On this week’s episode of Unclear and Present Danger, Jamelle and John watched the (rightfully) forgotten thriller The Jackal, a loose adaptation of The Day of the Jackal directed by Michael Caton-Jones and starring Bruce Willis, Richard Gere, Sidney Poitier and Diane Venora.

In The Jackal, Willis plays the titular assassin, a feared hitman who has been hired by Russian mobsters to assassinate the director of the FBI, in retaliation for American activity in Russia. As the Jackal makes his arrangements, FBI Deputy Director Carter Preston (Poitier) and Russian Police Major Valentina Koslova (Venora) scour their sources for leads in a search that leads to imprisoned IRA sniper Declan Mulqueen (Gere). Mulqueen knows the Jackal and will help the FBI find him — if he gets his freedom in return. What follows is a chase across the world, as Carter, Koslova and Mulqueen race to stop the Jackal, whose ultimate target is the First Lady of the United States.

The tagline for The Jackal was “How do you stop an assassin who has no identity?”

You can find The Jackal to rent or purchase on Apple TV or Amazon Prime.

Episodes come out roughly every two weeks, so we’ll see you then with an episode on Tomorrow Never Dies, the second entry in Pierce Brosnan’s run as James Bond.

Over on Patreon, we have an episode on the first Mobile Suit Gundam compliation film. We’re also doing a weekly politics show on the news of the day. Joining us by heading over to patreon.com/unclearpod. 

Our producer is Connor Lynch and our artwork is by Rachel Eck.

On this week’s episode of Unclear and Present Danger, Jamelle and John watched Paul Verhoeven’s 1997 science-fiction action thriller Starship Troopers, starring Casper Van Dien, Dina Meyers, Denise Richards, Jake Busey, Neil Patrick Harris, Michael Ironside and Clancy Brown. An adaptation of Robert Heinlein’s 1959 novel of the same title, Verhoeven’s film takes a satirical pass on the material, turning a fascistic coming-of-age tale into an unusual piece of meta-propaganda.

Starship Troopers takes place in a future, fascist society, where democracy and universal suffrage have been overthrown, and a military government leads humanity, with full citizenship reserved for those who serve in the armed services. Casper Van Dien plays Johnny Rico, an eager young recruit in the Mobile Infantry, who is sent to the frontlines of a war against the Arachnids, a supposedly hostile race of alien insectoids. The film tells the story of Rico’s training, his experience in battle, and his eventual rise to command.

It is the kind of triumphant narrative that the fascist government of the story would want to broadcast to a skeptical citizenry, which gets to what this movie is trying to do as a film. We talk about this and more, so tune in!

You can find a video version of this episode at Jamelle’s YouTube page.

Episodes come out roughly every two weeks, so join us then with an episode on The Jackal, a basically forgotten thriller starring Richard Gere and Bruce Willis.

Over at the Patreon, we discussed The Baader-Meinhof Complex. We’re also debuting a new weekly politics discussion show, only available for subscribers! Join at patreon.com/unclearpod.

Our producer is Connor Lynch and our artwork is by Rachel Eck.

On this week’s episode of Unclear and Present Danger, Jamelle and John watched Red Corner, a 1997 legal thriller directed by Jon Avnet and starring Richard Gere, Bai Ling, Bradley Whitford and Peter Donat.

In Red Corner, Richard Gere plays Jack Moore,, an American businessman who becomes entangled in nightmarish legal ordeal after he spends the evening with a Chinese fashion model and wakes up the next morning to find that she has been brutally murdered.

Jack insists that he’s innocent, but learns that the Chinese legal system is very different than what he’s used to in the United States. He is denied access to an American lawyer, interrogated without counsel, and pressured to sign a confession rather than defend himself. 

His state-assigned advocate, Shen Yuelin, assumes that Jack is guilty. But as she investigates the case, and grows closer to her client, she starts to doubt her conclusions. Gradually convinced of Jack’s innocence, she uncovers signs of a larger conspiracy involving high-ranking officials and powerful business interests. As political and legal pressures mount, Jack and Shen race against time to try to expose the truth, navigating a perilous maze of corruption and authoritarian control.

You can find Red Corner to rent or stream on Amazon and Apple TV.

For our next episode, we will cover Paul Verhoeven’s adaptation of Robert Heinlein’s Starship Troopers.  

On this week’s episode of Unclear and Present Danger, Jamelle and John watched Hostile Waters, a 1997 made-for-TV movie directed by David Drury and starring Rutger Hauer, Martin Sheen and Max von Sydow. 

Hostile Waters — based on a real-life incident, the loss of the Soviet Navy’s K-219 — was a joint production of HBO and the BBC, released first in the United Kingdom and then the United States. It received good reviews from critics on both sides of the Atlantic. 

