Cool News
Two New SUM OF ALL FEARS Reviews!!
SPOILER ALERT !!
Hey, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab.
I don't give a shit what the Clancy continuity nitpickers say: I want to see this film. I like Phil Alden Robinson. I like the ideas of Clancy's books more than the books themselves. So it's not part of the same timeline as the other Ryan films... so what? You know when they ruined the Ryan continuity? When he turned from Alec Baldwin to Harrison Ford. That was after... um... let's see... the first film. And I don't think any of the Ford films are particularly great. I remember seeing four different test screenings of PATRIOT GAMES back in the day, watching the ending evolve from average to different buy equally average. I still prefer RED OCTOBER to any of the others, and welcome a new take on the material.
Having said that, here's HOOPER with a look at the Tempe, Arizona screening of the film that just took place. Check it out!
Greets and bleats from the land of the eternal sun - good old Tempe, Az. - where tonight, several boys from Hollyweird unspooled a few reels of Tom Clancy goodness known as 'The Sum of All Fears'. Thought I'd take the time
to let you know what I thought of this fine piece of celluloid goodness.
Contrary to the title, this isn't the long-rumored Tom Arnold biopic. Instead, we have Good Will Hunting's buddy Ben Affleck inheriting the role of CIA analyst Jack Ryan from the big britches of Indiana Jones himself. Now I hear what you're saying to yourself - "Self, isn't Ben Affleck a little young to be taking a role form Harrison Ford?" - and well, you'd be right. "So, anonymous movie going review guy, this is a prequel to the other films, right?" Well, not really. We do meet Jack right after he's met his future wife and he isn't yet the full-blown analyst we see in 'Hunt for Red October but the film is set in the present rather than in the days before HFRO which was plainly established to be "before the fall of the Soviet Union". Get that? Basically, they don't acknowledge the other films at all.
Now that we're straight, here's the scoop. We've got Ryan, a jr. CIA analyst whippersnapper who has written a report about a possible successor to the Presidency of the Russian Republic. When he first published the report, no one thought that his guy had a shot at getting the head job but sure enough, due to the movie gods, it turns out that Ryan is correct and because of this, he now has the ear of the CIA Director Bill Cabot, played by Morgan Freeman. Trouble is, the prevailing wisdom says the new Russian President - whose name sounds too close to 'Nimrod' . . . I never did get it - is a hardliner with an itchy trigger finger. This makes the US President Bob Fowler (James Cromwell from Babe and Revenge of the Nerds... remember that?) very nervous.
Meanwhile, back on the ranch, we've got Fascist/Nazi/Aryan Nation/Blue-blonde terrorists who realize that this would be the perfect time to attack the US and frame Russia. They must have seen 'Octopussy' because they decide to do it in the same way as the bad guy from that flick. Set off a bomb on American soil and the US will automatically think it is Russia and attack. Once one superpower weakens the other, our Hitler bad guys will walk in and take over.
Sounds derivative, doesn't it? Trust me - that's only on paper. The thing that's different about this flick is that the bad guys get their attack off. They get a bomb into the US and detonate it in mid-town Baltimore. If you've been itching to wonder what a nuclear attack would look like in these halcyon days of CGI, wonder no more. While it isn't a show-stopping explosion ala T2, it is an impressive attack that certainly surprised me and my cohorts. It happens midway through the movie and once it happens, we get into the third act of the flick in which Ryan must convince the President not to attack Russia, find proof that someone else did the attack, make sure his girlfriend is okay, AND land the plot in one piece while still looking
good Ben-style.
So now that you have more than a nickel's worth of the plot, I hear you asking - is it any good? Well, that depends. I was VERY impressed with Ben Affleck. He turns in a better than usual performance as Ryan. I normally accuse Affleck of playing himself Costner/Clooney style in his pictures but here, he is more than the pretty boy. Freeman is good too - all wisdom and professionalism but he is not really stretching. Think 'Deep Impact' and his bare performance there and you're not far off. I do wish we had more Live Schreiber as operative John Clark - he's wasted here in a bit part.
As for the movie as a whole - it is surprisingly humorous at the start with several laughs and interesting bits of business. The nuclear attack plays very close to current fears and seeing the aftermath of the attack is a bit intense in light of recent events but it is engaging to watch. The final portion of the movie is a little bit too convenient for me. We have Ryan playing the third Hardy Boy as he pieces together what happened. We have one small snippet of a scene with Clark finding out who the terrorists bought their bomb from. It all wrapped up far too neatly although I don't envy the screenwriter (didn't catch who it was) who had to condense Clancy's book. I would have like to see more detective work resulting from planted info earlier in the story.
