The Sum of All Fears

2002 "27,000 nuclear weapons. One is missing."
6.4| 2h4m| PG-13| en| More Info
Released: 31 May 2002 Released
Producted By: Paramount
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website: http://www.paramount.com/movies/sum-all-fears
Synopsis

When the president of Russia suddenly dies, a man whose politics are virtually unknown succeeds him. The change in political leaders sparks paranoia among American CIA officials, so CIA director Bill Cabot recruits a young analyst to supply insight and advice on the situation. Then the unthinkable happens: a nuclear bomb explodes in a U.S. city, and America is quick to blame the Russians.

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Reviews

Marketic It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.
ShangLuda Admirable film.
FuzzyTagz If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.
Candida It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.
adonis98-743-186503 CIA analyst Jack Ryan must thwart the plans of a terrorist faction that threatens to induce a catastrophic conflict between the United States and Russia's newly elected president by detonating a nuclear weapon at a football game in Baltimore. If there's a reason why people hated this film is probably cause of Ben Affleck umm the dude is Batman for god shakes the reason why i loved this film is because it has a lot of great spy stuff some people called it boring others even a propaganda but in the end it's still a great film that even tho is slow as hell it's pretty good when it comes to spy people or killing them in cool ways. Sum of all Fears won't be remembered in the next 20 minutes because there isn't something classic in it but in the end it's still a pretty cool film.
GusF Based on the 1991 novel of the same name by Tom Clancy, this is an extremely effective and compelling thriller. Since it has received some fairly mediocre reviews, my hopes were not particularly high but it turned out to be hugely enjoyable. In all honesty, I would have preferred a third Harrison Ford film rather than a reboot but it is at least a slick and well made one. Although it was filmed before 9/11, it is notable as being the first major Hollywood film on the subject of terrorism to be released after it. It has a very clever script by Paul Attanasio and Daniel Pyne. Phil Alden Robinson's direction is very good, which surprised since he is not exactly known as an action director.The film has been criticised by many people as being very difficult to follow but I can't really see why. It is admittedly complex and you have to pay attention in order to understand everything but I'd take that over a film where I can mess around on my phone for most of it and still understand it perfectly any day of the week. It opens with an Israeli plane being shot down over the Golan Heights during the Yom Kippur War in October 1973 and the consequent loss of one of its nuclear weapons. In September 2002, the bomb is discovered by scrap metal merchants and sold to an arms dealer for a pittance. He then sells it to an Austrian neo-Nazi named Richard Dressler, who intends to use it to start a nuclear war between the US and Russia which will leave Europe as a fascist superstate under his control. To that end, the bomb is detonated at a sports stadium in Baltimore in the hope of placing the blame squarely on Russia. At one point, Dressler says that Hitler's biggest mistake was going to war with both the US and Russia instead of setting them against each other and it is hard to disagree with that. Of course, if a plot like Dressler's were ever enacted successfully, Europe would undoubtedly be devastated as well but never mind that!The film stars Ben Affleck as the third actor to play Jack Ryan. He does not have the same easy charm as Alec Baldwin and particularly Harrison Ford but he is nevertheless convincing in the role. Affleck will never be Laurence Olivier but he is a likable actor with a good screen presence. In this film, Ryan is younger than in the three previous ones and has only been working at the CIA for 14 months. He moves up in the world when his prediction that Alexander Nemerov would succeed the hard-drinking Boris Yeltsin-esque Russian President Zorkin proves to be correct after the latter's death. Having written a paper on Nemerov, he is an expert on the new President and correctly believes that he is not a militant hardliner but merely adopts that role in order to save face. After the bomb explodes in Baltimore, Ryan desperately tries to contact US President J. Robert Fowler to prevent him from launching a nuclear attack on the Russian Federation before he eventually contacts Nemerov personally. Ryan's one man mission to escape the partially irradiated Baltimore and stop World War III may be a little far-fetched but it operates on film logic as opposed to real world logic.The always excellent Morgan Freeman is perfectly cast as CIA Director William Cabot, who becomes a friend and mentor to Ryan as the film progresses. Ciarán Hinds is fantastic in the role of the moderate Nemerov, basically a post-Communist Gorbachev. As his name would suggest, Hinds is not of Russian descent but he had to learn pages of Russian dialogue for the film, which could not have been easy. However, he delivers every line in a very