The only sequel in a 5-film franchise that can’t stop itself from perpetually rebooting gets drawn into a deadly streaming cover-up

You’ve got to hand it to Paramount for refusing to let the Jack Ryan franchise peter out and wither away, even if we’ve been forced to endure five feature films and a TV series starring no less than five different actors in the title role over the course of more than 30 years.

Under normal circumstances that would prove to be wildly excessive, but each and every one of the Tom Clancy-derived productions – with the notable exception of the offensively bland Shadow Recruit – has proven to be uniquely popular and engaging in its own right.

Your mileage may vary as to which Jack Ryan adventure can be definitively labeled the best, but the majority of people would surely agree that Harrison Ford made for the best iteration of the government-sponsored hero. To be fair, he was the only one who got to play the part more than once prior to John Krasinski’s recently-concluded four-season run, but Clear and Present Danger remains as exciting now as it was back in the early 1990s when it first arrived.

Streaming subscribers seem to agree anyway, seeing as FlixPatrol has named it as one of the most-watched features on both Netflix and iTunes worldwide watch-list. Alec Baldwin, Ben Affleck, Chris Pine, Ford, and Krasinski have all had their shot at bringing Ryan to life, but it’s fair to say the Star Wars and Indiana Jones icon made the most indelible impression.

The action sequences pop, the ensemble is solid across the board, and there a myriad of other reasons why Clear and Present Danger is lauded by many as Ryan’s best-ever outing.