To wrap up (finally!), I can say it was a good flick but in my opinion, it lacked the political depth & intrigue of 'Clear & Present Danger' & had more to chew on than 'Patriot Games' but didn't come close to 'Hunt for Red October'. If only Alec Baldwin hadn't been an arrogant ass back in the day...
That's all - keep the peace and word up, homies! Call me Hooper - you've already got a Quint! :)Thanks, Hooper. Now we've got a reviewer we've heard from before, Project Rage. He's got a lot to say, and he's very specific. Keep that in mind, and dig in!
SUM OF ALL FEARS review with spoilers
I am Project Rage,
This film succeeds in being a high tense Tom Clancy thriller. This film blows radiant bloody rectal chunks at being a Jack Ryan film. Also Ben Affleck please for the love of Jesus!, comb your hair!!
RANT
This film starts out with an Israeli bomber losing a nuclear weapon or what action filmgoers would call a "Broken Arrow" and this bomb is dug up and found in current days, sold to a Neo nazi regime who wants a nuclear holocaust between both Russia and USA, so the neo-nazis can take over the world later, though Jack Ryan a young messy-haired CIA analyst working under Bill Cabot (Morgan Freeman) who's head of the CIA, and then they find out information of the bomb, by the help of John Clark (Live Schreiber), (SPOILER AHEAD) a nuclear bomb goes off in Baltimore at a football game where the president (James Cromwell) just misses the nuclear blast, but Bill Cabot dies, as Russia fires on an aircraft character and the world waits for a nuclear showdown, though at the end Jack Ryan(Yes, Ben Affleck) saves the day. Yes, that was all one sentence.
RAVE
For a Tom Clancy movie it delivered, lots of political intrigue, lots of CIA-Clancy babble talk, lots of military weapons, and the most body count of all Jack Ryan films. Fine direction by Phil Alden Robinson who did Sneakers and Field of Dreams. The supporting cast is the real reason to watch this film, the bad German dude from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, James Cromwell, Colm Feore, and Phillip Baker Hall. Plus great acting from the man who is truly overdue for an Oscar, Morgan Freeman. He's always great in everything. Also remember he plays Bill Cabot not Admiral Greer that the great James Earl Jones played. For a current Paramount film this is not so bad. Remember Paramount used to have the official WB smelly ass stamp of approval. Producing such wretch films as Tomb Raider, and Rat Race last summer. This film was a test print, it was missing one special effect at the beginning and the not yet "always great ", film score of legendary Jerry Goldsmith. The temp track included scores of Gladiator, Hunt for Red October, and Saving Private Ryan.
VISUAL: 2:35:1
AUDIO: Test print Dolby stereo, will be Dolby 5.1 in theatres.
RAGE
First of all they should of ripped away the names JACK RYAN and JOHN CLARK out of this script, it puts shame to the other films HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER, PATRIOT GAMES, and CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER. I type these titles out cause some of my generation have not seen these films, and a lady who saw it liked this film a lot, but had not even heard of the others. I implored her to watch "THE" Jack Ryan films. Paramount will succeed with a younger audience falling in love with this character. Though the other half will feel like someone pissed in your porridge. Though this goes to my second problem, Ben Affleck is so not Jack Ryan. I heterosexually like Ben Affleck films minus my ripped review of Pearl Harbor. I know he was going through hard times, but his Jack Ryan character is really crass, similar to his character to Armageddon (which I really enjoyed) totally different to Harrison Ford's character or Alec Baldwin's, who they both played them as ordinary guys, scared sh*tless and thrust into these extraordinary situations. Except Ben Affleck is just gung-ho and thinks he's Bond. Also Ben doesn't comb his hair through the whole movie not very Bondian if he's trying, What's up with that, was he getting beauty tips from Josh Hartnett, but at least he combs it down. Jeez it's sad I'm worrying about his hair, but you should watch it, it's like lunch leftovers hanging from a person's lip, it's distracting. Leiv Schreiber was playing the kick-bootie John Clark character that William Dafoe played in CLEAR AND PRESENT. Liev Schreiber……………………..HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! WHO THE HELL CASTED HIM AS THAT CHARACTER!!!!!!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!
So the lowdown is go see this film as an action film on video, and totally ignore the Jack Ryan aspect of it. There need to be more Tom Clancy films, but new characters.
I am Project RageI certainly wouldn't call those positive reactions, but the people I've talked to who really don't care about the other Ryan films actually liked this a lot. I'm trying to get some other reviews in as the day progresses, so check back if you're interested...
"Moriarty" out.
