I'm afraid there's nothing listed for this title. Add something here!
Character mistake: Characters refer to the Dallas and the Red October as "ships," but anyone stationed aboard a submarine would know to call it a "boat."
Jeffrey Pelt: Mr. Ryan, I'm a politician. Which means I'm a cheat and a liar and when I'm not kissing babies I'm stealing their lollipops.
Trivia: Paramount Studios essentially rented a US submarine to be in the movie. The USS Houston (SSN 713) played the USS Dallas and the surface scenes were filmed off of Long Beach, CA and Port Angelas, WA. Two crewmembers off the Houston were actually given very small speaking parts in the movie.
Question: During the ending sequence (with the Alpha) the Red October is running on the screws instead of the caterpillar. Now, we know the "reactor leak" was fake...and we know that the caterpillar was working normally (right after Ramius says "let us turn South" you see the Red October dive over a canyon wall with the screws not moving hence the caterpillar running). Wouldn't it have been wiser to run on the caterpillar during the ending?
Chosen answer: No, (mentioned in the book, not the film), the caterpillar can only drive Red October at a little over 1/2 her top speed. Speed is far more important than silence at this point.
Answer: The caterpillar was repaired but later after the crew exited screws were on and caterpillar was operation. The Russian fleet was still on there tail you still should be on silent drive. Movie shows them running on normal propulsion. Possible movie boo boo. Makes no sense.
The Caterpillar is not silent, it just does not sound like a sub. This is how the Dallas was able to track Red October even when it was running on the caterpillar. The Dallas just need to know what it sounded like. Presumably The Alpha knows what to listen for so speed would be important.
Join the mailing list
Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.
Answer: The caterpillar drive was inoperable. The reactor leak was staged by the defecting officers, but the sabotage to the caterpillar (by the undercover KGB agent posing as the cook) was real.