The Sum of All Fears

Rating:
Summary: The Moose Hole - 'Fears' Realized
Review: Ben Affleck is not the most likely actor you would expect to see playing CIA agent Jack Ryan from the famous Tom Clancy novels. But whether you like him or not, he is the third actor to take on the role after Alec Baldwin in The Hunt for Red October and Harrison Ford in Patriot Games and Clear & Present Danger and it will be interesting to see how the film fares out. Not for the sake of Affleck's ability to take on the role but to see if a film with a story so deeply involved on terrorism can succeed. Though the villains in the film had been changed from Muslim terrorists from the novel to Neo-Nazis, this decision was made before the September 11th attacks and kind of represents our innocence back then. If the film pays off in the end, perhaps studios will be less reluctant to release films in genre like they are now.

The story for the fourth film based on the Jack Ryan series finds the famous Tom Clancy character at a much younger age then in the previous theatrical efforts and showcases his early start in the CIA. Jack Ryan is recruited to the CIA program by Bill Cabot after the president of Russia dies and is replaced by a man the United States does not know about and therefore fears. The only thing they have on him is the report that Ryan wrote on him years ago. After a bomb goes off during the Super Bowl in Baltimore, Ryan must get the right information to the president before a conflict between Russia and the United States ignites World War III. The story for The Sum of All Fears holds together pretty well and the reason may be because it is based on a best selling novel with little changes made overall. Despite this being a lower budgeted effort then Attack of the Clones or The Scorpion King, the story for this film is ten times better then the more budgeted fare.

Though the cast really only carries two big names, those being Affleck and Freeman, the cast is put together well with plenty of lesser known, but exceedingly more talented, actors. Ben Affleck, who has had a series of unmemorable films including Reindeer Games and Bounce, takes over for Harrison Ford in the role of Jack Ryan and, quite frankly, doesn't do bad of job. Affleck certainly proves the critics wrong about his range of acting by showing much more emotion then previous efforts like Armageddon and Pearl Harbor. Morgan Freeman is, once again, wonderful and one has to wonder if there will be a role that he can't pull off. James Cromwell comes off effectively as the President of the United States who is faced with decision of whether to push the button or not. Obviously the emotions are extremely intense in this feature and the delightful cast of characters make the film all the more so though they aren't as great the leading roles, which can be expected from time to time in films of this nature.

Overall, The Sum of All Fears, despite some eerie unintentional reflections of September 11th, manages to hold its ground with such explosive material. At the time the film was released, India and Pakistan were near nuclear war and the United States was involved in the war on terrorism with the horrible images of the World Trade Center attacks still embedded in our minds. With those events in mind the release of this film may seem a bit controversial but they actually help make the film more realistic and message it expresses is more efficiently produced because of that. The Sum of All Fears awakens people to the real problems in the world and may give some people the incentive to join government programs like the military or the CIA. If a film can inspire young movie-going to achieve a promising job then that film deserves some praise. Certainly not as exciting as the other summer efforts but an overall good popcorn thriller.

Rating:
Summary: Ouch, this is bad.
Review: The only thing that this movie and the Tom Clancy novel have in common is the title. All the subtle character developments and sub-plots from the book are gone. Most of the major plot is modified and what is left is something that you would swear you were watching on TV, in the 8 pm time slot. And speaking of TV, did Ben Affleck resemble and sound just like Jerry Seinfeld?

The book wasn't great and aside from the technical explanations of a nuclear weapon, was not too believable. The movie however, was so bad that with a little work it could pass for a skit on SNL. This is a movie to be avoided at all costs. It is a shameless attempt by Hollywood to put up a big name "Movie Hunk" in place of substance.

Rating:
Summary: Does not work
Review: Sometimes films just do not work. The failure does not necessarily come from any huge blooper but a combination of lots of little weaknesses.