-
+ Expand All
-
But I still can't find it in my heart to enjoy a Clancy film. They bore me. Though maybe as you say a younger Jack Ryan is a good idea... I do actually like Affleck when he isn't doing a Bruckheimer movie... Yeah, a young agent! I might give this a go. Thanks Mori!
-
He's up there with J.K. Simmons as my fave character actor.
-
But I think you'll find that I've been in that position in many talkbacks today, so no one says it. For BadAssUncleFucka: Fuck 'first' posters. Fuck them up their stupid asses. Is anyone else mixing this film up with K19? Clancyesque thrillers: Why so popular?
-
I've actually enjoyed all the movies to some extent, but they never come anywhere close to the depth and action of the books. Typical for movies based on books, right? Problem here is, often the stuff they left out was very doable for the movie, sometimes would even have been easier to do than what they actually did. Why spend more effort to make scenes that aren't as good as if you had followed the book? Anyway, I'll definitely see this in theaters, although I'm still wondering why in the HELL they chose to make the bad guys neo-Nazis rather than Arab terrorists. Think back to the last major neo-Nazi terrorist attack (???). OK, now think back to the major Arab terrorist attacks in the last twenty years. Tom Clancy chose the terrorists to be Arabs for a reason. Not racial profiling, just the simple fact that in the last couple decades the vast majority of terrorist attacks against the U.S. and it's holdings have come from Arab terrorists. I know I seem to be harping on one point, but it's stuff like that that tied the Clancy books to real-life fears so well. This whole neo-Nazi terrorist thing has to just come out of nowhere rather than current headlines, so it just feels less "real".
In summary, read his books. The movies are OK (sans HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER, which is great), but the books are excellent.
Oh, and I am curious to see how they handle this movie. The book relied heavily on the Cold War and the fact that the Russians still had troops stationed in Berlin. Want to see how they'll be able to ignore that and still have as much tension in the movie. -
Apr 11, 2002 9:09:46 AM CDT
with if its not the best adaptation, it's not the end of the
by jon l. ander
I read some of his later novels, and the guys seems to have his characters constantly fretting about cholestorol levels! Trust me, if he cut the angst about whether or not to eat eggs for breakfast from The Bear and the Dragon, that book would have been half the length. Think of the tree's he would have saved...
-
"I wouldn't want to be that man Exley for all the whiskey in Ireland!"
-
The first reviewer says of Affleck "he is more than the pretty boy", then just leaves it at that. Er, IN WHAT SENSE? What is the characterization like? WHY is it interesting? I understand that describing that might require a vocabulary of some sort, so perhaps it's better not to bother. Then bachelor number two uses the marvellous expression "would of", which translates as, "I was smoking crack in English class".
-
Two things scare the piss out of me.
#1 Affleck's a movie star. Affleck knows he's a movie star. Each and every one of his performances literally screams, "Look at me, I'm a movie star pretending to be a lesser being!" Affleck doesn't seem to care about improving his skills. Affleck seems to think that since he's already a movie star, he doesn't need to learn a damn thing anymore. My God, it took 20 years but we finally have the new Burt Reynolds for the Millennium.
#2 If they stay with the Jack Ryan franchise... with Affleck in the role... then one day, maybe a decade from now, we will be asked to go see a movie where Ben Affleck is the President of the United States.
Dear God. -
Would they ever even try to make it? If so, they'd have to change it radically, as the book's all setup and the ending's too much of a cliffhanger for most folks. It would be an interesting experiment, however. Last minute of the movie:
Plane hits capital.
Capital explodes.
Rescue teams announce there are no survivors.
Someone walks up to Jack and calls him Mr. President, as he stands there looking horrified.
Roll credits.
IT'LL NEVER HAPPEN. -
Apr 11, 2002 1:35:23 PM CDT
Damn, and I thought my neighbors were just white trash...