Hostile Waters takes place on October 1986, off the east coast of the United States. A Soviet ballistic missile submarine, the K‑219, collides with the American hunter-killer submarine USS Aurora. The impact ruptures a missile tube aboard the Soviet boat, triggering seawater to seep in—causing a violent chemical reaction, toxic gas buildup, and a fire that threatens the entire submarine and its nuclear warheads.

You can find Hostile Waters to stream for free on YouTube, or you could rent it on Amazon Prime or Apple TV.

In their next episode, Jamelle and John will watch the 1997 legal thriller Red Corner, directed by Jon Avnet and starring Richard Gere. Here is a brief plot synopsis:

An American attorney on business in China, ends up wrongfully on trial for murder and his only key to innocence is a female defense lawyer from the country.

And don’t forget our Patreon! In our latest episode, we watched the 1983 film Danton, a dramatization of one of the most turbulent moments in the French Revolution. You can sign up for our Patreon at patreon.com/unclearpod.

On this week’s episode of Unclear and Present Danger, Jamelle and John watched The Assignment, a 1997 political thriller directed by Christian Duguay and starring Aidan Quinn, Donald Sutherland and Ben Kingsley.

In The Assignment, Aidan Quinn plays Annibal Ramirez, a U.S. naval officer recruited by CIA agent Jack Shaw — played by Sutherland — for a special operation to capture the elusive terrorist Carlos the Jackal. Shaw, with the help of Mossad agent Amos, played by Kingsley, trains Ramirez to impersonate the terrorist so convincingly that he can infiltrate Carlos’s network and destroy it from within. As Ramirez dives deeper into his double life, the lines between his identity and that of Carlos begin to blur, testing his sanity, loyalty, and sense of self. The tension escalates as the mission nears its climax, forcing Ramirez to confront not only Carlos but the cost of becoming the enemy in order to defeat him.

The tagline for The Assignment was “You can find The Assignment to rent or stream on Apple TV and Amazon Prime.

Episodes come out roughly every two weeks, and we will see you then with an episode on the 1997 made-for-TV submarine movie Hostile Waters, directed by David Drury and starring Rutger Hauer, Martin Sheen and Max von Sydow.

And don’t forget our Patreon, where we cover the movies of the Cold War. Our most recent episode is on the Gene Hackman neo-noir Night Moves. For just $5 a month, you get two episodes a month, plus our Unclearpod community chat on Patreon. Come join us!

On this week’s episode of Unclear and Present Danger, Jamelle and John watched Executive Power, an obscure made-for-TV movie directed by David Corley and starring Craig Sheffer as Nick Seger, a Secret Service agent who gets entangled in a web of political intrigue and moral compromise after he assists the president in a deadly cover-up.

There is not much more to the movie, but Jamelle and John try very hard to extract something like political insight from the proceedings! You can watch Executive Power for free on YouTube (although I would not recommend it).

Our next episode is on The Assignment, a 1997 thriller directed by Christian Duguay and starring Aidan Quinn, Donald Sutherland, Ben Kinglsey and Claudia Ferri. Here is a brief plot synopsis:

Jack Shaw has experienced the terror first-hand. He’s a top CIA agent who’s tracked international killer-for-hire Carlos “The Jackal” Sanchez for over twenty years and barely survived Carlos’ devastating bombing of a Parisian cafe. Now, he finally gets a break when he discovers Carlos’ dead ringer: American naval officer and dedicated family man Annibal Ramirez.

And sign up for our Patreon, where we cover the films of the Cold War. Our next episode will be on Arthur Penn’s Night Moves. You can sign up at patreon.com/unclearpod.

Our producer is Connor Lynch and our artwork is by Rachel Eck. You can reach out to us over email at [email protected]

On this week's episode of Unclear and Present Danger, Jamelle and John watched The Peacemaker, a 1997 political action thriller directed by Mimi Leder and staring George Clooney and Nicole Kidman.

When a train carrying nuclear warheads crashes in rural Russia, nuclear specialist Dr. Julia Kelly is brought in by the U.S. government to investigate. She quickly discovers the incident was no accident, but part of a larger conspiracy to steal the warheads. Assigned to work with her is Lt. Col. Thomas Devoe, a brash U.S. Army intelligence officer who specializes in field operations.

Together, Kelly and Devoe uncover a plot involving a rogue Russian general and a vengeful Yugoslav diplomat named Dusan Gavrić. Gavrić plans to detonate a nuclear bomb in New York City as a twisted act of personal vengeance and a misguided attempt at political "peace."

As they chase the warheads across Europe, facing betrayals and dangerous obstacles, Kelly’s strategic thinking and Devoe’s action-driven instincts clash but ultimately complement each other. Their pursuit culminates in a high-stakes showdown in Manhattan, where they must stop Gavrić before he detonates the bomb in a crowded area. Risking everything, they race against the clock to prevent a catastrophic attack and avert a global crisis.