natural, believable manner. James Cromwell is very good as President Fowler, a good and decent man who has no desire to start a war but believes that he must in order not to look weak in the eyes of America's enemies. The extremely heated discussions between Fowler and his senior staff are very compelling and I imagine that such conversations would be conducted in the same manner in reality. One of the reasons that these scenes are so effective is that actors of the calibre of Philip Baker Hall, Ron Rifkin and Bruce McGill were cast as the key members of his staff. In one of his final films before his death in 2003, Alan Bates is suitably creepy as Dressler, who was possibly named after Anton Drexler (the founder of what eventually became the Nazi Party). Bridget Moynahan is perfectly fine as Cathy Muller but she has no chemistry with Affleck and her scenes are too brief for her to make much of an impression. Of the five "Jack Ryan" films, "Patriot Games" is the only one that really gave Cathy a chance to shine. Other than the actors that I have already mentioned, I was very impressed by Michael Byrne (who also appeared in the similar but less effective Bond film "Tomorrow Never Dies"), Colm Feore (who later popped up as a different character in the franchise's second reboot "Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit") and Ken Jenkins. However, Liev Schrieber, who is not a very good actor, was pretty boring as John Clark, particularly compared to Willem Dafoe's interpretation of the character in "Clear and Present Danger".Overall, this is a very exciting thriller that it is far better than it is made out to be. Another "Jack Ryan" film starring Affleck would have been welcome. I have greatly enjoyed this series, the closest thing to an American version of the Bond films that I have come across.
FilmBuff1994 The Sum of All Fears is a good movie with a well written storyline and a great cast.It is a very good thriller and it has some great special effects as well,but I didn't find any of the action or dialogue very breathtaking.Its definitely the worst Jack Ryan film to date,although I did really enjoy Ben Affleck as Ryan,he's certainly no Harrison Ford but he was definitely better than Alec Baldwin,I would have liked to see more Ryan films with Affleck in the main role but it dosen't seem like that will be happening anytime soon.I wasn't impressed with the amount of screen time Morgan Freeman received,they made it seem like he was a very main character in this but he probably had 20 minutes of screen time,I was surprised to see James Cromwell in this,I thinks he's an underrated actor who would rarely star in movies like this,but he played an important role and did a great job.Fans of previous Jack Ryan films won't love it,but you won't hate it either,Sum of All Fears is an enjoyable movie that I would recommend to anyone looking for a good thriller or drama if it's ever on television. Jack Ryan must prevent the plans of a terrorist organisation that is trying to start huge conflict between Russia and the USA. Best Performance: James Cromwell
Desertman84 The Sum Of All Fears is an action/political thriller that features Jack Ryan,the famous CIA spy developed by Tom Clancy.This is the fourth film about the character that was based on Clancy's novel with the same title after the likes of The Hunt For Red October,Patriot Games and Clear And Present Danger were made into films. In it,it features a younger Jack Ryan portrayed by Ben Affleck.The cast also includes Morgan Freeman and Bridget Moynahan. Phil Alden Robinson directed it.The President of Russia passed away and he is succeeded by an unknown whom little information is known.This causes panic to many nations especially the United States.To pacify the fears felt by many,the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) director Bill Cabot recruits Jack Ryan,a young analyst working from the Russia desk to gather information and provide insight.But many events happen such as the capital of Chechnya is leveled by a nuclear bomb.Then fear intensifies especially when terrorist threats are being made to the U.S.It is now up to Jack Ryan to prevent these threats or another world war could happen anytime soon.This new Jack Ryan film is somewhat unrealistic and lacks plausibility particularly with the events that could happen particularly in the international front and the political motivations behind the countries involved in conflict.The bomb being set at a Superbowl was somewhat cheesy although it did manage to provide suspense to the story.Added to that,we get to see the new character more of a heartthrob rather than an intelligence expert.While many female fans may not disapprove of that especially with Affleck playing the lead role,it is distracting and it somewhat takes away many substances that Tom Clancy's novels want to provide his intended audience.It made a lot of money more than ten years ago.Although it was far from a typical Clancy novel and what intelligence spies are all about,it will definitely provide entertainment and great musical soundtrack.While this may displease many critics and the serious moviegoer,an average fan may not find displeasure in it for it was definitely a fun movie for them especially if they like Mission Impossible and James Bond films.