The Sum of All Fears

[Jedieb]

The wife and I saw it tonight. I was pleasantly surprised. It was an intelligent and suspenseful thriller. I actually liked it more than both the Ford and Baldwin Jack Ryan films. I had no problem with time warping Jack Ryan's character. It's not important to the success of the film for the character to be consistent from film to film.
There are some disturbing and gripping images in the movie. I found the nuclear explosion in Baltimore chilling. Partly because the scenario in the film is one we all know to be completely feasible. The last second resolution was a bit formulaic, but it didn't detract from what was a very good movie. The theater was about 90% full so I think it's looking at a good weekend.

[Jedi Master Carr]

I am still not sure about it, I am not a big Affleck fan at all, he is no where near as good of actor as Ford, I will probably just end up waiting for the DVD for that reason alone.

[Doc Milo]

The "time-warping" of Ryan's character may not be important to the film, but I do believe that if they intended to make Debt of Honor, and not have to change much from that, then that time-warping can screw everything up...

[JMK]

I'm a big stickler for continuity, so the time warping does play a role in the fact that I haven't seen ANY of the Jack Ryan movies, but I have read the books.:D

[Jedi Master Carr]

I haven't read many of the books but continunity even for me would be a problem plus I don't like the idea of Affleck replacing Ford, Ford was brilliant in the role and well Affleck is not that great of an actor.

[Jedieb]

Man, people really like to take shots at Affleck! I thought he was pretty good. His portrayal totally screws up the continuity of the novels, but since we're talking about historical fiction, I have no problem with it. They're not messing around with the age of a historical character, just a fictional one. I think the series will do well with him. The Clancy films have always been aimed at older audiences so they always hover around $100M. Ford probably helped bring in some decent overseas cash as well. The question is whether Affleck will do the same.

[JonathanLB]

I like Affleck, hehe. He's a cool guy, really doesn't bother me...

I am going to see The Sum of All Fears today at 3:50, so in like one hour...

Then I'm going to Undercover Brother probably later tonight. Then probably About A Boy, which I still missed, on Sunday afternoon. Then definitely gotta get to AOTC Sunday night, probably the 10:45 show when everyone else is at home sleeping for work on Monday, haha.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

All work and no movies make Jane a dull girl.

So I'll probably see SoaF on Sunday. I was going to go tonight, but I'd have to go to the 10:45 showing... ^_^;

And I don't know what chronological order the Clancy books go in, (probably because I'm a 'silly girl') so the fact that Affleck is younger than Ford or Baldwin doesn't bother me too much. 'Sides, he's not a bad actor.

I'm glad you thought the movie was good, Jedieb..now I REALLY want to see it! :D

[Jedieb]

I think you'll like it Lilaena. The relationship between Affleck and his girlfriend is well done. It provides a bit of romance and some of the movie's funnier moments. "Silly girls" like my wife enjoyed that part of the movie so I'm sure you will too. ;)

All kidding aside, my wife enjoyed ALL of the movie. She liked it as much as the Ford movies. I can't pin her down to pick one over the other. She doesn't have a competitive bone in her body so she won't even rate them. Silly.... ;)

[JonathanLB]

"And I don't know what chronological order the Clancy books go in, (probably because I'm a 'silly girl') so the fact that Affleck is younger than Ford or Baldwin doesn't bother me too much."

Haha, well I'm not a silly girl and I have no frickin' clue what book goes where or however many there are or whatever. I have never read a Tom Clancy book. Not intentionally, but I just do not read for pleasure much. I read CNN every day to know what is going on in the world, which I consider important to do, and I read ESPN a few times a day, I watch it a few times per day too (while I work out upstairs... we have a TV there), but mainly I just read for information and knowledge, so I'm into the "how to" books and whatnot, LOL. If I want to be entertained, I go to the movies, no offense to books because obviously I love writing :)

Actually... the romance thing, eh, I guess I really don't like it in most movies, unless the movie is already designated as a chick flick and I'm expecting it. It's funny because as much as AOTC's love story has been criticized, the love scenes in The Sum of All Fears made me yearn to see Anakin and Padme again. At least they were never in bed together and I thought their lines were much more tolerable, lol, which is pretty funny because they were intentionally pretty awkward.

The Sum of All Fears survives a number of awkward, rather overdramatic scenes and I would still give it 3.5 stars, but it kept pushing the limits. I was sitting there like, "Nice try, but I'm not pushing you down to 3 stars... keep up the corny lines and you might get there, though." LOL, it was like the movie wanted me to drop it from 3.5 to 3. Affleck and Freeman were both excellent. Neither had any bad lines and both did a great job, but the overacting by the president and all of his old advisors was a bit painful in parts. Some of the dialogue just plain sucked. Thankfully most of it was still quite good.

