Customer Reviews

The Sum of All Fears (Widescreen)

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(37)
3 star:		(47)
2 star:		(36)
1 star:		(41)

 

 

The film begins with gripping scenes and haunting music ... Fighter jets landing, powerful spiritual music that is sad and almost like a funeral - setting the tone for what is to come. Ben Affleck plays the CIA agent Jack Ryan to perfection. There is great casting for all the major roles and key characters in the book. Although in the book, the city of Denver is the location used by terrorists for the attack, the choice of Baltimore, Maryland makes sense, since there is a port which clearly can be the point of entry for contraband. The fact is the film remains true to the intentions and spirit of Tom Clancy's book. There is political maneuvering, espionage, edge-of-your seat gripping moments after the attack and a very well executed plot. Suspense builds and the story unfolds ... The topic is fascinating and timely. It is almost like the "007" films of old ... You more or less know what to expect, but the ride is so engaging, you are caught up in the drama and events.

A nuclear bomb is discovered in the desert by a bedouin, left buried from a downed airplane during the '73 Israeli War. He suspects it has some value and can make money by selling it. An agent purchases it for a mere pittance, vastly less than its true worth ... so realistic. After the unexpected death of the Russian President, his replacement is investigated by the CIA. The US President, his advisors and the CIA are busy extracting information about this relative "dark horse" to discover his stand on the major issues. In the past, Jack Ryan had written a paper on him, extrapolating his views on world events ... He accompanies a delegation from the US to visit Russia and ensure nuclear disarmament is going according to plans. Each side assesses the opposition with wary reminders of the past ever in the forefront of their minds ... How difficult it was to learn about Soviet arms during the cold war, US agents had died trying to access .information ... now a delegation was freely being shown the labs, nuclear reactor and storage facilties. Times had indeed changed ...

The US President attends a filled to capacity football stadium in Baltimore, MD when suddenly, unexpectedly and rapidly Secret Agents usher him out ... A huge explosion occurs, with the mushroom cloud indicating a nuclear bomb went off. During the disaster, Jack Ryan seeks his superior, only to find him taking his last breath. He pays his last respects and uses his cell phone and ID bage to enter the White House. Jack had discovered irrefutable evidence that proves it was *not* a Russian attack. The nuclear substance originated in the United States. The fingerprints of the explosion and subsequent fall out are positive proof. However, suspense builds as the US President and Russian President are on stand-by preparing for war ... trying to read each others motives for action. The unraveling of the peace accords takes minutes although it took years and years to create peace and disarmament. The difficult decisions faced by the US President are depicted superbly ... The raw emotions arising during such a national disaster are naturally conveyed. The only failure in the film is the choice of selecting a disgruntled fascist group as the culprits for the attack. Keeping it closer to the story line in the book would have paid off huge dividends in the short and long run. In the years following 2001 and the Sept. 11th attack, using ancient history such as Nazi-like fascists as the enemy just does not seem credible. This is why it reminds me of the "007" films. Despite this one major flaw, for which I deducted one star, the film was a hit with this viewer. I highly recommend it.

Erika Borsos [pepper flower

I saw this movie at a theatre for the first time and thought it was an 'excellent' movie. I thought it was excellent because I felt 'something' as I was walking out of the theatre. I don't know- I liked particularly the latter part of the movie, where Ben Affleck tries to convince both side to the very ending of the movie. I am not personally familiar with Tom Clancy's novels (I began to read his novels, after watching this movie twice, starting with 'the Hunt for Red October'), meaning I'm giving this review purely from 'unadulterated' perspective.

