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Movie Review for Sum of All Fears, The
Movie Review for
Sum of All Fears, The
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Sum of All Fears, The | | |
| Also known as: | |
135 Reviews total.
Release date: 5/31/2002
Run length: 123 mins.
Categories:
Action/Adventure
,
Drama
,
Thriller
,
Adaptation
Summary:
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 recruits a young analyst from the Russia desk, Jack Ryan, 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.
Reviews of Sum of All Fears, The
By
Kamal 'The Diva' Larsuel
of 3BlackChicks Review (7/0)
To sum it up: heavy on imagination and light on reality.
By
Mike McGranaghan
of Aisle Seat (7/0)
Retreads a lot of familiar elements from other "international thrillers" while occasionally dippi...
By
Brian Webster
of Apollo Guide (7/0)
A tense, capably-made film that’s exciting and realistic enough to satisfy filmgoers who’ve had t...
By
Marc Savlov
of Austin Chronicle (7/0)
You want excitement, panic, and governmental foul-ups that result in tragic loss of life? Watch C...
By
Laura Bushell
of BBC (7/0)
Deals with a chillingly topical nuclear attack on Baltimore. But perhaps more disturbingly, it re...
By
Lawrence Toppman
of Charlotte Observer (7/0)
A middlebrow hybrid that should satisfy most fans of spy movies without blowing them away.
Reviews of Sum of All Fears, The
By
Roger Ebert
of Chicago Sun-Times (7/0)
Director Phil Alden Robinson and his writers, Paul Attanasio and Daniel Pyne, do a spellbinding j...
By
Michael Wilmington
of Chicago Tribune (7/0)
An implausible apocalypse without depth or resonance, a cartoon of international politics present...
By
Gloria Goodale
of Christian Science Monitor (7/0)
If nothing else, this film may stand as a cultural testament to how times really have changed sin...
By
Margaret A. McGurk
of Cincinnati Enquirer (7/0)
It's all fast and loud and pulse-pounding, of course, but nothing that we haven't seen dozens of ...
By
Karina Montgomery
of Cinerina (7/0)
All shame aside, not being a Tom Clancy fan or Jack Ryan fan, I did quite enjoy it. Is it Morgan...
By
Paul Clinton (CNN.com)
of CNN.com (7/0)
The nonstop action takes you all over the planet, and you'll find yourself totally caught up in t...
Reviews of Sum of All Fears, The
By
Mark Palermo
of Coast (Halifax, Nova Scotia) (7/0)
The exposition-heavy screenplay favours deathly dialogue scenes over actually showing us action u...
By
Harvey S. Karten
of Compuserve (7/0)
Sharply-written opening yields to predictable melodrama.
By
Mary F. Pols
of Contra Costa Times (7/0)
Can you be entertained by a fictional tale of nuclear terrorism right now? Doubtless plenty of pe...
By
Larry Carroll
of Countingdown.com (7/0)
a tightly constructed political thriller overflowing with fanatical terrorists, red-faced politic...
By
Steven D. Greydanus
of Decent Films Guide (7/0)
I can’t really blame Affleck not being Harrison Ford. These days, not even Harrison Ford is...
By
Jeff Vice
of Deseret News, Salt Lake City (7/0)
A less-than-thrilling thriller.
Reviews of Sum of All Fears, The
By
Erik Childress
of eFilmCritic.com (7/0)
Director Phil Alden Robinson is able to set-up the film’s second half with enough precision to sh...
By
Scott Weinberg
of eFilmCritic.com (7/0)
Taken outside the context of the current political climate (see: terrorists are more evil than ev...
By
Eric D. Snider
of EricDSnider.com (7/0)
Thirty years ago, it would have been groundbreaking. Now it's just tired.
By
Catharine Tunnacliffe
of eye WEEKLY (7/0)
The film doesn't really care about the thousands of Americans who die hideously, it cares about h...
By
Eugene Novikov
of Film Blather (7/0)
Works on the levels you would expect it to but doesn't go the extra mile.
By
Walter Chaw
of Film Freak Central (7/0)
Aspires for a nihilistic weariness that our new reality has made naïve and conventional.
Reviews of Sum of All Fears, The
By
Daniel Eagan
of Film Journal International (7/0)
Adds up to a checklist of war-game clichés and doomsday scenarios.
