Did Sean Connery learn Russian for Hunt for Red October?
Sean Connery speaks several lines of Russian dialogue at the beginning of The Hunt for Red October, prior to switching to English.
Did Connery spend time learning Russian for this part, or did he simply memorize the phrases?
Best Answer
It seems unlikely that Connery would have had time to learn Russian as he was a last minute replacement.
Per MentalFloss
The film had been under production for two weeks when word came that Klaus Maria Brandauer (Out of Africa), the Austrian actor who'd been signed to play the rogue Soviet sub commander Marko Ramius, couldn't do it after all because of a prior commitment. Connery took the part instead, needing only one day for rehearsal.
Linked within that reference is a link to an AP report by Bob Thomas in the Lawrence Journal of March 7th 1990 quoting Connery on "learning Russian" as
"It wasn't hard," he said [Connery]. "they were all one-liners"
It's been commented quite prevalently that Connery speaks Russian with a Scottish accent [not uncommon for Connery when dealing with accents..see Highlander.]
Unchecked Reddit comments elsewhere have said
...he didn't even bother pronouncing several of the words, much less saying them even remotely accurately. No Russian speaker would understand him without subtitles. In fact, when that movie came out in Russia, it was released with what's called voice-over translation, and typically anything that is clearly understood (or spoken in Russian) is left as is without translation (since you can hear all the original dialogue underneath the dubbing)... but not in the case of Sean Connery.
Pictures about "Did Sean Connery learn Russian for Hunt for Red October?"
Why does Sean Connery have a Scottish accent in The Hunt for Red October?
Connery made no attempt whatsoever to disguise his thick Scottish accent despite the fact that everyone else aboard his sub was unmistakably Russian. His decision would have sunk a lesser film, but Red October had so much else going for it that it still managed to become one of the year's biggest box office hits.Is the Russian in Hunt for Red October accurate?
It is loosely based on true events An untraceable nuclear submarine goes dark somewhere between Russia and America, and the Americans think the Russians are preparing to attack, while the Russians think the vessel's commander is defecting.Why do they stop speaking Russian in The Hunt for Red October?
Patrick (H) Willems argues that the language change is a way to indicate that the characters who we assume to be the "bad guys" (the Russian submarine crew) and who have been kept distanced from the audience by speaking Russian, are in reality "good guys", and the language switch is meant to have us empathize with them ...Who did Sean Connery replace in Hunt for Red October?
For one, as mentioned earlier, Connery took the role of Marko Ramius when his Never Say Never Again co-star Klaus Maria Brandauer dropped out. In addition, Captain Borodin actor Sam Neill came very close to playing the same role that made Connery a superstar: James Bond himself.The Hunt for Red October (6/9) Movie CLIP - You Speak Russian (1990) HD
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