It looks like lot of reviewers gave this movie low rating due to 'political incorrectness' and 'revisions' from original plot. However, I still thought it was an excellent movie for several reasons. Honestly I could not pinpoint exactly why I felt 'moved' when I was walking out of theatre nor inspired watching it on DVD again- I think, I think I felt moved and inspired because it does demonstrate a glimpse of 'truth', the truth that all nuclear war is possible as long as we and they have them. Our very fear of nuclear war might have diminished considerably after the end of the Cold War era, however, the 'possibility' still exists as long as the existence of nuclear weapons is a fact. I do not think the 'possibility' of nuclear war would differ whether it's Neo-Nazis or some fundamental terrorists trying to accomplish their purpose; the 'more' important point is that the sum of all fears will exists no matter what. I think I was moved because of another possibility that this existence of sum of all fears can be prevented by one side's willingness to yield and back down 'unconditionally'. This was very important factor, at least for a novice movie critic like myself, because you are preventing the sum of all fears by 'putting down' your pride and even risking everything you have- I was definitely inspired by Russian president's very courageous and bold decision in the heat of the moment... wow.

You know, perhaps I was moved walking out of the theatre on one sunny day because of realization that anything is possible. Anything is possible in the sense that I might die or vaporize instantly without knowing it, especially when you went through and witness 9/11. I was motivated to live my life more faithfully and courageously. And I also want to believe that the good of humanity can be achieved through true courage. (I'm being sidetrack here...but who's real 'chicken' when you refuse to smoke back in high school under peer-pressure? Those, who try to force you to smoke and call you 'chicken' for not smoking, are the ones who couldn't stand up to the peer-pressure in the first place...the true C)

I liked the ending, whether it's realistic or not, to see that there are still forces working for the good of humanity.

Alrite people..better get back to Ryan now.

It was send in good condition. the shipping has been respected. I'm enough satisfied. I'm borried to write at least 20 words long just to satisfy the Amazon writing conditions. Is it OK now!!

Can Ryan save the world from a terrible war? Well we can only hope. Ben Affleck has been cast as Ryan, and he actually surprised me. He takes over for Harrison Ford who had the part in previous films. He was really good in the role. He brings something new and different to the role. I watched this movie more because of Morgan Freeman then Ben Affleck. I know I'm dating myself, but I've been a Morgan Freeman fans since seeing him on the Electric Company on PBS. Ryan is a rookie who helps to unravel a plot that could have the Russians and America at war with one another. A nuclear bombs goes off in Baltimore and the two countries point the fingers at one another. Morgan plays Affleck's boss and friend in this film , and his performance is outstanding. There is a touch of comedy that takes the edge off in the flim, but you never lose fact of the terror and drama in the film. I've rented this film 4 times so far. I think I will end up buying this one to add to my collection. It's not often I like a movie with Ben in it.

The movie is ok, not one of the best. There are better Jack Ryan movies out there (The Hunt for Red October). The main problem with the movie is it leaves out a ton of stuff mentioned in the book, this was why the book was good. In the end though, I'd only rent this movie, not buy it.

This movie is really pretty good. I've given it a three star rating because that is what it deserves. It is a decent movie, no Oscar winner here, but did you really expect that?
Ben Affleck portrays the recurring character of Jack Ryan pretty well, make no mistake, though, he's still Affleck. He's a little to pretty to imagine as a CIA official, but lets not dwell on that.
The plot is good, and Morgan Freeman is excellent as Ryan's superior and friend.
The movie has a lot of romantic and comic relief, so at least it's not 2 hours of intense scenes of Ben Affleck on a Nokia!
Certain parts of the movie aren't extremely believable, but of course, after 9/11 it's hard to imagine that anyone could sneak a bomb anywhere, less a big football game with the President attending.
This wasn't my favorite movie, but if you want to be excited and enjoy a movie for a few hours, this movie will do!

" . . . Even the typically reticent Clancy would approve."
I beg to differ.

The real downfall of this movie lay not in the theatrical performances of Ben Affleck or Morgan Freeman but instead comes from the pre-production studio politics and the implausible, if not laughable, script changes. Making the antagonists of the film Neo-Nazis seems not implausible but in fact makes the film disingenuous and smacks of derivative 1980's film schlock.
(In all seriousness, why would Nazi's really want to blow up the Super Bowl?)
I presume this was done as an attempt to pacify Arab or Muslim defense organizations.