The tagline for The Peacemaker was "Every nuclear device in the world has been accounted for...accept for one."

You can find The Peacemaker to rent or purchase on Apple TV or Amazon Prime.

Our next episode will be on Executive Power, a little-known political thriller directed by David L. Corley. Here is a brief plot synopsis.

While protecting the U.S. President, Secret Service agent Nick Sager helps him to dispose of the body of a young girl, who accidentally died during an adulterous encounter. Some time later, a few weeks before the elections, the disillusioned ex-agent is approached by his former partner. The President’s former aide, and one of few people who knew about the cover-up, is found dead in mysterious circumstances.

You can find Executive Power to rent on Amazon Prime.

Our producer is Connor Lynch and our artwork is by Rachel Eck. You can reach out to us over email at [email protected]

On this week's (somewhat delayed) episode of Unclear and Present Danger, Jamelle and John are joined by Matt Duss to discuss the 1998 conspiracy thriller Enemy of the State, directed by the late great Tony Scott and starring the late great Gene Hackman, as well as Will Smith, Jon Voight and Regina King.

In their discussion, Jamelle, John and Matt talk the film's vision of the American surveillance state, its spiritual connection to The Conversation, Will Smith's superstar performance, and the ways the movie anticipated some of the political disputes of the post-9/11 era.

The tagline for Enemy of the State was "It's not paranoia if they're really after you." You can find the film to rent or buy on Amazon.

For the next episode of the podcast, Jamelle and John will watch The Peacemaker, a 1997 political thriller directed by Mimi Leder (of Pay It Forward and Deep Impact fame) and starring George Clooney and Nicole Kidman.

And don’t forget about our Patreon! You can sign up at patreon.com/unclearpod. For just $5/month, you get two episodes on the films of the Cold War. Our next Patreon episode will be on The Conversation!

Our producer is Connor Smith and our artwork is by Rachel Eck

On this week’s episode of Unclear and Present Danger, we watched the 1997 action thriller Conspiracy Theory, directed by Richard Donner (which explains a lot) and starring Mel Gibson, Julia Roberts and Patrick Stewart.

In Conspiracy Theory, Gibson plays Jerry Fletcher, a cab driver who is consumed with all manner of conspiracies, using his captive audiences to share his ideas and delusions. He is fixated on Alice Sutton, played by Roberts, a Justice Department lawyer who tolerates him because he once saved her from a mugging. When Gibson is kidnapped by secretive government agents — led by the mysterious Dr. Jonas, played by Patrick Stewart — both he and Sutton become embroiled in a genuine conspiracy that centers on Fletcher’s mysterious past and raises difficult questions about the circumstances behind the murder of Sutton’s father.

Conspiracy Theory was a hit, grossing a total of $137 million and displacing Air Force One at the box office. The critical response was mixed but not altogether negative, with most reviewers criticizing its script and plotting but ultimately holding it up as a serviceable thriller.

The taglines for Conspiracy Theory were:

“They knew too much.”

“What you know could kill you.”

“What if your most paranoid nightmares had just come true?”

“Jerry Fletcher sees conspiracies everywhere. One has turned out to be true. Now his enemies want him dead. And she's the only one he can trust.”

You can find Conspiracy Theory to rent or purchase on Amazon Prime and Apple TV.

Episodes of the main feed come out every two weeks, and so we’ll see you then with Enemy of the State, the 1998 conspiracy thriller starring Will Smith and Gene Hackman.

And don’t forget about our Patreon! You can sign up at patreon.com/unclearpod. For just $5/month, you get two episodes on the films of the Cold War.

As always, our producer is Connor Lynch and our artwork is by Rachel Eck.

On this week’s episode of Unclear and Present Danger, Jamelle and John are joined by Max Read — of the Max Read Substack — to talk Air Force One, the 1997 action thriller directed by Wolfgang Petersen and starring none other than Harrison Ford as The President. Air Force One also stars Gary Oldman, Glenn Close, Wendy Crewson, Paul Guilfoyle, William H. Macy, Liesel Matthews and Dean Stockwell.

In Air Force One, as I’m sure you know, the president’s aircraft is hijacked by a group of terrorists who demand the release of their country’s imprisoned dictator. Rather than flee for safety, President James Marshall decides to take things into his own hands, confronting the terrorists one by one in an attempt to retake his plane. You can find Air Force One to buy or rent on Amazon Prime and Apple TV. The tagline for Air Force One is “Harrison Ford is the President of the United States.”

For our next episode, we will cover Richard Donner’s Conspiracy Theory, starring Mel Gibson, Julia Roberts and Patrick Stewart.

Be sure to sign up for our Patreon, where we watch the films of the Cold War and try to unpack them as political and historical documents! For $5 a month, you get two bonus episodes every month as well as access to the entire back catalog — we’re almost two years deep at this point. Sign up at patreon.com/unclearpod.