Tom Clancy's Without Remorse (Amazon Prime) Movie Review & Comments

I watched it last night.
It seems there was at some point a film in there, then during the process it went to pot! The editing in the second half is atrocious.

seems they’re making Rainbow Six with the same character next. I wouldn’t bother.

No Remorse...

script
Direction
Style
Intelligence
/10
 
I watched this yesterday whilst nursing a hangover. That probably helped as I just needed a distraction from the poor decisions I made which led to said hangover.

It was pretty ridiculous, the plot (generous) was up there with a Call of Duty game. It did the job though, the action was watchable.

Short version: get really drunk the night before you watch it.
 
Perfectly adequate, thinly drawn 80’s style actioner. I’m not familiar Clancy’s books and I’m sure that helps.
Jordan elevates it to a watchable level. It’s all very generically predictable (disappointing considering Sheridan‘s involvement), but the action sequences are solidly put together and it gets an extra half mark for Jonsi’s atmospheric score.
6.5
You should really read the book of Without Remorse and then you’ll see why everyone is so offended, but mainly you’ll have read a great book.
 
Didn't hang around long enough to check that out.... cheers.

EDIT.

So the post credits scene is setting up Rainbow 6. Which of course will bear little resemblance to the excellent book.
I guess Clarke/Kelly didn't need all that experience he got working black ops/as a spy in all the corners of the world for years in this "lite" version.
So much potential wasted.

let's face it, he needed as much experience /effort as the writers did when they defined the plot.
 
What i don't understand is Amazon or the studio that brought the rights, must have put some money down. You would have thought any initial investment would have made them actually read the plot before green lighting it and go 'wait one second, this is a copy of x, y, z movies and a dozen tv shows'
 
I was so disappointed this wasn't "Tom Clancy's Without Remorse".....I have been waiting for this film since I first read the book.....a very taut thriller and great origin story.....

Then we have this.......

Alright Saturday Night actioner that has no right, other than branding, to have Tom Clancy's name on it......
 
Finished this earlier. Absolute tosh. I feel grubby even giving it a 4/10.

Huge missed opportunity, and completely let down by a terrible script and story. This couldn't have been "the" Tyler Sheridan, it must have been another who just happens to have the same name.

Lazy, cliched and just plain old boring. The big bad so obvious the second they appear too, which renders the whole thing onwards devoid of interest. And the one thing a "Tom Clancy" story is never meant to be is devoid of interest.

Michael B. Jordan is far better than this as well.
 
I seriously think comparisons with a book when reviewing a film is never entirely relevant, so much more can be conveyed on a few hundred pages than an hour or so on film, often only the bare bones get transferred to the screen.
But having said that there is no excuse for basically poor plot, continuity, direction or script.

I believe all films should be reviewed afresh without direct comparison with the original source, but that’s just me.
 
I seriously think comparisons with a book when reviewing a film is never entirely relevant

The thing is, for all this had in common with the book, it may as well have been set in Hogwarts.

It's not even the bare bones of the book.

He's a Navy Seal - Check....ish (in the book he's retired and now an underwater demolitions expert)
He's called John Kelly - Check.

That's it.

Book spoilers

In the book his pregnant wife dies in an accident. He's distraught and becomes reclusive. He meets a girl and falls in love. It turns out she was forced into drug addiction and prostitution. Her past catches up to her and she's killed. Kelly goes on a rampage and destroys the drug dealers, pimps, and anyone who was involved.
There's a pile of sub plots as well I can't remember regarding an airman shot down in Vietnam and his rescue.



They've used the name of the book and "Tom Clancys" purely to hook the viewer.
 
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The thing is, for all this had in common with the book, it may as well have been set in Hogwarts.

It's not even the bare bones of the book.

He's a Navy Seal - Check....ish (in the book he's retired and now an underwater demolitions expert)
He's called John Kelly - Check.

That's it.

Book spoilers

In the book his pregnant wife dies in an accident. He's distraught and becomes reclusive. He meets a girl and falls in love. It turns out she was forced into drug addiction and prostitution. Her past catches up to her and she's killed. Kelly goes on a rampage and destroys the drug addicts, pimps, and anyone who was involved.
There's a pile of sub plots as well I can't remember regarding an airman shot down in Vietnam and his rescue.



They've used the name of the book and "Tom Clancys" purely to hook the viewer.

It's a stunning book of vengeance and espionage. If anything the plot is the
imprisoned Vietnam pilot, the subplot Kelly going full Liam Neeson and wiping out some pond life using his "particular set of skills."

There's more intelligence in one page of that novel than the 110 pages of this film's script.

The ultimate irony being the Clancy story would actually make for a tremendous film. Probably better than all the Jack Ryan stuff we've had thus far.

Yes I am bloody bitter.
 
It's been a long time since I read it. I just picked it up the other night again but I'm only on Chapter 3.

Even the setting of it, during the Vietnam war, gives it a certain, distinct, feeling.
And it obviously makes more sense with it tying into the Clancyverse from a novels perspective as by the time we get to Rainbow 6 he's a grizzled, past middle-aged man, even more like Neeson with his set of skills.

I think Rainbow 6 is due another read once I've finished Without Remorse.
 
The thing is, for all this had in common with the book, it may as well have been set in Hogwarts.

It's not even the bare bones of the book.

He's a Navy Seal - Check....ish (in the book he's retired and now an underwater demolitions expert)
He's called John Kelly - Check.

That's it.

