping on suspicious financial transactions and learns that billion of dollars possessed by Russian organizations have been disappeared. Jack goes to Moscow to investigate and infiltrate Chervin’s office and learns about a planned scheme to crash the U.S. economy.

Ryan heads back to New York City to Track Aleksandr who is a sleeping Agent in the US. He has to use all his skills to protect the US economy from crashing and a planned attack.

Jack Ryan Movies In Chronological Order

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014) is the last movie in the series but is a prequel movie that tells the story of the Initial days of Jack Ryan. There is not much difference between the Chronological and release order of the series if you wish to follow the chronological order, then here is the list of all Jack Ryan movies in chronological order.

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014)
The Hunt for Red October (1990)
Patriot Games (1992)
Clear and Present Danger (1994)
The Sum of All Fears (2002)

Jack Ryan Franchise: Jack Ryan All Movies and Tv Shows in Release order

Besides, five mainly full length movies, A television is series is currently running on Amazon prime and has two seasons. Here is the list of complete Jack Ryan Movies and Tv Shows in order of their release.

The Hunt for Red October (1990)
Patriot Games (1992)
Clear and Present Danger (1994)
The Sum of All Fears (2002)
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014)
Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan Season 1 (2018)
Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan Season 2 (2019)

Which Jack Ryan Movie Is Best?

Jack Ryan’s movie show is one of the most successful TV shows undoubtedly! There are five Jack Ryan Movies in which the character of Jack Ryan is played by Harrison Ford, Ben Affleck, and Chris Pine. Jack Ryan movies are filled with action and suspense which is supported by a fantastic story. But out of five Jack Ryan movies, which one is the best?

Here in this section of the article, I have ranked all the Jack Ryan movies from worst to best based on audience ratings on IMDb

Jack Ryan Movies	IMDb Ratings
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit	6.2
The Sum of All Fears	6.4
Clear and Present Danger	6.9
Patriot Games	6.9
The Hunt for Red October	7.6

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Conclusion

Based on the Tom Clancy’s Best seller novel series, Jack Ryan is a fictional CIA Analyst who has also worked in the US marine, the Jack Ryan series is all about how Jack Ryan using in skills protects America in difficult situations.

The Jack Ryan series is a huge hit, despite Poor Character continuity. Here in this article, I have shared the guide on how to watch the Jack Ryan Series by listing all the Jack Ryan movies in order of release, Aka the best order to watch Jack Ryan movie series.