Plot: What’s it about?
Perhaps the best, yet worst, thing that has ever happened in history was the invention of the atomic bomb. Yes, it was the key and deciding factor that ultimately led to our victory over the Japanese in World War II. Then again, it has become a mass produced element of destruction ever since, being used as an ante in some very "real" poker game. Nuclear weapons have only been used this once in actual warfare, the rest of the time the threat has been there, but nothing else. And this is the basis behind The Sum of All Fears. We’re all familiar with Jack Ryan, he’s been played by Harrison Ford in two previous movies, Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger (the first "Jack Ryan" movie was The Hunt for Red October but the role was played by Alec Baldwin). So is Jack Ryan our answer to James Bond? It might appear so, he’s on the right track when it comes to actors playing the same part! Director Phil Alden Robinson is more-known for two of his other movies, Field of Dreams and Sneakers; but I must admit that he did a good job here supplying plenty of action and excitement along with a very real dose of what lie ahead for us…Even though the role of Jack Ryan (Ben Affleck) is the same, there seem to be a lot of differences than what we’re used to. Harrison Ford’s Ryan was married with a child, in this version we see Affleck’s Ryan on the verge of dating; he hasn’t even told his girlfriend what his real job is! But that’s beside the point, as she plays several predictable roles in the movie, all of which we’ll get to later.
As the movie opens, the year is 1973 and an Israeli airplane that is carrying a nuclear warhead crashes in the Syrian desert. Some years later, that nuclear warhead is unearthed by some locals and is sold on the black market (for $400 no less). We then meet "bad guy" whose theory is simple, let the Americans and the Russians fight each other instead of trying to fight them both. It’s then that we meet Jack Ryan and Bill Cabot (Morgan Freeman, taking over the role of what James Earl Jones played in the first series of movies, though the character is different). Cabot is a high-ranking official in the CIA, of which Ryan is now a junior member. Traveling to Russia, they meet the new Russian president after he assumes power. However, the black market nuke has made its way into the wrong hands, naturally. The goal of these terrorists is to detonate the device at the Super Bowl held in…the Washington D.C. area (how convenient). It’s up to our heroes to stop the bomb from going off and they may or may not succeed. Well, if they do succeed then World War III starts and seeing as how that hasn’t happened, you connect the dots. Then again, this is a work of fiction and not a documentary. Confused yet?
The Sum of All Fears worked as an action/adventure movie. The content is eerily predicted by Tom Clancy who wrote the book in the mid 90’s. Who could have known at the time what the actions of terrorists could do. While I still preferred Harrison Ford’s Jack Ryan as opposed to Affleck’s, it was clear that Ford was getting a bit too old for the part. Affleck’s girlfriend seems to be there only because they felt a man as good-looking as Affleck should have a nice woman around, and as they embrace at the end of the film, it seems fitting that the hero of the world not be a bachelor. While the events described in the movie are fictitious, it’s almost inevitable that something like this will happen in our future. We hope it won’t, but it really only takes a few people willing to sacrifice their lives for their cause, to kill a lot of innocent people. Is this a franchise? Certainly. This is now the fourth installment in the "Jack Ryan" movies and all have been successful, it’s likely that we’ll see Affleck re-assume the role and once again (maybe) save the world.
Video: How does it look?
Staying consistent with the rest of the Jack Ryan movies, The Sum of All Fears is presented in a 2.35:1 anamorphic ratio that looks fairly clean and consistent throughout. Though, I have to say for a movie that’s brand new to DVD, I had a few complaints. The image, at times, seemed to have a very grainy quality about it. With two commentaries and some additional supplements (aside from being over a two hour movie), this might have been better spread across two discs as the image seems a bit compromised from the material on it (now that’s something I haven’t said too often with a Paramount disc)! Flesh tones seem warm and natural, but a bit heavy at times, like everyone has a great tan. Edge enhancement isn’t noticeable at all, though it is present and on the whole it’s a good-looking transfer, just not what you would expect from a new movie to DVD.
Audio: How does it sound?
As expected, the Dolby Digital 5.1 audio is very good, with plenty of bullets flying by and thing blowing up to keep all of your channels humming from credits to credits. Dialogue sounds rich and natural, lacking any distortion. While most of the action takes place on the front speakers, the sub woofer (.1) channel has to earn it’s keep here too. Surround effects do come into play at key times during the movie, though they do add a lot of ambience to the film, they’re not so pronounced that you keep turning around staring at them! Overall, it’s a nice soundtrack, consistent with most any action/adventure movie.
Supplements: What are the extras?
Only a handful of movies from Paramount have bared the label "Special Collector’s Edition", but this is one of them. While not fully loaded to the gills, this does contain a lot of information here and should give fans of the film hours of supplements to play with. First up are two audio commentaries. The first, from Director Phil Alden Robinson and his cinematographer. As you might expect, this is more of a technically-based commentary track, telling of how they shot such and such scene, camera placement and so on. A good track, but the better and more entertaining track is with Robinson and Tom Clancy. Clancy knows his stuff when it comes to the military and CIA. Having penned several "Jack Ryan" novels, there are more than likely more to come. The track does suffer from a few holes here and there as if the two just sit and watch how Clancy’s book came alive. Still, this is the more entertaining track and worth a listen. The other supplements are limited to two featurettes and a theatrical trailer. The first is aptly-titled "The Making of The Sum of All Fears" which is labeled as such on the box, but when you get to the menu is called "A Cautionary Tale". Still, it features interviews with Affleck and the cast and crew of the film and tell of how the film was cast and so on. It tells of the obvious change from Ford to Affleck. A bit "run of the mill", but still interesting. Next up is a featurette on the visual effects, which obviously play a large part in the film. More technical in nature, this is actually very interesting in how they came up with what the city of Baltimore might look like should it get blown up by a bomb (that may or may not happen in the movie, folks). I still am in amazement as to how much thought and detail goes into each and every digital effect. A theatrical trailer rounds out the supplemental section. All in all, The Sum of All Fears was a much better movie that I had originally thought. I personally like Patriot Games and The Hunt for Red October as my favorite "Jack Ryan" movies, but we’ll more likely than not see this character on the screen in the future.
