Product Details

• Actors: Ben Affleck, Morgan Freeman, James Cromwell, Ken Jenkins, Liev Schreiber
• Directors: Phil Alden Robinson
• Writers: Tom Clancy, Daniel Pyne, Paul Attanasio
• Producers: Mace Neufeld, Stratton Leopold, Tom Clancy
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English, French
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: Paramount
• DVD Release Date: October 29, 2002
• Run Time: 124 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (313 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00005JL8F
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #10,775 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #37 in

  Movies & TV > Action & Adventure > Disaster Films

• For more information about "The Sum of All Fears (Special Collector's Edition)" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

• This is item 4 in The Jack Ryan Series.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

It's not easy replacing Harrison Ford as a beloved screen hero, but Ben Affleck brings fresh vitality to The Sum of All Fears, reviving Paramount's Tom Clancy franchise in the role Ford made famous. As CIA agent Jack Ryan, Affleck is a rookie in the covert ranks, unraveling a plot that lures Russian and American superpowers into a nuclear standoff, while a neofascist faction turns most of Baltimore into an atomic wasteland and holds the world in the grip of a terrorist nightmare. Affleck combines sharp intelligence with a new-guy's perspective, while a senior agent (Morgan Freeman) passes the torch of back-channel authority. The result is one of the best Clancy films to date, ably helmed by Phil Alden Robinson (whose comic thriller Sneakers was sorely underrated) with a stellar supporting cast, and adapted with abundant humor, humanity, and thrills by Donnie Brasco screenwriter Paul Attanasio and cowriter Daniel Pyne. Even the typically reticent Clancy would approve. --Jeff Shannon

Product Description

When the president of Russia suddenly dies and is succeeded by a man about whom little is known, tension increases as old fears ignite new paranoia. Director of Central Intelligence Bill Cabot (Freeman) recruits a young analyst from the Russia desk, Jack Ryan (Affleck), to supply insight and advice. Then the unthinkable happens: the capital of Chechnya is leveled by a nuclear bomb. America is quick to blame the Russians and mistrust escalates despite Ryan's certainty that other players are at work. He is right. Terrorists bent on provoking open war between the two nations are moving behind the scenes to manufacture and escalate a conflict. When they successfully detonate a second bomb outside Baltimore during the Super Bowl, the world is pushed inexorably towards war...unless Ryan can supply the needed proof to stem the tide of disaster in time.

See all Editorial Reviews

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fun and suspenseful, April 26, 2002

By	Robert Jordan (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I'm a hard-core Tom Clancy fan and was surprised to see how much this latest film adaptation wandered from the book, but it was still very entertaining. The latest incarnation of Jack Ryan is very young and inexperienced. The film seems to pretend the other Jack Ryan adventures haven't happened. Jack is new with the CIA and doesn't know the ropes the way he does in the book. He isn't even married yet. Morgan Freeman is wonderful as his boss (no surprise there) and the relationship between them is the best part of the film.

I'm no expert, but there seemed to be some technical flaws which required that the viewer suspend their skepticism. (Would cell phones continue to work when your local area has been hit by a nuke?) Still a worthy addition to the series. Clancy's readers will have to be especially open-minded though.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Clancy & the films producers sell out!!!!!!!, August 23, 2002

By	AbeStreet (Mayfield Heights, OH United States) - See all my reviews

I have written a lenghthy review of this film @ IMDB.com which contains comparisons between the book and the movie. I will not repeat that review here. I don't want to put spoilers about the film in this review because I tried that before and Amazon.com would not post my review. So as not to violate the Amazon.com policy regarding spoilers. I will review the book and then comment on the movie.

THE SUM OF ALL FEARS is a critical book in the Jack Ryan time line. In the book Jack is the Deputy Director of Intelligence and holds one of the highest positons in the CIA. The book then plots the middle eastern terrorists plans. It also goes into great depth to show the relationship between Jack, the President and the Presidents national security advisor. Agent Spinnaker the Russian spy helps to add to conflict as he feeds the CIA false data that will hopefully result in his becoming Russias new leader. Most importantly Jack forms an alliance with the Vice President Darling that will lead to Jack becoming Vice President after Darling becomes President in DEBT OF HONOR (DOH). After that Jack becomes President in EXECUTIVE ORDERS (EO).

Next to THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER this is my favorite Clancy novel. This story has it all. It shows what a truely gifted writer Clancy is but then we come to the movie version of the book. I don't know how Clancy could support this baztardization of his book. Except for a nuclear weapon going off in the U.S. there are almost no other similarities between the book and the movie. And because Ben Affleck has assumed the role of Jack Ryan it is almost impossible to Make DOH or EO. In order to be President or Vice President the individual must be over 35 years old. Ben who was in his late 20's when this was made has a way to go yet.

I understand that people who have not read the book may think that this film is okay but that is not who buys the majority of the tickets for the film. It is the fans of Clancy and the novel that buy the tickets. This movie had a built in fan base and Clancy along with the producers for this movie betrayed that base. I will never understand why Hollywood continues to make movies based on the popularity of a book and then changes the movie so drastically that it no longer adheres to the book itself. While movies such as TSOAF may generate some inital dollars it will not stand the test of time. Movies such as THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING and THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION which remained faithful to the books from which they were taken will stand the test of time and continue to generate dollars for the author and the producers. If this DVD has a commentary track on it I would like to hear the excuses they come up with for all the changes to the storyline.

Lastly, if you saw the trailer for this movie you saw the best parts of the film. There are very few noteworthy special effects. The nuclear detonation in THE PEACEMAKERS was better than the detonation in this film. The brief scene of Russian fighter attacking a U.S. aircraft carrier only lasted as long the same scene in the trailer. What the viewer is treated to is too much of is Jack (Ben Aflleck) Ryan's dumbfounded expressions as he wanders from scene to scene.

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Politically correct Tom Clancy, September 27, 2005

By	John - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

I watched this the other night, and can't believe how politically correct it is. The bad guys are Austrians, Isrealis, and, indirectly, the U.S. military-industrial complex. I wonder what Tom Clancy thinks about that. Muslims are just innocent bystanders, and the liberals save the day, because war is all just a misunderstanding, or is caused by European nazis. This movie is shameless political correctness. The film is actually excellent, but I give it only two stars for the tired leftwing cliches. If they had filmed it based on Clancy's novel, it would have been great. I think Hollywood just copped out and got scared of portraying the Muslims as "the enemy", and so did what they always do: just turn the bad guys into white nazis. South Africans are no longer available, so they went to the "default": Austrians (guys, World War II is over).