If you are a movie fan who lived throughout the 1990s, there is a huge chance you've heard of Jack Ryan's character before. In fact, Jack Ryan used to be one of Hollywood's most popular action characters ever produced which had been portrayed by three different actors (Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford and Ben Affleck) from 1990 till 2002. The character was originally created by the late author Tom Clancy in his bestselling novel, "The Hunt For Red October" back in 1984. Prior to his death, there were a total of 9 "Jack Ryan" novel series that had been published (the last one was 2002's "Red Rabbit"). And now, in conjunction of the upcoming series reboot, "Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit" soon to be released on 16 January 2014, here is a recap of the previous four "Jack Ryan" movies:

In this first big screen adaptation of the "Jack Ryan" movie series, "The Hunt For Red October" follows young CIA analyst Jack Ryan (Alec Baldwin) in a tense assignment involving a Soviet submarine captain Marko Ramius (Sean Connery), who may or may not start a naval war against the United States using his nuclear submarine, "Red October".

What's the big deal: "The Hunt For Red October" was one of the biggest hits in the US back in the 1990. While Alec Baldwin's Jack Ryan is sadly underutilised, the rest of the cast – including Sean Connery, Scott Glenn, Sam Neill, James Earl Jones and Joss Ackland – is generally top notch. This movie is also noted as being one of the first movies which pioneered the techno-thriller genre in Hollywood.

In this second instalment of the "Jack Ryan" movie series, Jack Ryan (Harrison Ford) and his family are vacationing in England when an assassination attempt on an important member of the Royal Family by the renegade IRA group takes place outside Buckingham Palace. Ryan manages to stop the attack, but soon he and his family become the target of the same IRA group after returning to the United States.

What's the big deal: The "Jack Ryan" character gets more popular with audiences after Harrison Ford takes over the coveted role from Alec Baldwin. With a strong charisma, tough-guy persona and blunt features, Ford is simply engaging in what would become amongst his most famous characters ever played in his career (aside from Han Solo in the "Star Wars" movies and Indiana Jones in the "Indiana Jones" movies).

In this third and last "Jack Ryan" movie series which features Harrison Ford in the title role, "Clear And Present Danger" involves Jack Ryan on a covert war against a drug cartel in Colombia.

What's the big deal: "Clear And Present Danger" is a sharp improvement and a cinematic triumph over "The Hunt For Red October" and "Patriot Games". This third movie is best remembered for its deadly ambush sequence, the nail-biting sequence between Ryan and his CIA rival (Henry Czerny) in an attempt to retrieve valuable information from a computer; and the tense argument between Ryan and the President of the United States (Donald Moffat).

In this reboot of the "Jack Ryan" movie series, the young CIA analyst Jack Ryan (Ben Affleck) must race against the time to locate a missing nuclear bomb before an intended terrorist attack on the United States soil.

What's the big deal: Ben Affleck may have left a little impression on his young Jack Ryan character, but "The Sum Of All Fears" remains a crowd-pleasing Hollywood blockbuster. The best part of the movie is the final 50 minutes which features an epic nuclear blast at a football stadium.