Jack Ryan (Harrison Ford) is on a "working vacation" in London with his family. He has retired from the CIA and is a Professor at the US Naval Academy. Jack gives a lecture at the Royal Naval Academy and then walks out to meet up with his wife Cathy (Anne Archer) and daughter Sally (Thora Birch). Meanwhile, Cathy and Sally are sightseeing near Buckingham Palace. The two come upon a British Royal Guard, and Sally tries to get the guard to react by doing an improvised tap dance in front of him. She's impressed when the guard, trained to ignore distraction, has no reaction to her antics. As Sally and Cathy walk away from the guard, en route to rendezvous with Jack, they walk by a stolen cab, in which sit three Ulster Liberation Army (ULA) terrorists: Kevin O'Donnell (Patrick Bergin), the driver, as well as Sean Miller (Sean Bean) and his younger brother Patrick (Karl Hayden). The three are loading their guns as they prepare to carry out an ambush on Lord William Holmes (James Fox), the British Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, and a member of the British Royal Family (the cousin of the Queen Mother). As they finish loading their weapons, another accomplice, Annette (Polly Walker), radios to them that Lord Holmes is leaving the palace with his wife and son. As Lord Holmes's car leaves the palace, the terrorists' car falls in line behind him. They follow the car, headed for the ambush point. As they drive, O'Donnell and the Miller brothers don ski masks. Meanwhile, Ryan is about to cross the street to meet with his wife and daughter. He arrives at the same time that Lord Holmes's car is passing through the area. Moments later, Annette pulls another cab right in front of Lord Holmes's vehicle, forcing them to stop. Simultaneously, the cab driven by O'Donnell and the Millers boxes them in from behind. The Millers and another accomplice jump out and quickly plant a bomb underneath the chauffeured car's engine. Ryan sees what's going on and hastily gets his family to take cover just as the bomb is detonated. Moments later, Sean and another accomplice open fire on the car, killing Lord Holmes's driver and bodyguard. The onslaught does not kill Lord Holmes, who is currently using his body to shield his family. Sean marches over to the rear door and orders Lord Holmes out of the car at gunpoint. Ryan, unable to stand being just a bystander, immediately breaks cover, runs up behind Miller, and disarms him. As Ryan moves to grabs Sean's pistol, he is shot in the left shoulder by the unnamed accomplice. Ryan returns fire, fatally wounding the unnamed accomplice. As Patrick tries to run, Ryan fatally shoots him as well. Seeing two of the royal guards and the police racing towards the scene, O'Donnell and the remaining terrorists quickly get back in their cars and drive flee, leaving Sean to be arrested. They retreat back to a warehouse, where they change out license plates. Ryan is taken to the hospital to be treated for his injuries. He's visited by a representative from the US consulate and officers from the London police and questioned about his heroics. He's told about both Kevin O'Donnell, the leader of a violent ULA splinter group, and the Miller brothers, who were both orphaned at a young age and came under O'Donnell's care and tutelage. Sean is an especially dangerous and violent sociopath who shares O'Donnell's radical views about British rule of Northern Ireland. Ryan is called to testify against Sean Miller as a witness. Though Sean's counsel questions Ryan's involvement in the incident, citing that he's not a field agent with the CIA or any other organization that would operate in his manner, Ryan holds his own. Miller has an outburst as Ryan is led out of the court chamber and vows revenge. Subsequently, Miller is convicted on all charges and sentenced to life in prison. Ryan is awarded the order of Knight Commander of the Victorian Order and eventually returns to the United States. When they arrive, Cathy tells him she's been having morning sickness and that she's pregnant. On the possibility that Miller's ULA comrades might try to liberate him, the authorities take no chances. To that extent, they set up decoy convoys on the day that Miller is to be transferred to Albany Prison on the Isle of Wight. However, O'Donnell's associate, Annette, is able to get information about the convoy that carries Miller from a man named Dennis Cooley (Alex Norton), a rare books dealer and mole. Miller's motorcade is in transit with the officer in charge of Miller's arrest and incarceration, Inspector Robert Highland (David Threlfall), when it comes to a stop at a drawbridge. The raised bridge, however, is a trap meant to block them in. Moments after the convoy comes to a stop, Miller's comrades fire rocket launchers to blow up the escort cars, killing their drivers. They then march up to the prison van and order the guards out at gunpoint by taking the bridge operator hostage and threatening to shoot him. One of the guards talks back to them, and is shot dead for his troubles. The other officer and Highland are pulled out by O'Donnell, thrown on the ground, and forced to lie on their stomachs. O'Donnell chastises Highland, who is Irish, for turning against his own country and people. O'Donnell then hands Miller a pistol. Miller subsequently executes the two police officers and the bridge operator by shooting each of them in the back of the head, and then they flee the scene. Miller and his companions flee on a tramp steamer from