Book spoilers

In the book his pregnant wife dies in an accident. He's distraught and becomes reclusive. He meets a girl and falls in love. It turns out she was forced into drug addiction and prostitution. Her past catches up to her and she's killed. Kelly goes on a rampage and destroys the drug dealers, pimps, and anyone who was involved.
There's a pile of sub plots as well I can't remember regarding an airman shot down in Vietnam and his rescue.



They've used the name of the book and "Tom Clancys" purely to hook the viewer.
Yes, exactly......so no point really, if the film tried to include all the book’s story you’d have another “The Irishman” to watch :) .....or even longer!
 
Yes, exactly

No, it's not exactly.

It's not even the bare bones of the book. The similarities are the character's name and a small part of his background. Other than that they have no resemblance.


You can pare back a book and still make a great film that has a distinct association with the novel that spawned it.
This has virtually no connection.
 
Didn't hang around long enough to check that out.... cheers.

EDIT.

So the post credits scene is setting up Rainbow 6. Which of course will bear little resemblance to the excellent book.
I guess Clarke/Kelly didn't need all that experience he got working black ops/as a spy in all the corners of the world for years in this "lite" version.
So much potential wasted.
I didn't stick around either, will have to check it out later. As much as I want a R6 film, if they follow the same format as this film, i.e. no relation to the book, then its better if they don't do it, as it will prevent it from being made properly in the future.
 
No, it's not exactly.

It's not even the bare bones of the book. The similarities are the character's name and a small part of his background. Other than that they have no resemblance.


You can pare back a book and still make a great film that has a distinct association with the novel that spawned it.
This has virtually no connection.
That’s why I said “exactly”....why compare as it’s not even the backbone of the story as you say.

Anyway I haven’t read the book, not being a bookworm and never have been so I cannot compare, I just gave my view of the film as a film in its own right.

Just MHO.
 
That’s why I said “exactly”....why compare as it’s not even the backbone of the story as you say.

Anyway I haven’t read the book, not being a bookworm and never have been so I cannot compare, I just gave my view of the film as a film in its own right.

Just MHO.

So why call it Tom Clancy's Without Remorse?

I don't think you can avoid at least addressing the comparisons.

You may not have read this book, but pick a single book you've ever read, and imagine they took the author's name and title, and character name, and then made a completely different and utterly generic movie unrelated to that piece of work. That would be pretty pointless and more than a little bit frustrating.

I think the review pretty clearly establishes that those who have no knowledge/interest in the Clancy character or books would be better served by this by-the-numbers actioner, but you can't pretend the two are unrelated.

Perhaps, as has been said a few times now, the best thing would have been to just call it something else, utterly unrelated to the novels/universe. It would have been a perfectly serviceable straight-to-streaming action franchise for Jordan to embark upon (although he deserves better), in the vein of Neeson's Taken series.

You don't stick a "Tom Clancy's" at the start and expect people to ignore it.
 
No, it's not exactly.

It's not even the bare bones of the book. The similarities are the character's name and a small part of his background. Other than that they have no resemblance.


You can pare back a book and still make a great film that has a distinct association with the novel that spawned it.
This has virtually no connection.

Despite the extended franchise going off the rails, it's definitely one of the strong points of the Clancyverse.

As in the review, October and particularly Clear and Present were pretty impossibly dense to adapt, yet I think the films did a fantastic job - exactly what you say, just pare it back, make a great film which is absolutely relatable to the source material but which doesn't get bogged down in bringing it to life on a page-by-page basis.

Hell, even Sum of All Fears was on point, just hampered by Ford dropping out and having to retcon the tale as an origin story.

This and Shadow Recruit don't even bother trying, which is a real shame.
 
So why call it Tom Clancy's Without Remorse?

You don't stick a "Tom Clancy's" at the start and expect people to ignore it.
Because it sells

They don’t care about comparisons, only within these forums do people care.

The money has been made.
 
5/10 is very generous lol. Goodness knows why I bothered to watch it all the way through. It's like someone at the studio had lost the key to the originality cupboard!
 
Sit back . Switch off the brain and enjoy for 95 odd minutes, 7/10 for me
 
What i don't understand is Amazon or the studio that brought the rights, must have put some money down. You would have thought any initial investment would have made them actually read the plot before green lighting it and go 'wait one second, this is a copy of x, y, z movies and a dozen tv shows'
Amazon Prime video do show a lot of rubbish and budget stuff, as a quick look at their offerings show.
When a reasonably expensive to make product comes a long enjoy it while you can.
 
What i don't understand is Amazon or the studio that brought the rights, must have put some money down. You would have thought any initial investment would have made them actually read the plot before green lighting it and go 'wait one second, this is a copy of x, y, z movies and a dozen tv shows'
I noticed things were dated 2019 in the film. Something suggests to me this was made a while ago and nobody wanted it so Amazon got it cheap in the hope they could develop the Tom Clancy “universe”.
 
Listening to the AVF podcast, and following up on a point by @Tom Davies I do actually think all of the actual set pieces outside of the finale building shootouts were well conceived and crafted. Opening was good, house raid good, the airport car scene and prison scene were excellent and original, the plane sequence, only devolving to generic at the end.
 
Listening to the AVF podcast, and following up on a point by @Tom Davies I do actually think all of the actual set pieces outside of the finale building shootouts were well conceived and crafted. Opening was good, house raid good, the airport car scene and prison scene were excellent and original, the plane sequence, only devolving to generic at the end.

Yup, I defo think, as an MBJ action series (under a different name), this would have some legs.
 
Well I got a Movie for my Amazon Prime Subscription .
Was OK I did enjoy it , Only a Blu Ray not a 4k buy , But that's what Streaming;s for ?
 

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