The Sum of All Fears

If there's any movie that might have been wise to shelve after September 11, 2001, The Sum of All Fears is it. Portraying in all seriousness an enormously catastrophic terrorist attack, the film virtually ignores its repercussions, casualties and aftermath except as they relate to a pseudo-intellectual political intrigue plot (substantially retailored from Tom Clancy's titular novel) concerning neo-Nazis trying to start World War III. Beyond the post-attack poor taste, all director Phil Alden Robinson (Sneakers, Field of Dreams) has here is a complex and credibility-stretching but rather run-of-the-mill Jack Ryan movie, rewritten to accommodate Ben Affleck as a younger hero than Harrison Ford was in Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger. Despite its volumes of smart and fascinating cloak-and-dagger details, this is ultimately neither the thinking person's spy thriller it pretends to be nor the sum of its parts. Optional. [Note: DVD extras include two commentaries (by director Phil Alden Robinson and cinematographer John Lindley; and by Robinson and novelist Tom Clancy); featurettes on casting (13 minutes) and production (17 minutes); and visual effects segments on the carrier attack, A-4 jet, hospital, motorcade and helicopter scenes. Bottom line: a decent extras package for a so-so thriller.] (R. Blackwelder)[Blu-ray Review—Aug. 5, 2008—Paramount, 123 min., PG-13, $29.99—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 2002's The Sum of All Fears features a solid transfer and a 5.1 Dolby TrueHD soundtrack. The extras on the disc are identical to the previous DVD release, including two commentaries (one by director Phil Alden Robinson and cinematographer John Lindley; the other by Robinson and novelist Tom Clancy), featurettes on casting (13 min.) and production (17 min.), and “Creating Reality” visual effects segments on the carrier attack, A-4 jet, motorcade, helicopter, and hospital scenes. Bottom line: this Jack Ryan thriller looks good, but is still only a halfway decent film.]