The Sum of All Fears (2002)

Critics,are you kidding us

Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Great adaption of the book and superbly well acted throughout.

Really disappointing. Acting was really stiff and unconvincing (although I never expect much from Ben Affleck who is always wooden and stilted like he just swallowed a bottle of Valium--I was counting on the rest of the movie to carry Affleck). I've never been a Tom Clancy fan, and, as expected, the plot was not very believable, but unbelievable plots can still work well if the right elements of the rest of the movie come together properly. Unfortunately, that was not the case here. For instance, there was absolutely no chemistry between the "love interests"--Affleck and whoever she was. Argon and Neon would make a better matched couple. This movie just dragged on and on (and on) and could not sustainably build suspense. In this case, it would have helped a lot if had just Michael Bay'ed it and blew up more stuff--that might have given me a halfway decent shot at remaining conscious during this snoozefest. Again, really, really disappointing.

Jack Ryan's entry with lots of noisy action , thrills , chills , tension and amazing thriller . This blockbuster is an acceptable adaptation of the novel by Tom Clancy , companion to other prior renditions . The title is paraphrased from a Winston Churchill speech; "Why, you can take the most gallant sailor, the most intrepid airman or the most audacious soldier, put them at a table together - what do you get? The sum of their fears." It deals with CIA analyst Jack Ryan (Ben Affleck) along with a ranking member (Morgan Freeman) of Presidential administration 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. As there are 27,000 Nuclear Weapons and One Is Missing . Now Ryan goes back in action for the most vital assignment of his life : to save the President (James Cromwell) and the nation .Stirring outing filled with emotion , suspense , chills , twisted intrigue and extraordinary nail-biting action scenes . This film is a prequel to the others in the Jack Ryan series . The 'Harrison Ford' films are direct follow-ups to The hunt for Red October (1990) despite the recast of Alec Baldwin's role . Nevertheless, in this film we see Jack Ryan meet John Clark, something which also happens in Clear and present danger (1994) . Therefore this film might be best understood as a reboot of the Jack Ryan series . Interesting screenplay plenty of twists and thrills by Paul Attanasio and Daniel Pyne . However , the filmmaker changed the villains from Islamic extremists , in the novel , to Neo-Nazis ; this was done because prior to the 11 September 2001 attacks, he did not believe Arab terrorists could plausibly accomplish all that was necessary for the plot to work on film . Good production design , in fact , the CIA scenes were filmed at the actual CIA headquarters ; this was one of the times the CIA had ever done such a thing . And this was the first American film unit to enter the Kremlin , though Red Heat (1988) was the first American unit to film in Moscow . The spectacular "Super Bowl" scene takes place in Baltimore , the two teams playing in the game are portrayed by the Toronto Argonauts and the Montreal Alouettes . Real U. S. Marines along with two Marine Corps CH-53E Super Stallion helicopters were used for the sequence of rescuing Fowler from the wrecked motorcade . The picture has a very good support cast who gives excellent performances such as James Cromwell as President Fowler , Bruce McGill as National Security Adviser , John Beasley as General Lasseter , Philip Baker Hall as Defense Secretary , Joseph Sommer as Senator , Michael Byrne , Liev Schreiber , Alan Bates , Sven-Ole Thorsen , Ron Rifkin , Colm Feore and special mention to Ciaran Hinds as Russia President . Spectacular musical score fitting to action and suspense by maestro veteran Jerry Goldsmith . Colorful and atmospheric cinematography by John Lindley . The picture is well directed by Phil Alden Robinson , though Philip Noyce, director of previous entries, was offered to direct but turned it down and Wolfgang Petersen was also offered the chance to direct but declined.This blockbuster is an entertaining adaptation of the novel by Tom Clancy , companion to ¨The hunt for Red October¨ by John MacTiernan with Alec Balwin and Sean Connery , followed by ¨Patriot games¨ (1992) by Philip Noyce with Harrison Ford taking over the role of Ryan from Alec Baldwin and again ¨Clear and present danger¨(1994) by Philip Noyce with Harrison Ford and Anne Archer . Then Harrison Ford dropped out of reprising the role of Jack Ryan because he and director Phillip Noyce could not agree on the script and Noyce ended up dropping out of the film as well. And finally , Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014) by Kenneth Brannagh with Chris Pine as Jack Ryan , Keira Knightley and Kevin Costner .

I mean I own it, bought it on VHS for one dollar American, was it a good deal? I'm asking you,'was it a good deal?' Naw, OK, if you love Tom Clancy books and you don't hate Ben Affleck just out right, pretty sure you will enjoy this movie. So some complain that casting a younger Jack Ryan character doesn't make chronological sense, but this movie is actually a prequel to Patriots Games, so the character would be younger, way to go everybody good job. This movie would be perfect for watching while you wait at the dentist, in the crummy sterile lobby with other creeps waiting for the dentist, got a circular like coffee table covered in magazines and issues of Highlights, also there is a TV showing The Sum Of All Fears, its a big success.