By
John R. McEwen
of Film Quips Online (7/0)
It's a tired premise, and it's got its flaws, but the present talent makes it worthwhile.
By
Jimmy O
of Film Snobs (7/0)
Never in film history will there be a more nonchalant nuclear holocaust.
By
Stephen Himes
of Film Snobs (7/0)
I've felt more drama watching tornado chasers on The Weather Channel.
By
Christopher Null
of filmcritic.com (7/0)
The unequivocal death of the Jack Ryan franchise.
By
Rob Vaux
of Flipside Movie Emporium (7/0)
A little more intensity and a little less charm would have saved this film a world of hurt.
Reviews of Sum of All Fears, The
By
Rick Groen
of Globe and Mail (7/0)
All that moviemaking money, plus all those gadgets, plus Ben Affleck: It doesn't add up to very m...
By
Steven Snyder
of Greater Milwaukee Today (7/0)
...post-September 11, “The Sum Of All Fears” seems more tacky and reprehensible, manipulating our...
By
Eric Lurio
of Greenwich Village Gazette (7/0)
So don’t worry, take in a matinee.
By
Ross Anthony
of Hollywood Report Card (7/0)
Artfully shot, well scripted, with tremendous direction.
By
Bruce Westbrook
of Houston Chronicle (6/1)
Toward the end Sum of All Fears morphs into a mundane '70s disaster flick.
By
Gary Brown
of Houston Community Newspapers (7/0)
A two-hour nail biter that entertains right up to the last frame.
Reviews of Sum of All Fears, The
By
Steve Rhodes
of Internet Reviews (7/0)
Directed brilliantly, it is a great film whose power might have been missed or ridiculed before 9...
By
JoBlo
of JoBlo's Movie Emporium (7/0)
It was an okay movie with okay acting, an okay story and an okay premise...
By
Ella Taylor
of L.A. Weekly (7/0)
It's a smartly directed, grown-up film of ideas.
By
Robert Roten
of Laramie Movie Scope (7/0)
Filled with action, intrigue and tension, it is the best of all Clancy adaptations ...
By
Jon Niccum
of Lawrence Journal-World (7/0)
The Sum of All Fears proves that the Jack Ryan franchise still has some legs. Most importantly, i...
By
Kevin Thomas
of Los Angeles Times (7/0)
Absorbing and disturbing -- perhaps more disturbing than originally intended -- but a little clar...
Reviews of Sum of All Fears, The
By
Mark Dujsik
of Mark Reviews Movies (7/0)
Begins as a political potboiler but is smart enough to find a place for an actual message in the ...
By
Rene Rodriguez
of Miami Herald (7/0)
It's a testament to how effective The Sum of All Fears really is that it sends you home feeling m...
By
Duane Dudek
of Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (7/0)
Has so little suspense or drama that it manages to make World War III into a PG-13-rated event.
By
Kevin N. Laforest
of Montreal Film Journal (7/0)
It’s a great movie. And I’m not only saying this because I’m in it!
By
Ken Hanke
of Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) (7/0)
If you don't examine certain aspects of the plot %u2013 hell, most aspects of the plot %u2013 too...
By
Marty Mapes
of Movie Habit (7/0)
Evidence accumulates as in a murder mystery, slowly building to an unforgettable climax
Reviews of Sum of All Fears, The
By
Nell Minow
of Movie Mom at Yahoo! Movies (7/0)
More about sensation than about sense, and the ultimate resolution does not feel either ultimate ...
By
Michael Dequina
of Movie Poop Shoot (7/0)
Breathes fresh life into a durable film franchise that, based on this installment, still has a pr...
By
Kevin A. Ranson
of MovieCrypt.com (7/0)
(Not) the biggest or best film of this summer's blockbuster season, but it does hold up well unde...
By
Jorge Avila Andrade
of Moviola (7/0)
El filme provoca que la audiencia piense y medite sobre el mundo en que habitamos, así como en lo...
By
Widgett Walls
of Needcoffee.com (7/0)
A very capable nailbiter.
By
Peter Rainer
of New York Magazine (7/0)
Phil Alden Robinson, who directed from a script by Paul Attanasio and Daniel Pyne, is an accompli...