Whomever adapted this scripted turned a respectable peace of Clancy's trademark political science fiction into a piece Clive Cussler pulp.

This was a good movie. I liked the plot. But Ben Affleck as Jack Ryan? Come one. This needed a better actor. I'm not a big Ben Affleck fan because he isn't a good actor. It needed like a Harrison Ford like guy. Ben Affleck couldn't fit in his shoes!

The Sum of All Fears is a much more disturbing picture than it might have been before September 11, but that just adds to the drama. I'm not a big Ben Affleck fan. And yet, I liked this movie -- there's a strong supporting cast (Morgan Freeman and James Cromwell, specifically) that makes me forgive Ben's blandness.

And of course, he's playing Jack Ryan, following in the footsteps of Harrison Ford and Alec Baldwin. It's fun to watch Jack develop. His inexperience here is refreshing, as he once again is put into combat situations he should never be in.

On the other hand, the movie wusses out. The bad guys are a coalition of Neo-nazis and other random weird, mean European guys. It just seems fabricated, which is odd when every other aspect of the movie strives to be so accurately detailed. I mean, it's like they gave us the Legion of Doom as a set of villains (psst, that's the worst fear -- the sum of all our little fears put together, get it?).

The plan is to force America and Russia into a war of escalation, by setting off strikes that appear to be initiated by the other side. We know now that, even after September 11 with a Republican President who uses words like "Dead or Alive" and "crusade" -- even HE didn't start lobbing nuclear missiles or even ordering strikes on other countries. Still, this is supposed to be a different time (precisely what time, we're not sure, but maybe it's the 1980s) and political tempers flare more easily.

Then there's the strange jiggery-pokery played with Ryan's background. If you watch the "making of" on the DVD, the director uses the words "franchise" and "reinvigorate" and...hyuk...hyuk...BLEEEEEARGH!

Sorry, I just threw up all over those terms. Obviously, continuity is sacrificed so that they can make more money off of Jack Ryan. He's in good company -- I mean, look what they did with Batman. Oh wait...

I do respect the decision not to show the nuclear explosion. The director manages to really keep the tension high. And the budding relationship between Jack and his future wife is believable. When characters die, we feel bad for them. All of that makes it a really good movie. Not the best of its kind, but really good.

Okay. The screen credit reads: "Tom Clancy, Executive Producer". That means that Clancy maybe had a lot to do with this film, right?

Here's the story: The Israelies, almost unimaginably, fumble an Atomic bomb. Oy vey! Thirty years later, the bomb is dug up by a bunch of camel-driving hicks from Cabbageville, Egypt and sold to an unscrupulous arms dealer. Then, somebody uses it to blow up the city of Baltimore and start World War III.

Who plans and executes this dirty deed? Why none other than our old arch-enemies, the Nazis, of course! Full steam ahead, Mr. Gridley! Dam up the river, and head for the hills!

As this highly suspenseful drama unfolds in a series of cartoon-like situations, we see Ben Affleck hamming it up and mugging his way through the film, at a cocktail party in the United States, at a Russian atomic weapons lab, then to Africa, then to Langley, then to Washington, then to Baltimore, then to Washington, then to... Which leads me to the obvious question, Who was the target audience for this film?

Phony CIA operatives? Naval Reservist Impersonators? Fidel Castro? A two-bit despot living in exile somewhere?

One group of people who will really get excited about this movie are your good old rabid Cleveland Browns fans - because most of them will probably get off on the idea that the evil Art Modell and the Ravens could be vaporized into a cloud of red dust. Browns fans who own this dvd will probably wear out the football segment with subsequent Baltimore apocalypse trying to visualize that happening, as bizarre as that sounds.

Even so, this film was so cheezy, the only thing missing from it was a sound track or end credit song by either Dennis DeYoung or Eric Carmen, take your pick.

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