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Movies / On DVD / The Sum of All Fears
The Sum of All Fears

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The Sum of All Fears (2002)

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Reviews Counted:34

Fresh:15

Rotten:19

Average Rating:5.5/10

Consensus: A slick and well-made thriller that takes on new weight due to the current political climate.

Rated: PG-13 [See Full Rating] for violence, disaster images and brief strong language

Runtime: 2 hrs 3 mins

Genre: Action/Adventure

Theatrical Release:May 31, 2002 Wide

Box Office: $118,471,320

Synopsis: In this high-intensity drama, based on the novel by Tom Clancy, Ben Affleck stars as Jack Ryan, the CIA agent from Clancy's THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER, PATRIOT GAMES, and CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER.... In this high-intensity drama, based on the novel by Tom Clancy, Ben Affleck stars as Jack Ryan, the CIA agent from Clancy's THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER, PATRIOT GAMES, and CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER. Here, Ryan is dealing with a terrifying new problem: a nuclear weapon has fallen into the hands of foreign terrorists who are determined to create a war between Russia and the U.S. As the film begins, a South African arms dealer (Colm Feore) acquires a long-lost nuclear weapon and sells it, at great profit, to a resurgent group of fascists led by Dressler (Alan Bates), who plans to lure the U.S. and Russia into a war. Soon after, the Russian premiere dies and the relatively unknown Nemerov (Ciarán Hinds) replaces him. But U.S. president Fowler (James Cromwell) smells a rat, and calls CIA chief William Cabot (Morgan Freeman) and special agent Jack Ryan (Affleck), the junior analyst who has been researching Nemerov, into action. THE SUM OF ALL FEARS is a powerful addition to Tom Clancy's techno-thriller series. Affleck is effective, and there are notable supporting performances from Freeman, Cromwell, Feore, Hinds, Bates, and Liev Schreiber as a CIA operative. Director Phil Alden Robinson manages the action with great skill. Particularly notable are the terrifying nuclear attack and the sequence of final reckonings intercut with Puccini's beautiful aria "Nessun Dorma." [More]

Starring: Ben Affleck, Morgan Freeman, Liev Schreiber, James Cromwell

Starring: Ben Affleck, Morgan Freeman, Liev Schreiber, James Cromwell, Alan Bates, Ciaran Hinds, Colm Feore, Bridget Moynahan, Philip Baker Hall, Ron Rifkin, Bruce McGill, Marie Matiko

Director: Phil Alden Robinson

Director: Phil Alden Robinson
Screenwriter: Paul Attanasio, Daniel Pynee
Producer: Mace Neufeld
Composer: Jerry Goldsmith
Studio: Paramount Pictures

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Release:

Oct 29, 2002

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Reviews for The Sum of All Fears

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N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
07/22/08
Robert Koehler
Robert Koehler
Variety
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Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Denver Rocky Mountain News | comment Comment
08/09/02
Robert Denerstein
Robert Denerstein
Denver Rocky Mountain News
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An implausible apocalypse without depth or resonance, a cartoon of international politics presented with no James Bond-like playfulness and with all the superficial realism money can buy.

Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | comment Comment
07/20/02
Michael Wilmington
Michael Wilmington
Chicago Tribune
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I'm not saying Affleck is in way over his head, but a scuba tank and swim fins might come in handy.

Full Review Source: Arizona Republic | comment Comment
06/13/02
Bill Muller
Bill Muller
Arizona Republic
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Affleck merely creates an outline for a role he still needs to grow into, a role that Ford effortlessly filled with authority.

Full Review Source: Rolling Stone | comment Comment
06/10/02
Peter Travers
Peter Travers
Rolling Stone
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A trite espionage thriller without the thrills but with a lingering measure of nausea.

Full Review Source: Village Voice | comment Comment
06/04/02
Michael Atkinson
Michael Atkinson
Village Voice
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The Sum of All Fears is almost impossible to follow -- and there's something cringe-inducing about seeing an American football stadium nuked as pop entertainment.

Full Review Source: Ebert & Roeper | comment Comment
06/03/02
Richard Roeper
Richard Roeper
Ebert & Roeper
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Phil Alden Robinson, who directed from a script by Paul Attanasio and Daniel Pyne, is an accomplished craftsman, but his movie has been upstaged by the sum of our fears.

Full Review Source: New York Magazine | comment Comment
06/02/02
Peter Rainer
Peter Rainer
New York Magazine
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Has something to disappoint nearly every constituency to which it appeals.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
05/31/02
Ann Hornaday
Ann Hornaday
Washington Post
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One that bombs literally and figuratively.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
05/31/02
Desson Thomson
Desson Thomson
Washington Post
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It's a movie that, frankly, I could not recommend to a friend, and yet I find no fault in the filmmaking.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
05/31/02
Mick LaSalle
Mick LaSalle
San Francisco Chronicle
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The Sum of All Fears pretends to be a serious exploration of nuclear terrorism, but it's really nothing more than warmed-over Cold War paranoia.

Full Review Source: Salon.com | comment Comment
05/31/02
Charles Taylor
Charles Taylor
Salon.com
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This engrossing, characteristically complex Tom Clancy thriller is shifty in the manner in which it addresses current terrorism anxieties and sidesteps them at the same time.

Full Review Source: Newsday | comment Comment
05/31/02
Jan Stuart
Jan Stuart
Newsday
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Toward the end Sum of All Fears morphs into a mundane '70s disaster flick.

Full Review Source: Houston Chronicle | comment Comment
05/31/02
Bruce Westbrook
Bruce Westbrook
Houston Chronicle
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Bold, imaginative, rational and persuasive an account of the lethally dangerous world we live in, The Sum of All Fears is an international spy drama with visceral impact.

Full Review Source: Detroit News | comment Comment
05/31/02
Susan Stark
Susan Stark
Detroit News
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The explosion essentially ruined -- or, rather, overpowered -- the fiction of the movie for me.

Full Review Source: Denver Post | comment Comment
05/31/02
Steven Rosen
Steven Rosen
Denver Post
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All that moviemaking money, plus all those gadgets, plus Ben Affleck: It doesn't add up to very much.

Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | comment Comment
05/31/02
Rick Groen
Rick Groen
Globe and Mail
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Plays like a cheesy '80s TV movie.

Full Review Source: New York Post | comment Comment
05/31/02
Lou Lumenick
Lou Lumenick
New York Post
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A mediocre terrorist melodrama turned even punier by real-life events.

Full Review Source: USA Today | comment Comment
05/31/02
Mike Clark
Mike Clark
USA Today
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Director Phil Alden Robinson and his writers, Paul Attanasio and Daniel Pyne, do a spellbinding job of cranking up the tension.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
05/31/02
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
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