Reviews of Sum of All Fears, The
By
Andrew Sarris
of New York Observer (7/0)
I was impressed by how many tit-for-tat retaliatory responses the filmmakers allow before pulling...
By
Cynthia Fuchs
of Nitrate Online (7/0)
Awash in explosions and plotted out the wazoo, full of sinister villains, exotic locations, and i...
By
Jim Chastain
of Norman Transcript (7/0)
The story holds your interest, but it has clear flaws relating to the villain and the parties to ...
By
Jeffrey Westhoff
of Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL) (7/0)
Sum" is Jack Ryan's "do-over." Give credit to everyone from Robinson down to the key grip that th...
By
Frank Swietek
of One Guy's Opinion (7/0)
Comes across as a relic from a bygone era, and its convolutions...feel silly rather than plausibl...
By
Dennis Schwartz
of Ozus' World Movie Reviews (7/0)
It's the kind of empty Hollywood film that has been made since the onset of films.
Reviews of Sum of All Fears, The
By
Jeanne Aufmuth
of Palo Alto Weekly (7/0)
In light of the most recent terrorist warnings, this edgy thriller about a lost nuclear weapon re...
By
Sean Burns
of Philadelphia Weekly (6/1)
Are these people out of their minds? It's hard to describe just how dirty and sickened The Sum o...
By
Jon Popick
of Planet Sick-Boy (7/0)
A shockingly brutal and incredibly realistic look at a devastating terrorist act committed on U.S...
By
James Kendrick
of Q Network Film Desk (7/0)
takes on a gut-churning immediacy that is hard to deny
By
Andrew Manning
of Radio Free Entertainment (7/0)
A politically correct war film of the Information Age--one that is whitewashed, predictable, and ...
By
James Sanford
of rec.arts.movies.reviews (7/0)
"Although efficiently produced with enough explosions and arguments to make sure no one dozes off...
Reviews of Sum of All Fears, The
By
Tor Thorsen
of Reel.com (7/0)
Although it lacks the detail of the book, the film does pack some serious suspense.
By
Laura Clifford
of Reeling Reviews (7/0)
the best Clancy screen adaptation to date
By
Robin Clifford
of Reeling Reviews (7/0)
"The Sum of All Fears" is an intelligent, adult thriller that reps a very good alternative to the...
By
Betty Jo Tucker
of ReelTalk Movie Reviews (7/0)
Ben Affleck as Jack Ryan, Tom Clancy's intrepid hero? Ridiculous. What's next? D.J. Qualls as Ind...
By
James Berardinelli
of ReelViews (7/0)
The movie does what all good thrillers should do -- provide enough shocks and surprises to keep u...
By
Forrest Hartman
of Reno Gazette-Journal (7/0)
A competent Tom Clancy thriller that's betrayed by a miscast Ben Affleck as Jack Ryan.
Reviews of Sum of All Fears, The
By
Bob Grimm
of Reno News and Review (7/0)
Affleck gets better with each film. It will be interesting to see him age with the Jack Ryan role...
By
Jack Garner
of Rochester Democrat and Chronicle (7/0)
The film is on a par with the three previous Jack Ryan adventures -- and that's all any fan of th...
By
Peter Travers
of Rolling Stone (7/0)
Affleck merely creates an outline for a role he still needs to grow into, a role that Ford effort...
By
Harry Guerin
of RTE Interactive (Dublin, Ireland) (7/0)
Has enough clichés and cut-out characters to condemn it to mediocrity.
By
Jim Lane
of Sacramento News & Review (7/0)
Director Phil Alden Robinson seems a bit out of his element, but he navigates the doomsday scenar...
By
Charles Taylor
of Salon.com (7/0)
The Sum of All Fears pretends to be a serious exploration of nuclear terrorism, but it's really n...
Reviews of Sum of All Fears, The
By
Jean Lowerison
of San Diego Metropolitan (7/0)
Not great filmmaking, probably not even vintage Clancy, but it's a good enough political thriller...
By
Jim Judy
of Screen It! (7/0)
If you can manage to turn off your brain or at least the more critical and analytical part of it,...
By
William Arnold
of Seattle Post-Intelligencer (7/0)
Even with a forced cheerful ending, absurdly unrealistic villains, somewhat clumsy plot mechanics...