Britain to Libya, to prepare for their next kidnapping attempt on Lord Holmes. Miller, however, cannot shake his anger towards Ryan for killing his younger brother and persuades several members of his entourage to accompany him to the United States on a short mission targeting Ryan and his family. Miller is accompanied by Annette, comrade Ned Clark (Keith Campbell), and a fourth henchman. Annette and Clark travel to the United States Naval Academy to ambush Ryan as he's leaving work. Ryan notices Clark idling nearby. Clark casually walks away, but Ryan clearly unnerved, then gets even more nervous as he hears a car engine starting. His suspicions are well warranted-as he continues walking down the street, he looks in the reflection of a parked van's rear-view door and sees that Clark, and the stolen car driven by Annette, are following him. Ryan pretends not to see them until he's walking past a parked panel truck, at which point he ducks behind the truck. Clark draws a silenced pistol and prepares to corner Ryan, but Ryan attacks him first. The two fight hand-to-hand and Clark quickly gets the upper hand, throwing Ryan to the curb. He grabs his pistol and is about to shoot Ryan when he's shot dead himself by a US Marine sentry. Annette quickly flees in her Jeep. Ryan, realizing that Miller is going after Cathy and Sally, jumps into his car and drives off. Simultaneously, Miller and the other henchman rent a brown work van and follow Cathy as she picks up Sally from school, with Miller riding shotgun. They prepare to follow the two but are temporarily held up by a crossing guard. Once the crossing guard clears, they pursue her to the highway. Ryan tries to frantically call Cathy on his car phone, but she is busy answering phone calls from the hospital. As he's trying to connect with her, Miller and his driver recklessly weave in and out of traffic to catch up with Cathy. Ryan eventually gets through to Cathy and tells her to get off the highway and find the nearest police station. Unfortunately, just as the call ends, Miller's van comes charging up on her using the left shoulder. Miller moves to the backseat of the van, grabs a sub-machine gun, and slides open the door. Another car momentarily delays him, but once he has a clear aim, Miller opens fire, spraying Cathy's car with bullets. A multi-car pileup ensues as Cathy loses control of her car and crashes head-on into a concrete barrier. Ryan, who has found himself stuck in traffic headed in the other direction, sees the smoke from the crash and realizes the worst. Cathy and Sally are airlifted to a nearby hospital for treatment. Cathy will recover quickly and her pregnancy is unaffected. Sally, however, is in very bad shape and her chances are 50/50. Ryan eventually finds out a few hours later that Sally will recover but it will take time. Late one night Ryan receives a phone call from Miller himself. Miller taunts Ryan, suggesting that Jack can't protect his family and he'll never find Miller. Enraged, Ryan decides to go back to work for the CIA, having earlier rejected the appeal of his former superior, Vice Admiral James Greer (James Earl Jones). His old contact, Marty Cantor (J.E. Freeman), teams him up with a small group that specializes in the ULA and other Irish terrorist groups. Ryan's tireless work leads him to conclude that Miller is in hiding at a training camp, one of many located in Libya. He also determines that a recent new arrival at the camp may be Dennis Cooley, who'd escaped the London police when he discovered they were using surveillance devices in his bookshop. Ryan, through IRA spokesman Paddy O'Neil (Richard Harris), also determines that the woman with long red hair that he saw driving one of the cars in the attack on Lord Holmes and in the attempt on his own life at the naval academy, is the same woman who works for O'Donnell and is in one of the Libyan camps. Ryan makes his recommendations to his superiors at the CIA. Greer invites Jack to a live feed of a SAS strike team attack on the camp. Everyone in the camp is eliminated but unbeknownst to the CIA and Ryan, Miller and his companions have already fled the camp and are on their way to the US to stage their next attack on Lord Holmes. Lord Holmes decides to visit Ryan at his home to formally present his KCVO. With the aid of Lord Holmes' traitorous assistant, Miller's group tracks Holmes to this location, kills the Diplomatic Security Service agents and Maryland state troopers guarding the house, and attempts once more to kidnap Lord Holmes. Ryan leads Holmes and his family to safety while he attempts to lure Miller and his companions away from his home by stealing one of the boats they'd arrived in at the cliffs near the Ryan's home. A furious boat chase in a heavy storm on the Chesapeake Bay ensues, with Miller, Annette, and O'Donnell in pursuit. The FBI Hostage Rescue Teams are scrambled to pick up Holmes. Upon realizing that Ryan is trying to lead them away from Holmes, Miller's companions try to persuade Miller to turn around, but an enraged and deranged Miller kills his terrorist companions and continues his pursuit of Ryan. Ryan and Miller fight hand to hand; Miller is killed when Ryan impales him backward on a boat anchor, and his body is obliterated in the subsequent explosion of the craft when it hits a rocky reef. Credits roll just after Caroline Ryan learns the gender of the child she is going to have, and before she tells Jack and Sally.
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