The Hunt for Red October (1990)

James Earl Jones: Admiral Greer

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Quotes 

• Admiral James Greer : Now, understand, Commander, that torpedo did not self-destruct. You heard it hit the hull. And I...

  [showing him his identification] 

  Admiral James Greer : ... was never here.

• Jack Ryan : Where are we going, anyway?

  Admiral James Greer : Briefing for Jeffrey Pelt, the President's National Security Advisor. Most of the Joint Chiefs will be there, along with a few other people.

  Jack Ryan : Who's giving the briefing?

  Admiral James Greer : You are.

• Jack Ryan : I've got a line on those doors. You know what they are?

  Admiral James Greer : A nearly silent propulsion system?

  Jack Ryan : [taken aback]  How did you know that?

  Admiral James Greer : The captain of the sub we had following her radioed in. Thing up and disappeared right in front of 'em.

• Lieutenant Commander Mike Hewitt : Red October has just turned into the torpedo's path.

  Admiral James Greer : Mother of God!

• Admiral James Greer : [after the meeting where Jack Ryan has just explained - quite boldly - his theory that Capt. Raimus is defecting]  I told you to speak your mind Jack, but Jesus

  [laughing a little] 

  Admiral James Greer : ...!

• Admiral James Greer : [concerning a briefing for Jeffrey Pelt about the Red October and what she's capable of]  He's liable to ask some direct questions. Give him direct answers. Tell him what you think.

• Judge Moore (Briefing) : Before sailing, Captain Ramius sent a letter to Admiral Yuri Padorin, chairman of the Red Fleet, northern political directorate.

  Jack Ryan : [quietly to Greer]  That's her uncle.

  Admiral James Greer : Whose uncle?

  Jack Ryan : Ramius' wife. Padorin's her uncle.

  Judge Moore (Briefing) : Now, the contents of the letter are unknown, but Admiral Padorin immediately demanded a meeting with Premier Cherenenko, and within minutes of that meeting, the Soviet fleet sailed with orders to find Red October... and sink her.

  Jeffrey Pelt : Sink her?

  Admiral (Briefing) : Oh, my god, they've got a madman on their hands.

• Jack Ryan : British Intelligence obtained these pictures two days ago. She's the Red October, the latest Typhoon-class.

  Admiral James Greer : Big son of a bitch.

  Jack Ryan : 12 meters longer than the standard Typhoon, three meters wider. The captain's name is Ramius.

  Admiral James Greer : One of yours?

  Jack Ryan : Yeah. I did the bio on him last year. He's taken out the lead boat in each new sub class for the last ten years. Fairly good political connections. Trained most of their attack boat skippers. The Russians call him Vilnius Nastavnic; the Vilnius Schoolmaster.

  Admiral James Greer : What are these doors?

  Jack Ryan : Those doors, sir, are the problem. I-I don't know what they are. Neither do the British. Perhaps our friends in Murmansk have come up with something new.

• [after Jack has just arrived at the Central Intelligence Agency] 

  Admiral James Greer : Jesus! You look like hell!

• Jack Ryan : The last 24 hours have seen some extraordinary Soviet naval activity. The first to sail was this ship, we believe called the Red October, in reference to the October Revolution of 1917. A variant of the Typhoon class, she's some 650 feet long and 32,000 tons submerged displacement; roughly the same size as a World War II aircraft carrier. We believe that these doors, here on the bow and again on the stern, enclose a unique propulsion system - a magneto-hydrodynamic drive, or caterpillar, that would enable the sub to run virtually silent. It is possible that this new drive system allowed the captain, a man named Ramius, their senior and perhaps most respected commander...

  [to an aide] 

  Jack Ryan : Do we have his picture available?

  [turning back to Pelt and the others] 

  Jack Ryan : ...allowed Ramius to elude one of our attack boats, the Dallas, which trailed Red October from harbor this morning. It is also possible that this drive system, if operable, could render the Red October undetectable to our SOSUS warning nets in the Atlantic.

  Jeffrey Pelt : Mr. Ryan, would you characterize this as a first-strike weapon?

  Jack Ryan : Uh, that is a possibility, sir. Uh, it is designed to approach by stealth and to shower its target with multiple independent warheads with little or no warning before impact.

  Admiral (Briefing) : God damn thing's made to start a war.

  Jeffrey Pelt : Proceed, Mr. Ryan.

  Jack Ryan : About the same time the Dallas lost contact, there were additional sailings from Polijarny and from Leningrad on the Baltic and from the Mediterranean. There are now some 58 nuclear submarines headed at high speed into the Atlantic. This afternoon, a satellite pass over Polijarny found heat blooms in the engineering plants at the Kirov, the Minsk, and more than 20 other cruisers and destroyers, indicating they were preparing to sail. This constitutes the bulk of the Soviet surface fleet.

  Jeffrey Pelt : Admiral Greer, your conclusions?

  Admiral James Greer : Well, sir, the data support no conclusions as yet. The absence of activity in the Pacific suggests this could be just an exercise. It may have nothing to do...

  General (Briefing) : Suppose it's not an exercise? Suppose this is the beginning of a move against NATO?

• Admiral James Greer : So, how's Caroline? Last time I saw her was at your granddad's place in Maine, wasn't it?

  Jack Ryan : She's fine. Sends you her best.

  Admiral James Greer : And Sally?

  Jack Ryan : She's fine.

  Admiral James Greer : What is she now, 3?

  Jack Ryan : Uh, no, she's a very precocious five. Uh, she announced to Caroline and I the other day that her life would be considerably less lonely if we were to buy her a baby brother.

  Admiral James Greer : Buy one?

  Jack Ryan : Buy one. But, um, she decided it would be enough if were to buy one for Stanley.

  Admiral James Greer : Who's Stanley?

  Jack Ryan : Uh... Stanley's a bear.

  Admiral James Greer : All right. What's important enough to get you on a plane in the middle of the night?