December 4, 2013 THE VILLADOM TIMES II & IV • Page 19 Three Jack Ryans appear in four-film collection by Dennis Seuling “The Jack Ryan Collection” (Paramount) is a four-disc Blu-ray box set consisting of four movies featuring three actors as the character created by novelist Tom Clancy. In “The Hunt for Red October,” a Rus- sian submarine under the command of Captain Marko Ramius (Sean Connery) heads for the U.S. coast. C.I.A. analyst Ryan (Alec Baldwin) must figure out what the captain intends. “Patriot Games” forces Ryan (Harrison Ford) into action after his family is nearly killed in a terrorist attack in London. In “Clear and Present Danger,” the best film in the collection, Ryan (Ford again) has become head of the C.I.A., but is kept out of a covert plan to send a military force to Colombia to avenge the death of the president’s closest friend. “Sum of All Fears” finds Ryan (Ben Affleck) defusing a probable war between the Soviet Union and the United States after a nuke explodes in Baltimore. Bonuses include director commentary, cast and crew interviews, theatrical trailers, and making-of featurettes. “The Wolverine” (20th Century-Fox) is a literate superhero movie. Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) is summoned to Tokyo by the dying Japanese billionaire the mutant with superpowers once rescued from atomic annihilation in Nagasaki. Logan, Wolver- ine’s alter-ego, must acclimate himself to customs and rituals that go directly against his savage instincts. The film includes ninjas, samurais, yakuza, and a mysterious blonde named Viper (Svetlana Khodchen- kova), who just might be a mutant. When one of his most important powers is lost, Wolverine becomes particularly vulner- able. Jackman is especially effective in this, his sixth outing as the clawed mutant. With muscles bulging and veins popping, he has turned himself into the picture’s primary special effect. Yet “The Wolverine” is one of the more character-driven superhero films of the last few years. It spends time, without bogging down the pace, delving into Logan’s inner demons, guilt, and sense of honor. Director James Mangold and Jackman deliver an intelligent, solid tale that goes beneath the muscles and mayhem to explore a creature who is mighty physically, but less Henry Czerny and Harrison Ford in ‘Clear and Present Danger,’ one of four films in ‘The Jack Ryan Collection’ box set. so psychologically. Extras on the two-disc Blu-ray/DVD combo pack include an alter- nate ending, digital copy, tour of the set, and making-of featurette. There is also a four-disc edition that contains a Blu-ray 3D version of the movie with extended cut and audio commentary. “Greenwich Village: Music That Defined a Generation” (Kino Lorber) is a documen- tary exploring the 1960s folk music scene that was centered in the Village, an area in lower Manhattan that, between 1961 and 1973, saw the emergence of the singer-song- writer with songs of love, relationships, and social conscience. Nar rated by Susan (continued on Crossword page)