This is a film based on a book by Tom Clancy. Clancy is a writer who likes to fill his novels with lots of technical details. The details often give the impression to his less educated readers that they are somehow learning something about the real world. The way his books are constructed is that the plot is usually rudimentary and the appeal is the sense of realism and the level of detail.

This film is about a group who, try to start a war between what were once the superpowers by attempting to detonate a nuclear weapon in America and then blame it on the Russians. Jack Ryan Clancy's hero of most of his books is the key to whether the war is prevented or not. Alec Baldwin and Harrison Ford have played Ryan in previous films. Here he is played by a youthful Ben Afleck. Afleck is clearly to young a person for the role. No one that young and low on the totem pole would be able to get the sort of access he does to important figures that he does in the movie. He is also in love with a 20 something model who is meant to be a surgeon. Again something which is simply improbable.

The move although having the veneer of technical knowledge is in reality set in fantasy land. If Israel lost a nuclear bomb in the Golan Heights in 1973 they would hardly leave it there. It is the sort of thing which would lead to a major military effort to prevent it falling into the hands of the Syrians. A President of the United States would act more rationally than the one portrayed in this movie as would a Russian leader.

Still not as bad as some others going around the traps.

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining Film, And It Raises Some Questions
Review: This was an interesting action/drama movie, which was actually better the second time (following it was easier), but it raises some questions about dealing with terrorism, particularly of the nuclear variety.

When the threat of the A-bomb first came to light, shouldn't those at the higher levels of our government have gotten together and asked, "Why do they hate us?" And after the bomb went off (which, unseen in the film, completely ruined the US economy for the foreseeable future, and put an end to the American lifestyle as we know it), shouldn't the US have reacted by appealing to the United Nations to form a coalition? When Soviet missiles were en route to a US aircraft carrier, shouldn't the US defense leaders have considered giving inspections more time to work? Rather than officers aboard that aircraft carrier responding to those missiles with automatic weapons (Vulcan machine guns), shouldn't they have stretched out a hand, and tried to be more compassionate, tolerant, inclusive and diverse? How are we ever going to learn to live and continually cope with a constant terrorist threat, if all we ever do is simply destroy the terrorists as soon as possible?

Rating:
Summary: cautionary tale about nuclear terror -- with a GREAT cast
Review: Yikes, I'm really surprised at the negative reviews here. I haven't read the Clancy books so I had no preconceived notions, but I have enjoyed the earlier Jack Ryan films with Harrison Ford, and I HAVE seen many supposed thrillers lately that were extremely disappointing. This is the first thriller I've enjoyed in a long time. I thought the script was very good, the acting from top to bottom was superb, and the editing kept the many plot threads clear.

After Harrison Ford dropped out of this project and Ben Affleck expressed an interest in playing the lead, the script was revamped to show Jack Ryan at the beginning of his career. In that capacity, as an intelligent neophyte, he meets his CIA mentor (Morgan Freeman), first ventures out with a seasoned field operative (Liev Schreiber), begins courting his future wife (Bridget Moynahan), advises the president (James Cromwell) for the first time, and meets the Russian president (Ciaran Hinds). This is a very interesting time in the career of a beloved character, and the writers got it right and Affleck does a very good job here. The villains are played by Alan Bates and Colm Feore. What a fabulous cast!

Special features include two commentary tracks - one with the director and cinematographer and one with the director and author; meaty featurettes about the casting, production and special effects; a trailer; an on-the-set featurette. The film can be heard in English or French, and subtitles are available only in English.

If you like exciting techno-thrillers and are not a Tom Clancy or Harrison Ford purist, give this film a chance. It's terrific, and I hope they'll make more. I'm not sure why some people didn't like it but I respectfully, and heartily, disagree with them.

Rating:
Summary: Ben Affleck range of expressions from A to B
Review: In the spirit of full disclosure, I'm a Clancy fan so I spent the $8 to this movie in the theatre in order to get the full effect, despite no Alec Baldwin, no Harrison Ford, no James Earl Jones.

