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PODCAST

Clear and Present Dudes: A Thriller Movies Podcast

Ruari O’Toole | Michael Dunbar | Saanje Bjorkson

It"s a defence podcast! It"s a cinema podcast! It"s Clear and Present Dudes! Join Naval officers and Tom Clancy fans Mike Dunbar and Saanje Björkson and resident civvy expert Ruari O" Toole as we dissect spy and political thrillers, courtroom dramas, crime movies and military action films from the ’70s–10s in a spoilercast format. What began as a mission to watch every Tom Clancy adaptation became unpreventable mission‑creep: we watch the films, unpack the heroes and villains, the Ships and the

tv & film film history

All Episodes

02:09:42

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014)

Clear and Present Dudes: A Thriller Movies Podcast ·

2026/04/06

The Dudes return to Tom Clancy spy thriller territory with YET ANOTHER reboot of Jack Ryan! This time Chris Pine is at the helm, with Kenneth Branagh directing. The Dudes discuss the Cathy Ryan power rankings, and why Keira Knightley is maybe the best? Controversial. Maybe that should be the youtube thumbnail. Anyway this movie is a bit weird, and so is this episode!This is a spoilercast and every episode is full spoilers. Jack Ryan Shadow Recruit, spy thriller, film analysis, movie review, Chris

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02:20:44

Goncharov (1973)

Clear and Present Dudes: A Thriller Movies Podcast ·

2026/04/01

The Dudes ask not for whom the bell tolls, for it tolls for Goncharov! The crime thriller arthouse Italian gangster flick from the mind of Martin Scorsese, Matteo Sciochezze, produced by Domenico Procacci goes under the magnifying glass. Starring Robert De Niro and the eponymous 'Lo Straniero' Goncharov, and co-starring a stacked cast including Cybill Shepherd, Al Pacino, Harvey Keitel, Gene Hackman, John Cazale, Sophia Loren, and incredibly an uncredited Lynda Carter. The dudes dig deep

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02:14:26

The Fugitive (1993)

Clear and Present Dudes: A Thriller Movies Podcast ·

2026/03/23

FIND THAT MAN! The Dudes are on the hunt for the one-armed man, while we flee the long prosthetic arm of the law in this week's crime thriller The Fugitive! Starring PEAK Harrison Ford, Academy Award winning Tommy Lee Jones, and JOE PANTOLIANO. Dr Richard Kimble is man convicted of murdering his wife, but when the chance to escape the bus taking him to prison arises, he seizes it and becomes...THE FUGITIVE. *This is a spoilercast and every episode is full spoilers*We merry dudes, despite

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02:25:20

Podcasthon 2026 Special - Fateful Findings (2012) for...

Clear and Present Dudes: A Thriller Movies Podcast ·

2026/03/16

Thriller cinema has never met an auteur like Neil Breen before - this week the dudes continue hacking these government systems and find out about the weirdest movie you haven't seen! In support of Podcasthon 2026 and Trash Cats Rescue this special Bonusode is fun way to try and shed light on a subject we dudes care deeply about - cats, and how great they are, and how they shouldn't live in cat misery, underfed and poorly. Trash Cats rescue https://trashcatrescue.org/ is an adoption centre in

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02:25:13

Manhunter (1986)

Clear and Present Dudes: A Thriller Movies Podcast ·

2026/01/26

Zip that little pointer down to the letter 'D' for DUDES as we return to conclude Michael Mannuary 2026 with crime thriller Manhunter. The film that introduced us to Hannibal Lecter by way of Brian Cox, and William Graham via William Petersen. The Dudes dissect another American Giallo adjacent movie featuring Dennis Farina, and get in deep with the weird and unsettling world of Tom Harris' underworld of cannibals and murderers. *This is a spoilercast and every episode is full spoilers*

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02:25:46

Collateral (2004)

Clear and Present Dudes: A Thriller Movies Podcast ·

2026/01/12

Season 2 kicks off with a thriller deep-dive into propulsive crime thriller from Michael Mann that sees Jamie Foxx's Max - a cabbie with big dreams - take a fare that changes the trajectory of his life, when Tom Cruise's Vincent - a hitman with 5 targets to kill in one night - gets into his cab. This is a spoilercast and every episode is full spoilers.KeywordsCollateral, Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx, film analysis, cinematography, character dynamics, morality, jazz, Los Angeles, action thriller,