It's a good screenplay with rough parts, I guess. That's how I'd describe it. Still the movie is quite enjoyable, just what I expected, and I was a happy moviegoer walking out of the theater :)

Too many good movies lately, dang. The critics complain about summer??!?!?! When else can you get almost straight 3 star films and above, besides the kiddie movies which often balance them out? You can't! Except maybe November and December, but the best films usually come out in the summer I think. Their stupid award films that nobody watched or likes sometimes come out at the end of the year, sure, but in the last few years, LOTR only narrowly beat out A.I. for my favorite of 2001, then in 2000 it was easily Gladiator (summer), and 1999 easily The Phantom Menace (summer), and 1998 was The Truman Show (summer), then 1997 was The Game (fall). During the summer there are just so many good to great films stacked on top of each other. Not true of the rest of the months of the year, though November and December are generally very promising.

Enough and Spirit both got 2.5 star ratings, but Insomnia and Sum of all Fears got 3.5, AOTC 4, and About A Boy I hear is quite good, it'll probably get 3. Undercover Brother looks like a 2.5 to 3.5, hard to say really, funny trailer, it's going to be stupid we know that, but stupid can be really funny if done well. I'd say it'll be 3 stars...

Not many truly "terrible" movies come out during the summer months. Battlefield Earth comes to mind, but even I didn't think that was as bad as other people did. I gave it 1.5, lol.

[Jedi Master Carr]

Well I just don't think Affleck is no Ford, I really have no problems with him one way or another, I don't think he is a great actor, though Damon is better IMO. I still am going to wait for the DVD, but who knows if by then India and Pakistan nuke themselves I might not want to see it at all.

[Jedieb]

Is anybody Ford? No, he's not in his league, but I find Affleck to be quite likable. I also think Damon is a better actor, but Affleck is no slouch. They were both hysterical in Dogma. Damon has the better track record, but I think Affleck will do allright with this movie. I think Ford's absense is Harrison's choice. He wasn't forced out in any way. He not only gave Affleck his blessing, but the two are good friends. Ford even asked Affleck to introduce him at a recent awards dinner (the AFI one I believe.) I would have liked to have seen Ford again also, but if he didn't want to do it, Affleck is a good choice IMO.

[Doc Milo]

I believe the chronological (as opposed to published) order of the novels is as follows -- someone correct me if I'm wrong, though:

1. The Cardinal of the Kremlin
2. Patriot Games
3. The Hunt for Red October
4. Clear and Present Danger
5. The Sum of All Fears
6. (Without Remorse -- this is a Mr. Clark-focused book)
7. Debt of Honor
8. Executive Orders

[Lilaena De'Ville]

I've read Without Remorse, and The Bear and the Dragon. I read TBatD last summer, when we were having the tension with China, etc. It was eerie!

I love Clancy's books, I think I need to read them all. I don't read enough anymore, I find I'm spending all my time online on this website! Doing a lot of reading, of course.

Back to the movie:

I saw it Sunday night...loved it! I really thought the "romance" wasn't over played, when it could have been, and Affleck's eyes when he asks about his girlfriend, and is told they don't know... *sob* ;) It was touching, though.

Affleck and Freeman did great jobs, IMO. Damon might be a better actor (why do you think I'm looking forward to The Borne Identity?) but Affleck, like was said, is no slouch. Of course, I liked him in Pearl Harbor too. (must be the "silly girl" in me coming out again!)

The movie pushes all the right buttons. I know they were being pushed, but I liked it. Very enjoyable, but scary as well. Can we say...frightening timing? Its hard watching this movie, and actually realizing that something similar has happened, and that it could happen again.

[Figrin D'an]

That chronological order is correct, Doc. I've read all of them on that list... there is also Red Storm Rising, another one of Clancy's early books, then The Bear and The Dragon, which follows Executive Orders.


I'll probably see The Sum of All Fears eventually, but I'm not in any big hurry... I need to temper my expectations for it, otherwise I know I'm going to be disappointed.... it's not that the movie is bad or anything, it's just that I'm a rather large fan of Clancy's books.

And, to agree with Doc, the "time-warping" of the Jack Ryan character probably isn't a problem for The Sum of All Fears, but if Debt of Honor is to be made into a film, it's really going to screw up the rest timeline as it fits with the rest of the films... that will really tick me off, but it's likely unavoidable at this point....