Ben Affleck's expression A is a slack-jawed "Duh!" I'm glad he found a use for his greatest asset, his jaw. His expression B is "Deer in the Headlights." He had no assets to back this one up. This is NOT the Jack Ryan I spent money to see.

Rating:
Summary: Not The Best
Review: Well Ben Affleck isn't nearly as bad in this movie than in the turkey-film Gigli, but this movie is pretty lame. It is a Tom Clancy-based thriller about nuclear threat. You know what it's like.

Altogether, it was not as "heart-pounding" or "edge of your seat" thriller. It was actually quite boring. No superb or dramatic acting here.

Rating:
Summary: patriotic/idiotic
Review: at first i thought that "red october" was destined to be the least plausible (scottish russians speaking english) and overall, most HOLLYWOOD clancy movie made to date. BOY was i wrong!!! BEN AFFLECK does an admirable job looking good for the camera. Huh? plot? We all know that the Jack Ryan character is always in the right place at the right time, and holds all the cards, and fights doggedly against impossible odds and unknown opponents, but this movie was such an obvious reaction to the attacks of 9/11 in such a patriotic and ignorant sense that only the recent COLLATERAL DAMAGE, TEARS OF THE SUN or AIR MARSHALL are more offensive.

Rating:
Summary: Blockbuster Garbage
Review: This film is based on the Tom Clancy novel, is a big budget blockbuster, and is pretty much worthless. The plot itself has some major flaws, but the main qualm one has is though the actors and scriptwriters are paid millions here, the high budget ironically cheapens the film. The actors speak their lines very quickly and very loudly, Ben Affleck is one of those everyman megastars, but with no real talent to warrant the stardom.

Morgan Freeman, a great actor, has made some real junk lately from "Deep Impact" to this one. And Pragna Desai is obviously more intelligent than the lines she is given: "Yawn...double yawn". Liev Schreiber was good as usual as a CIA operative.

But the most laughable aspect is certain parts of the plot. Okay I'll accept that Israel was dumb enough to let a nuclear bomb get lost in the desert. I'll accept that some Arabs found it and sold it. What I won't accept is that Russian scientists would help Neonazis make the bomb operational, or even the "reasoning" of the Nazis. Namely to get the Russians and the Americans to fight each other as "times have changed". Really?
So the Cold War didn't really happen? And the one Nazi with qualms tells the others he is out(what does he think will happen?)

But most incredible of all is the top advisor tells the President, "If they did this to make a point to stay out of Chechnya..." Yes, you heard that right. I mean I know in real life Presidencial advisors are dumb, but Russia nukes us to say stay out of Chechnya??!! So the President authorizes full scale nuclear war based on hearsay. God help us if we ever get a "Dead Zone" President such as that.

I understand you have to suspend your disbelief for this stuff, but it should have some semblance of reality.

Even the special effects are disappointing, as the blast is shown for about one minute, and most of it is a helicopter crashing in slow motion and an obviously fake mushroom cloud.

Rating:
Summary: Could have been better
Review: In this Clancy adaptation, Jack Ryan faces a group of Fascists whose plot is to make the Americans and Russians destroy each other by detonating a nuclear device in America.

The weak point of this movie is that the detonation doesn't seem to have any power. The true horrors of a nuclear blast aren't shown. There is a token burned man or two in the hospital, but most of the survivors of the blast just have a little dust thrown on them and an obligatory forehead scratch. To make things even more unbelievable, Ryan is walking around in the fallout without any protective gear, and guess what, it doesn't do any harm to him. Since the nuclear blast is treated so lightly, you can't really feel any theat from the impending nuclear war.

This time Ryan is played by Ben Affleck. For fans of the Harrison Ford Ryan, it's just not the same. Affleck is too casual for this role. He just can't do the bewildered anger that Harrison Ford could do so well.