By
Ed Gonzalez
of Slant Magazine (7/0)
In The Sum of All Fears, Evil is fond of anecdotes and opera music, speaks with ghoulish inflecti...
By
Rob Blackwelder
of SPLICEDWire (7/0)
It's just not the thinking person's spy thriller it pretends to be.
By
Gerry Shamray
of Sun Newspapers of Cleveland (7/0)
Affleck's performance is so lightweight that he feels like a secondary character, barely involved...
Reviews of Sum of All Fears, The
By
Paul Salfen
of Supercala.com (7/0)
What would have been a surefire blockbuster in any other time is now a very hard film to "enjoy" ...
By
Tony Toscano
of Talking Pictures (U.S.) (7/0)
Although the subject matter may still be too close to recent national events, the film works - mo...
By
Victor Olliver
of Teletext (7/0)
Clancy's world is strictly for the techno-nerds and frankly they're welcome to it.
By
Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone
of TheMovieChicks.com (7/0)
The effects are top-notch, the military equipment they use is pretty amazing, and the story is in...
By
Maitland McDonagh
of TV Guide's Movie Guide (7/0)
Based on the 1991 Tom Clancy technothriller, this big-budget spectacle treads an uneasy path betw...
By
Ian Waldron-Mantgani
of UK Critic (7/0)
Superior genre storytelling, which gets under our skin simply by crossing the nuclear line.
Reviews of Sum of All Fears, The
By
Urban Cinefile Critics
of Urban Cinefile (7/0)
The Sum of All Fears is remarkably fuddled about motives and context, which drains it of the dram...
By
Mike Clark
of USA Today (7/0)
A mediocre terrorist melodrama turned even punier by real-life events.
By
Michael Atkinson
of Village Voice (7/0)
A trite espionage thriller without the thrills but with a lingering measure of nausea.
By
Vanessa Sibbald
of Zap2it.com (7/0)
The star who helped give a spark to "Chasing Amy" and "Changing Lanes" falls flat as thinking man...
By
Phil Villarreal
of Arizona Daily Star (3/4) No reference
Robinson's web of suspense matches the page-turning frenzy that Clancy creates.
By
Tim Cogshell
of Boxoffice Magazine (3/4) No reference
The required suspension of disbelief is insurmountable.
Reviews of Sum of All Fears, The
By
Dan Marcucci and Nancy Serougi
of Broomfield Enterprise (3/4) No reference
The sum of all parts adds up to a great Sum of All Fears
By
Luis Martinez
of Cinenganos (3/4) No reference
A Alden Robinson, el director, le sentó bien la amistad con Tom Hanks y Spielberg al haber dirigi...
By
Dan Fazio
of Citysearch (3/4) No reference
A solid -- if routine -- entry in the Jack Ryan series.
By
Matt Brunson
of Creative Loafing (3/4) No reference
It's been eight years since Clear and Present Danger, but this late-blooming entry shows that non...
By
Christopher Tookey
of Daily Mail [UK] (3/4) No reference
I didn't believe for a moment in these villains or their plot.
By
Garth Franklin
of Dark Horizons (3/4) No reference
Now see why Harison Ford decided not to play Jack Ryan once again in this very flawed film.
Reviews of Sum of All Fears, The
By
Susan Stark
of Detroit News (3/4) No reference
Bold, imaginative, rational and persuasive an account of the lethally dangerous world we live in,...
By
Sean O'Connell
of Eclipse Magazine (3/4) No reference
Robinson handles it all with a swift precision and an intense, jet-powered stride.
By
Owen Gleiberman
of Entertainment Weekly (3/4) No reference
Ben Affleck is more than a stand-in for Harrison Ford.
By
MaryAnn Johanson
of Flick Filosopher (3/4) No reference
Current events lend this an urgent intensity it probably was not intended to evince.
By
Donald Munro
of Fresno Bee (3/4) No reference
Suffers because it seems so pale and ineffectual compared to the real thing.
By
Bruce Kirkland
of Jam! Movies (3/4) No reference
The Sum Of All Fears does have a lot going for it, not least of which is an absolutely horrifying...
Reviews of Sum of All Fears, The
By
Louis B. Hobson
of Jam! Movies (3/4) No reference
Compelling filmmaking at its best.
