The Sum of All Fears

Rating:
Summary: The Sum of All Fears
Review: The movie was ok it was intertaining. However having read the book I was dispointed when hollywood decided to either try to make the movie more interesting by changing fanatical arabs into nazis or they didn't think it would be polictically correct at this time and did for that reason. Aside from that it was a great movie.

Rating:
Summary: Unconvincing At All Levels
Review: Unconvincing At All Levels

The Sum of All Fears has a plot that is totally unconvincing, and a storyline about 20 years out of date.

First of all, Ben Affleck is completely miscast in the lead role. Those familiar with the books know that Jack Ryan is older, in his late 30s or early 40s. He is also married, is a veteran Marine, and possesses a doctorate in history. Affleck's Ryan is a 20 something, who seems to be more of an intern than an expert in Soviet and Russian history/politics. Certainly, his Russian is just plain awful.

Worse still, the storyline is totally unconvincing. We are supposed to believe a group of Neo-Nazis stand to benefit by starting a war between the U.S. and Soviet Union... oops, Russia. Just how they will profit from this war is never really explained, but since Nazis are politically correct villains (the book originally had Muslim extremists), so be it.

Later, we are expected to believe that a mysterious nuclear explosion in Baltimore will compel the president into a rush to judgment, by launching a nuclear strike against the Soviet Union... oops, Russia. This storyline may have worked twenty years ago, but seems totally obsolete today. If you want to watch an accelerating, accidental nuclear war between the U.S. and Sovie... oops, Russia, you are better off getting Fail Safe, Countdown to Looking Glass, or even Dr. Strangelove.

In the end, when Jack Ryan single handedly saves the world by chancing on an open communications line that happens to go directly to the Sovie... oops, Russian President, we all breath a collective sigh of relief. Unfortunately, those who would shed light on who actually nuked Baltimore end up being covertly shot, blown up, or have their throats cut. In other words, the bad guys get theirs, but the American people (in the film at least) never find out who actually bombed them. Not exactly plausible.

Rating:
Summary: READ THE BOOK
Review: They completely changed the premise of the book to make a "politically correct" movie. The book made much more sense.

Rating:
Summary: The Sum Of Great 'Movie' Making...
Review: Directed by Phil Alden Robinson (Field of Dreams) and starring Morgan Freeman (Kiss the Girls) and Ben Affleck (Pearl Harbor), this political action-spy-thriller lives up to its sequels/prequels. I wasn't expecting much, since I'm not a huge Affleck fan and the thought of Robinson doing a Clancy novel made me suspicious. But it works! As I quoted in my Bourne Identity review, this is an action movie that is believeable and compelling. Although, like any action film, there are moments of overacting, glorified violence and unbelieveable stunts, but it still fares well with the Crimson Tides and Patriot Games of the film world. The story takes place with our hero Jack Ryan years before he is a super spy, but this story is set in the modern day. Confusing? Well, it doesn't matter, because the heart of the film is its intriguing story line and the events that unfold around them. Especially in a post 9/11 world, these films hit the American psyche a bit harder than they used to and the credibility of the actions of the enemies and the American government alike, seem credible. **** stars.

Rating:
Summary: Did Clancy slash his wrists yet?
Review: I'll admit I haven't read the novel yet, but I have serious doubts that Clancy intended it to be anywhere near the heinous abortion that the movie presented it as. The only thought I can muster to explain the usually brilliant Morgan Freeman's role in this movie as anything but a background janitor is that he desperately needs quick cash to pay off some kneecap-threatened gambling debt. I'm surprised Ben Affleck accepted a role in a film that didn't include his star-crossed lover Matt Damon, but again, maybe the pay was too tempting.

First off, it doesn't take a genius to see obvious errors in the movie from the getgo. If Israel really did lose a nuclear warhead on arch-enemy Syria's territory in the midst of a full-scale war, I'm willing to bet they wouldn't just leave it there. Just a hunch. Second, during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Israel was not endangered enough by Syria to warrant a possible nuclear strike. If Israel was threatened by anyone during this time, it was Egypt to the south. While Syria's military launched successful surprise attacks during the opening moments of the war, Israel had broken their front lines before they'd gotten anywhere near a position to consider a nuclear response. Third, it's doubtful that American-allied Israel would nuke Soviet-allied Syria without the wider ramifications of a worldwide nuclear war being contemplated by IDF intelligence.

Fourth, it's highly unlikely that a nuclear warhead could be mailed from Syria into Israel's second largest city without even the slightest raised eyebrow. I'm no expert, but I have a feeling that the Israeli postal service is suspicious about any large packages being mailed to Haifa from Damascus. Again, just a hunch. What do I know?

Fifth, what happened to Harrison Ford playing Jack Ryan? I thought he was doing an outstanding job. And what happened to Jack Ryan himself? Did I miss a movie in the series since "Clear and Present Danger"? Did Jack Ryan do something to get himself demoted from the CIA's Assistant Director of Operations to the CIA's wet-behind-the-ears librarian? Jack Ryan seemed to decrease in age and time-on-the-job as well.

Sixth, I suspect that if Forrest Gump was in this movie, even he'd have the insight to utter, "I'm not a smart man Jenny, but I know that 18-month-experienced librarians do not make cabinet-level decisions to Pentagon generals concerning counterattacks during a nuclear standoff".

