Crimson Tide (1995) — PICK

The Hunt for Red October (1990) — PICK

The Mask of Zorro (1998) — PICK

The Princess Bride (1987) — PICK

Excellent tales of derring-do abound among recent streaming options, including two submarine thrillers and two sword-brandishing swashbucklers.

On Amazon Prime, Alec Baldwin plays Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan opposite Sean Connery in John McTiernan’s Cold War classic The Hunt for Red October. Hulu viewers can enjoy Denzel Washington and Gene Hackman’s nerve-wracking game of nuclear brinkmanship in Tony Scott’s riveting Crimson Tide (listen for the choral rendition of the hymn Eternal Father, Strong to Save on the soundtrack).

For Netflix subscribers, Antonio Banderas, Anthony Hopkins and Catherine Zeta-Jones do the Zorro tradition proud in Martin Campbell’s next-generation swashbuckler The Mask of Zorro, while, on Hulu, Cary Elwes, Robin Wright and Mandy Patinkin delight in Rob Reiner’s The Princess Bride.

 

 CAVEAT SPECTATOR: Crimson Tide: Intense menace and some violence; brief crude sexual references; much harsh language, some profanity and cursing. Mature viewing. The Hunt for Red October: Brief gunplay and some violence; some profanity and cursing. Teens and up. The Mask of Zorro: Much stylized violence; mild sexual innuendo; fleeting rear nudity; a gross-out scene with a decapitated head in a jar of water. Teens and up. The Princess Bride: Swashbuckling violence; a stylized torture scene; fleeting reference to suicide; a single instance of profanity. Older kids and up.