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02:12:36

Mission: Impossible (1996)

Clear and Present Dudes: A Thriller Movies Podcast ·

2025/12/22

Your mission, should you choose to accept it is to listen to three espionage-pilled dudes dissect the 1996 Brian De Palma spy thriller Mission: Impossible. Tom Cruise births the franchise that would redefine action cinema as we know it - starring Jon Voight, Emmanuelle Béart, Jean Reno, Ving Rhames, Henry Czerny and Kristin Scott Thomas and Vanessa Redgrave! Stacked cast, big thrills - but a little bit goofier than we remember. Suitably, the dudes reflect on military procurement in Sauron's Mordor

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02:22:08

The Untouchables (1987)

Clear and Present Dudes: A Thriller Movies Podcast ·

2025/12/09

"If he pulls a knife, you pull a gun! If he sends one of yours to the hospital, you send one of his to the morgue! That's the Chicago way!" This week the dudes are joined by real life (distant) relative of Al Capone, Jen Lounsbury! We unpack Brian De Palma's 1987 crime thriller classic The Untouchables starring Kevin Costner, Sean Connery, Robert De Niro and Andy Garcia. This is a spoilercast and every episode is full spoilers.Keywords: The Untouchables, Brian DePalma, Al Capone,

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02:05:29

Smokin' Aces (2006)

Clear and Present Dudes: A Thriller Movies Podcast ·

2025/11/24

This week the Dudes dissect the crazy-busy crime caper Smokin' Aces (2006) directed by Joe Carnahan and starring Ryan Renyolds, Ray Liotta, Jeremy Piven, Chris Pine, Andy Garcia, Alicia Keys, Common... the list goes on! Saanje didn't watch the movie so it was up to Mike and Ruari to explain the plot and boy, did it take some doing. This is a spoilercast and each episode is full spoilers. Keywords: Smoking Aces, film review, character analysis, violence in cinema, dark humor, cinematic

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02:13:03

A Few Good Men (1992)

Clear and Present Dudes: A Thriller Movies Podcast ·

2025/11/07

REUPLOAD: Had to remove the movie trailer due to a copyright infringement .Another fast-food slick-ass Persian bazaar episode of Clear and Present Dudes! This week the dudes delve deep into Aaron Sorkin's feature debut - A Few Good Men, the definitive military courtroom drama starring Tom Cruise, Demi Moore, Jack Nicholson, Kevin Bacon, Keifer Sutherland and Kevin Pollack. We discuss why the dastardly Colonel Jessup is talking about Gitmo like it's Western Front, and how this movie nearly had George

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02:07:47

Unstoppable (2010)

Clear and Present Dudes: A Thriller Movies Podcast ·

2025/10/24

SCOTTOBERFEST 2025! These DUDES are TRAIN DUDES! This week we conclude this year's SCOTTOBERFEST with his final movie, Unstoppable. Starring Denzel Washington and Chris Pine, this movie asks - what if a train GOT AWAY? and WHO could stop it? It's phenomenal. There are no spies in it. We discuss all matters train, such as the Tyne and Wear Metro Musical, and what the thing that goes between the cars is called.Keywords: KeywordsUnstoppable, Tony Scott, Denzel Washington, Chris Pine, movie

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02:03:23

Crimson Tide (1995)

Clear and Present Dudes: A Thriller Movies Podcast ·

2025/10/10

SCOTTOBERFEST - Crimson Tide (1995)Dive stations, Dudes! In this episode, Mike, Ruari and Saanje plunge into the 1995 Tony Scott thriller Crimson Tide. They navigate the film’s torpedo-loaded themes of leadership under pressure, toxic command culture, and what happens when two men with nuclear launch keys start arguing about Clausewitz and Lipizzaner stallions.The hosts dissect the clash between Captain Ramsey (Gene Hackman) and Lt. Cdr. Hunter (Denzel Washington) — a philosophical showdown that’s

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02:02:43

Three Days of the Condor (1975)

Clear and Present Dudes: A Thriller Movies Podcast ·

2025/09/26

In this episode the Dudes aren't spies, we just read books! In this week's thriller movie, Robert Redford is Joe Turner - a CIA analyst who must go on the run when his entire section house is slaughtered out of the blue. Featuring an unnerving Max Von Sydow and a mesmerising Faye Dunaway, Sydney Pollack's 1975 espionage flick Three Days of the Condor was the film that finally ended Jaws' blockbuster run. We delve deep into greyzone warfare, the toxic love affair between Kathy and