Seventh, rumor has it that the book depicted the nuclear attack to be the work of Islamic extremist groups, but after 9/11 the movie's terrorist group was changed to neo-Nazis to aviod offending Muslims. For one, no group of neo-Nazis has the logistics, money, or quite frankly the brains to pull off anything but random cross burnings. You can't buy nuclear warheads on a burger flipper's salary, you know? For two, let me get this straight...on Sept 11, America is attacked by an extremist group that falsely claims to be Muslim, so we change the movie plot so we won't offend those extremists? How disgusting, rediculous, and sad it is that political correctness now dictates everything in our society.

Eighth, even if you are willing to overlook the flaws mentioned above, the movie itself is still lame and boring. The "climax", if you want to degrade the meaning of the word, comes at the middle of the movie with the nuclear blast in Baltimore. From then on, the movie spirals drastically downward into a wretched cesspool of unexciting diplomatic wrangling, in which the world is saved from total destruction because Affleck has a "hunch" about the intentions of an ex-KGB communist he'd met once for five minutes.

Shame on everyone who helped in the putrid birth of this Frankenstein-paralleled abomination, to include the most insignificant players such as costume designer, dolly grip, and caterer. I'm certain that if I did a cross-check, I'd see your services accredited in the creation of other vomit-inducing, remote control OFF button slamming, vile disasters such as "Under Siege 2" and "Corky Romano".

Pity Tom Clancy, friends. While you and I can burn away all evidence we've owned this filth after failing to lose it in our annual garage sale's FREE bin, Clancy must forever trod the lonely path of guilt by association. Though it's doubtful he knew the full implications of signing over copyrights, his name is forever branded into people's unforgiving judgement of artistic trash. Citizens unlucky enough to be given the name "Adolf" at birth can legally change it later in life, but for Tom Clancy, death is the only escape from his infamous connection to his film. And I'm sure he's wondering at this very moment which of those two fates is the worse one.

Rating:
Summary: atomic bomb, lite
Review: Ben Affleck as a PhD and crack CIA analyst is about as plausible as Marilyn Monroe playing Marie Curie. Amazing that this wooden lightweight doesn't burst into flames like a balsa Doomtown shack when the nuclear bomb explodes nearby. Maybe the disaster itself was understated on screen to get a PG13 or in light of 9/11, but the thousands of people in the stadium seem treated too lightly, and the horror of a nuclear weapon used in a densely populated city is never made vivid. One star for a couple of charming performances, players of the CIA director and the longsuffering brick agent whose scenes with Affleck create a painful talent contrast.

Rating:
Summary: Riveting!
Review: When I first rented this movie, I thought about the title of the movie and why it was called that. After watching this movie, I have a clear answer. This movie is about a nuclear weapon that is found in the desert then sold to an arms dealer. CIA agent Jack Ryan has been given the task to find out all the details he can about this bomb. However, no one wants to believe him because of a previous "goof up". This movie is completely possible and I think that is why it makes it somewhat scary.

Rating:
Summary: Most Combative Audio Commentary ever!
Review: I didn't pick up "The Sum of all Fears" because I wanted to watch the movie. I tried, and failed, to read the book a dozen years ago, though since then I've finished a couple of Clancy novels and seen most of the movies. But when I heard that Clancy -- a tremendously feisty writer who posts to his own Usenet forum -- actually recorded an audio commentary for this DVD, along with the director, Phil Alden Robinson, I just had to be there.

The basics of the screenplay are weird. An elegant European neo-Nazi, with a penchant for fine wine, classical music, and a vaguely non-denominational Austrian accent, inexplicably detonates a nuclear bomb in the middle of the Super Bowl, played in Montreal's Olympic Stadium, which for the movie's purposes is located in South Baltimore. With me so far? Good. Me neither.

Clancy verbally abuses Robinson for most of the commentary track by telling him what the movie got wrong. Mostly this relates to the misuse of boats and fighter planes, or incorrect military jargon. Robinson takes it all well, calmly explaining his choices, and politely deferring to Clancy on all the minor points. These two guys obviously share different political views, although it's odd that neither director commented on the 9/11 factor. The book as written was a lot closer to the 9/11 scenario than the movie's watered-down plot. Yet Clancy and Robinson never discuss the reasoning behind the change. One of the more interesting revelations, though, is that the movie's US President (James Cromwell) is based on Michael Dukakis. Clancy has high praise for Morgan Freeman and Liev Schrieber, but suggests that Bridget Moynihan, who plays Ben Affleck's love interest, needs to eat a couple of hot dogs every day. Wow!

When the movie's over, Robinson tells Clancy it's been "an honor and a pleasure". Clancy, not missing a beat, replies, "Well, I don't know if it was an honor".

You definitely don't want to miss this double act.

Rating:
Summary: Quite lacking
Review: Ben Affleck, Morgan Freeman, and Tom Clancy. How can you go wrong? If you want to know, see this movie. I am simply giving it a star because I see no reason to give it anything higher than that.It wasn't funny, it didn't develop, it's climax stunk, it's adaptation "commercialized," it's acting poor, it's script terrible.I was trying to contemplate how to give it two stars. This is just a bad movie. I don't know if it's one or two stars, but either way, it's really bad. Thank you for taking the time to read my review and feel free to leave me a helpful/not helpful feedback. God Bless America!

Rating:
Summary: Not really following the story
Review: If you have not read the book ,then this review will not really pertain to you. This movie followed the book in only one sense. A nuclear bomb went off. It wasn't even in the right city. Jack Ryan isn't a rookie in the book, he the Deputy Director. Tom, the book was good, you didn't really need to change it. You lost a lot of plot twists like the reports of missing nukes and the whole affair thing. The lack of all of this really messed up on the story in the book. Just a note if you have read the book, haven't seen the movie, and don't want to be disapointed.