 "Mediocre, even in Blu" | 2009-08-09 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2QR035HCPBSLC |
I never understood the hate for Sum of All Fears. It's not a super intelligent drama, or an inspiring story of someone losing and finding themselves amidst the horrors of nuclear winter-but it doesn't try to be. Sum of All Fears is-as the box describes it-an action-packed thrill ride, and it succeeds damn well at doing that.
Serving as a reboot for the Jack Ryan franchise, Sum of All Fears stars Ben Affleck as Jack, and Morgan Freeman as CIA director William Cabot. Right from the first moment the two are on screen together you can see the chemistry they shared, and it stays throughout, making one of the more enjoyable non-obvious pairings in recent action films.
So yeah, the two stars carry the film with their acting, but what about the rest of it? It's not perfect, but it's still great. Sum was the first of many series reboots in the 2000s, paving the way for Bond, Batman, and others. With a grittier, more realistic down-to-earth Jack Ryan, director Phil Alden Robinson tried to make the series more realistic in today's world, and to an extent he succeeded.
This Jack Ryan isn't the one we see in the 80s and early 90s films; he's more like us. Unfortunately, by the end of the movie Super Jack is back, and whereas we once had a guy who couldn't even remember to wear a tie to work or know how to act in the field, suddenly we have a guy singlehandedly staving off a nuclear holocaust without much trouble at all. It's a big jump from point A to B, and that's where the film starts to spiral down a bit - especially after the realism of the nuclear blast. (Don't worry, it's not a spoiler at all; they make it pretty obvious on the cover that a nuclear bomb goes off.)
In the end, The Sum of All Fears tries its hand at one approach, succeeds until the bomb goes off, and then seems to say "Screw it!" and goes back to being a traditional CIA action flick. Can I fault it? Not really, because even though the tone and style shifts suddenly, it's still a damn good ride any action fan will enjoy.
Content - 4/5
Sum has long been a guilty pleasure of mine. It's got just enough in it to make it more intelligent than traditional Hollywood action flicks, but it has just enough in common to make it enjoyable time and time again.
Video - 2.5/5
What you get depends entirely on your set-up. For most people, Sum looks fantastic. Presented in 2.35:1 widescreen and in 1080p, and being a new film, things should look fantastic. And sometimes (on mid-range or smaller TVs) they do. But once you get up to the big screens and truly run 1080p in its full glory, you notice a lot of over-processing. Some scenes look great, and twenty seconds later you'll wonder if you're watching a directors cut with a spliced in cutting room floor take.
Grain is also an issue in the latter half of the movie, oddly, which is when there's the most dust and clouds to make it noticeable. On the bright side, the blacks are nice and dark throughout, no matter which size or resolution you're viewing it in.
Audio - 4/5
With a TrueHD 5.1 track, you know what you're going to get. The first half of the film the TrueHD does little to impress, as there's little going on; on some occasions I even had to turn up the sound. Once the action kicks in about halfway through, however, sounds start bumping. The surround sounds fantastic, and scenes like the bomb going off are especially worth mention.
Replay - 2.5/5
You can watch it again and still get some enjoyment, but chances are you'll have to wait a while. There's only so much Ben Affleck a person can take without entering insanity; Morgan Freeman does cancel that out a bit, but the slow pace of the first half of the film makes it difficult to watch after you've recently seen it.
Extras - 2.5/5
Other than two easily predicted featurettes, Sum sports two commentaries, both by director Phil Alden Robinson: one with Tom Clancy, one with cinematographer John Lindey. The commentary with Lindey is very interesting if you're interested in the technical aspects of film making or aspiring to be a director yourself, but fairly boring for those just watching movies. The Clancy commentary is really entertaining, especially when Tom starts getting into where he feels the film falls short and what it failed to bring over from the book. A few awkward moments of silence round out an overall enjoyable commentary track, but unfortunately it's just about the only worthwhile feature on the disc.