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02:07:22

Firefox (1982)

Clear and Present Dudes: A Thriller Movies Podcast ·

2025/09/12

In this episode of Clear and Present Dudes we strap in and taxi down the runway in our shonky Iranian Qaher F-313 for Clint Eastwood’s 1982 Cold War techno‑thriller Firefox. We follow former USAF pilot Mitchell Gant as the CIA recruits him to infiltrate the Soviet Union and steal the secret, thought‑controlled supersonic fighter plane known as the MiG 31 Firefox — a tense spy mission full of tradecraft, KGB cat‑and‑mouse, and jaw‑tight aerial showdowns.We unpack Firefox as an espionage movie and

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02:15:03

Enemy of the State (1998)

Clear and Present Dudes: A Thriller Movies Podcast ·

2025/08/29

Robert Clayton Dean (Will Smith) as an ordinary lawyer who stumbles into a raw, dirty conspiracy after discovering evidence tied to a senator’s murder — and then finds himself hunted by a rogue NSA cell. He reluctantly joins forces with Brill (Gene Hackman), a haunted former operative, and suddenly every camera, cellphone, and piece of data is a weapon.On this episode of Clear and Present Dudes we put on a VPN, stop making calls (even from a payphone), and go deep underground to litigate Tony

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01:28:57

War of the Worlds (2025)

Clear and Present Dudes: A Thriller Movies Podcast ·

2025/08/17

Disclaimer: Due to the setup on this rare in-person recording there are some slight and occasional audio quality issues in the first 20-30 minutes. No one would have believed in the twenty-fifth year of the twenty-first century that this world was being trolled keenly and closely by content slop-making intelligences way way lesser than man's and yet as mortal as his own…In this Very Special Episode we’re calling Clear and Present Brews the dudes are joined by Ruari’s better half Emma and pod in

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02:42:32

Striking Distance (1993)

Clear and Present Dudes: A Thriller Movies Podcast ·

2025/08/08

The senior members of the NY sanitation department dress like generals! Did a cop plant weed on Richard the Lionheart while a minstrel sang the world’s first reggae song? All this and more as the dudes litigate the 1993 action thriller Striking Distance. Tom Hardy, a homicide detective with the Pittsburgh Police Department finds himself demoted to the River Rescue while investigating the murder of his father. When all his ex girlfriends start turning up dead, this already personal crime becomes…

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02:18:46

Tom Clancy’s Op Center (1995)

Clear and Present Dudes: A Thriller Movies Podcast ·

2025/07/23

If you’ve got a problem, a nobody can help, and if you can find them - maybe you can hire… the Ops Centre. The Dudes get their battle staff on and watch the 1995 TV movie Tom Clancy’s Op Centre. When a rogue KGB Colonel steals three nuclear warheads from a Ukrainian storage facility, it’s up to the National Crisis Management Centre to save the day.An all-star cast of Carl Weathers, Wilford Brimley, Harry Hamlin and Kim Catrall head up what is a meandering, somewhat confusing and quite slow paced

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02:19:01

The Hunt for Red October (1990)

Clear and Present Dudes: A Thriller Movies Podcast ·

2025/06/30

The dudes, in an effort to prevent a fatal miscalculation, sound ‘one ping only’ and litigate the Tom Clancy adaptation that started it all: The Hunt for Red October. The movie that brought Dr Jack Ryan to cinema audiences, and Alec Baldwin to the masses. Connery is back, as Marko Ramius - Lithuanian Soviet Submarine Commander wishing to defect to the West, and only CIA analyst Jack Ryan understands his intent. Submarine action - shonky accents - and Stellan Skarsgård being an arrogant ass. This

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02:48:28

Meteor (1979)

Clear and Present Dudes: A Thriller Movies Podcast ·

2025/06/28

The dudes discuss 1979’s disaster flick ‘Meteor’ starring Sean Connery, Natalie Wood, Martin Landau and Henry Fonda as ‘The President’. A giant meteor is heading toward the earth! The US has space nukes, the USSR has space nukes! They need to cooperate to save the world, they also have to work in a series of small rooms which are mainly brown.

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21 results

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