List of Jack Ryans

With Skyfall still burning across cinema screens, the temptation to do a list of best Bonds is quite high. But that would be too easy, and you, my loyal readers, deserve better. So here instead, is a list of the actors who have played a slightly less popular literary hero: Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan

Name: Ben Affleck
Film: The Sum of All Fears

Affleck is on of those actors I don't find particularly endearing or affable, and this film did little to warm me to him. The bomb going off half way through the film was unexpected, but as a character, Affleck never really brought Jack to life. See what I did there? A little wordplay

Name: Alec Baldwin
Film: The Hunt for Red October

This one is certainly a classic film, and Balwdwin is pretty darn good, but in a film with the great Sean Connery, he was never ever going to be the star. Baldwin's Ryan isn't flashy or gimmicky, but he is efficiently convincing.

Name: Harrison Ford
Films: Patriot Games, and Clear and Present Danger

If there is one man synonymous with Jack Ryan, its Ford. He creates that perfect mix of seasoned agent, action hero and deep thinker, and it shows, as he is the only man to ever play the character twice


Honourable mention goes to....
Name:Chris Pine
Film: Jack Ryan

Though it hasn't been released yet, and wont be until 2013, there is already some buzz around it. I like Chris Pine, and I think in this type of role, he could add some real charisma. I guess we'll have to wait and see