By
Marshall Fine
of Journal News (Westchester, NY) (3/4) No reference
If the measure of a movie is its ability to make you think about the ideas it contains, The Sum o...
By
Robert W. Butler
of Kansas City Star (3/4) No reference
A nail-biting tension machine with such a compelling plot that it would work if you illustrated i...
By
Danny Minton
of KBTV-NBC (Beaumont, TX) (3/4) No reference
There were moments in the theater where it was so quiet that I thought that people were literally...
By
John Larsen
of Light Views (6/1) No reference
Those willing to take all of this as entertainment rather than a cautionary tale will like what t...
By
Glenn Whipp
of Los Angeles Daily News (3/4) No reference
The movie deftly reinvents the Tom Clancy series.
Reviews of Sum of All Fears, The
By
Jeremiah Kipp
of Matinee Magazine (3/4) No reference
Sum's world is a moron-friendly version of Thirteen Days posing as current events, one where the ...
By
Matt Easterbrook
of Matt's Movie Reviews (3/4) No reference
Action-packed and exciting!
By
Michael Elliott
of Movie Parables (3/4) No reference
Sum of All Fears sputters and lurches, alternating between fits of tense action and scenes of tep...
By
Mark Ramsey
of MovieJuice! (3/4) No reference
According to Tom Clancy, "commercial necessities dictate that we couldn't use a villain who would...
By
James Rocchi
of Netflix (3/4) No reference
Tom Clancy franchise gets a surprisingly satisfying reinvention thanks to star Ben Affleck and di...
By
Jan Stuart
of Newsday (3/4) No reference
This engrossing, characteristically complex Tom Clancy thriller is shifty in the manner in which ...
Reviews of Sum of All Fears, The
By
Jay Boyar
of Orlando Sentinel (3/4) No reference
Watching this film, we can't shake our fears that we may be witnessing a version of our own previ...
By
Gary Thompson
of Philadelphia Daily News (3/4) No reference
Even on its own ludicrous terms, The Sum of All Fears generates little narrative momentum, and in...
By
Joe Baltake
of Sacramento Bee (3/4) No reference
The film -- based on one of Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan novels, published in 1991 -- is excellent, bot...
By
Sean Means
of Salt Lake Tribune (3/4) No reference
It may not be the most exciting Clancy movie made, but it certainly is the most human.
By
David Elliott
of San Diego Union-Tribune (3/4) No reference
You can fire a torpedo through some of Clancy's holes, and the scripters don't deserve any Oscars...
By
Jeffrey M. Anderson
of San Francisco Examiner (3/4) No reference
If we're going to be swept away by a thriller of this kind, we need a hero that we can depend on ...
Reviews of Sum of All Fears, The
By
Erik Lundegaard
of Seattle Times (3/4) No reference
Subtract the slickness, and Sum adds up to a smart thriller.
By
Todd Anthony
of South Florida Sun-Sentinel (3/4) No reference
The film starts slowly, gathers momentum and flattens audience reservations.
By
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
of St. Paul Pioneer Press (3/4) No reference
Intelligent and well-made.
By
Dustin Putman
of TheMovieBoy.com (3/4) No reference
With a premise that is eerily similar to the tragic events of 9/11...it wavers somewhere on the d...
By
Audrey Rock-Richardson
of Tooele Transcript-Bulletin (Utah) (3/4) No reference
If the film wasn’t so well executed, it wouldn’t have felt so frightening.
By
Jonathan R. Perry
of Tyler Morning Telegraph (Texas) (3/4) No reference
Is Ben Affleck such an indispensable talent -- or box-office draw -- that his presence is worth w...
Reviews of Sum of All Fears, The
By
Cory Cheney
of Urban Tulsa Weekly (3/4) No reference
Advance buzz for The Sum of All Fears was it was better than Red October. Rest assured, it’s not....
By
Desson Thomson
of Washington Post (3/4) No reference
One that bombs literally and figuratively.
By
Eleanor Ringel Gillespie
of Atlanta Journal-Constitution (4/3) Not Reachable
The Sum of All Fears may not be super-smart, but it's rock-solid.
Movie Distributors
Paramount Pictures Production Companies
Mace Neufeld Productions
SOAF Films Movie Studios
Paramount Pictures
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