Overall - 3/5
As a movie, The Sum of All Fears is a great popcorn film, and one of the better (if not one of the more underrated) action movies of its year. It's not going to make you think too long and hard, but it's an enjoyable ride with a stellar cast. Unfortunately, with the hiccups in video presentation, the lack of good extras, and the knowledge that this is most likely the last we'll see of this particular Jack Ryan universe, it's a very mixed ride - even if it is thrilling while it lasts. |
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 "Good plot, good film, hedious adaptation" | 2009-05-27 |
| - Reviewed By anibalmadeira |
Tom Clancy knows how to make vivid and realistic stories, because he walked in the halls of power and really understands about politics, the military and secret services. "The sum of all fears" is no exception, and shows how a determined partie with the right connections can begin a series of events that leads to a war with dire consequences. This film, although changing lots of plot, character and faction elements, keeps the main substance of the novel: Fear will tear us apart.
Especially in europe we believe that we live in a state of grace and permanent peace, but it's so fragile that we must cherish it. This film and novel is really a cautionary tale.
This Jack Ryan is a freshman in the CIA, not the hardened sub-director we're used to, and Ben Affleck fulfills the role quite well. Morgan Freeman is great as a top CIA executive; charismatic and with great leadership characteristics, easy stuff for such a good actor.
Secondary roles like the russian president and the american operative are also well played, leaving their mark.
The story itself as some "reality checks", like the secret services almost omnipotence, a walk in post nuclear bomb Baltimore, total discardance of nuclear Electro Magnetic Pulse (although the commentaries of Tom Clancy state that a small weapon probably would not knock out the entire network of com nods) or the fist fight with the big nazi (why????).
Good entertainment with a message. Common sense and wisdom must always be present in politics, especially when we have weapons that can destroy us all.
The extras in the DVD are quite good; explaining how was done the main scenes that required most special fx (like the effects of the explosion, or the A4 being shotdown); there are also interviews with the actors, and great commentaries from Tom Clancy (don't forget to watch this film a second time with the commentaries on - they should have hired Mr.ยบ clancy as an adviser...the film would be better). Three stars for the extras. |
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| "A good movie" | 2009-05-23 |
| - Reviewed By User: A3BWBEUYEBPDYC |
| I was very happy with Amazon and it's partner as to the speed and quality of how everything went smoothly. I received the DVD in a timely manner and was pleased at the price for the entire experience. |
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 "Sum of All Fears is the sum of all Spy Thrillers!" | 2009-05-03 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2IJLUFVLC08Z2 |
The Sum of All Fears takes place in the past when Jack Ryan is a young CIA analyst, getting his first taste of national intelligence and meeting high level people in the government. This movie has lots of action and some good humor between Affleck and Morgan Freeman, showing how Admiral Greer dies toward the end. The part where the American aircraft carrier gets attacked is great (along with the Russian fighters getting blown up). They threw in some romance and spy intrigue to the mix as well. Definitely worth your time and to add to your collection!
Carl |
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| "Excellent Movie!" | 2009-04-28 |
| - Reviewed By User: A3R6YYHHKW8BHZ |
| I saw the first two reviews of this movie and I'm very glad that I ignored them. I thought that this was an excellent movie, very suspensful, and a wonderful ending. Morgan Freeman and Ben Affleck do a great job as the head of the CIA and a young Jack Ryan. The only reason I can figure out that these people hated the movie is that they are hard-core Tom Clancy fans who like to be bored to tears when reading. If this movie had stuck 100% to Clancy's book it probably would have been 5 hours long. The man just goes far too much into explanation and you could probably cut out 200 pages of his books and still have a good plot. Once again, see this movie. |
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 "The Dividend of All Concerns" | 2008-11-26 |
| - Reviewed By jstabile4 |
THUMBS UP FOR SO-CALLED "POLITICAL CORRECTNESS"
I hate people that go around complaining about "political correctness". I do it myself some, but I'm not a rightwing nut. It ain't all like the Drudge Report and Hannity etc. tell ya monkey. 6 stars for THE SUM OF ALL FEARS for it's "POLITICAL CORRECTNESS". Ohhh how dare a movie be critical of the military industrial complex. _OOOOOH_MY_GOD_ Israel looks not like a bunch of saints in a movie. What??? It didn't make Muslims look evil?!! The outrage. Anyway, at least this Tom Clancy movie has something going for it: it annoyed wingnuts. |
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