by sloppy slacks
But it seems they must have been victim to nuclear holocost right down the street. Damn those wanna-be-commies. Now all I see now-a-days on my walk to my car is damn mullets above the fence, debates about Chevy vs. Ford, and hand-me-down Big Wheels on the sidewalk!! Fucking mutants!! (i.e. I live in Baltimore)
-
Apr 11, 2002 1:59:39 PM CDT
Sorry, Mori, but even though you have a right to you opinions,
by wardog
I still hate such drastic revision of a great Clancy novel. IMHO it is his magnum opus. Hell, int it he even offers a faily sound plan for the problem of what to do with Jerusalem (which current events now have probably negated.) Small revisions I can understand and endure. Here they have no reason to have Ryan unmarried, and the only reason we have to go kicking the Nazis around YET AGAIN! is the fact that Hollywood doesn't want to piss off the Arabs. Can't have them get mad at Tinseltown for portraying them badly in fucking movies, fa' Chrissakes. Might send suicide bombers to LA. Hollywood producers are such fucking pussies. Did they ever THINK how these Nazis planned to take over a world that had been NUKED by the USA and Russia? ****** Now, Ben Affleck may be a little young for the role--I don't care that he's replacing older actors--but he'll probably do all right by his fans, even if the character of Jack Ryan is not quite the Bond-wannabe this movie makes him out to be. Ryan was that way only when he HAD to be, not seeking it out actively. Or maybe there's a balance between reasoned analysis/discourse and the action sequences. I don't know and I don't care. Such a cinematic insult to one of my all-time favorites novels will not make me plunk down $5 or whatever to see this.
-
Don't get me wrong, I enjoy Tom Clancy projects in all its media forms. But, the rumors that Tom Clancy has a ghost writer writing his stuff has to be true. The guy the public sees as Tom Clancy is a complete nutjob! His 9-11 comments convinced me this guy doesn't know anything about international affairs. In a 9-11 Charlie Rose interview along with former Secretaries of State, the guy was a wacko with his theories that just left the former cabinet members just jaw-hanging silent. One of his comments was that he just amazed that Bin Laden was able to find guys who'd commit suicide. Has this guy ever read anything on the Middle East in the last four decades?
-
...they should go ahead and make the John Clarke book "Without Remorse" starring Willem Dafoe. I'm telling you, that would be very very kickass ass and the closests that a Tom Clancy novel could ever get to being a serious film, even though I think that "Hunt for Red October" is one of the best popcorn flicks ever. Dafoe was the perfect Clarke, you could really believe that he trolled up some Vietnamese river on one those mini subs and reeked all kinds of havoc in multiple foreign countries. Whatever, it won't be made, and if it does, I strongly doubt they'll use Dafoe.
-
Apr 11, 2002 2:32:46 PM CDT
Someone actually predicted Sept. 11th attack in a book...
by the feral kid
Oh yeah. I just remembered it, a book called "Storming Heaven" by Dale Brown, "that other military writer." It has Muslim terrorist using 747's as SCUD missles and I didn't see anyone put Dale Brown up on the stand and ask "How'd you know that." Proves that popular opinion always wins out over intelligent thought in this country.
-
There's a series of English films that has a main character jump from one age to another with each new actor. And the films are always set in present day. I'm of course talking about James Bond. If this is a bad movie, that's one thing, but to get upset that the movie take place in the present is pretty dumb. And if you don't say the same thing about Bond movies, it's pretty hypocritical.
-
someone read a treatment and wrote an entire screenplay without referencing the original material... it killed battlefield earth and it will kill this one...
why even use the clancy title or characters? all it will serve is to alienate clancy readers. they should have called it spygames 2: the espionage boogaloo and targeted it at the mindless types that like such things. I wasnt going to see this movie anyway (nazis... wtf is that?) but now I doubt I'll even watch it on dvd. thanks for ruining yet another clancy book, you hollywood fucks. -
Apr 11, 2002 4:14:32 PM CDT
"similar to Armageddon, WHICH I LIKED" - just stop right there p
by general idea
You've said way too much. Honestly if I don't end up hating Affleck in this movie he will have earned his money right there.
-
It has been a very long time since I have read "Sum of All Fears", but didn't the terrorist in the novel blow up the Super Bowl. I think that would of been really cool if they had done that in the movie instead of just Baltimore.
-
I live in Baltimore.. so I might go to see this just for the spectacle of seeing the city get blown up. I'm not sure if they shot the sequence in Baltimore.. and I hope it's not one of those 'Baltimore got blown up but it the film was shot in Toronto' type of deals. I don't think the movie in general will be great... strictkly popcorn fare.. but whatever.
-
I can't believe those wacky Nazis are at it again! That plot makes so much sense. It might actually happen. Way scary.
BTW, Sum of All Fears is one of Clancy's worst books. They should have prioritized Without Remorse or Rainbow Six - both decent books, and best of all, they don't feature Arab terrorists.
-
You said it ZSmooth. Who made this dork a movie star? The guy has zero charism and just comes across as a pussy. And yet Hollywood is drooling all over him and shoving him down our throats. For all his marketed hype as a Hollywood hunk, is there any photos of him shirtless, sporting some physique? Look at that guy's resume sometime, he's quit everything he's ever tried. I wonder whose dick he sucked to get "Good Will Hunting" made. I mean he just came out of nowhere with no acting classes or credit or anything. What is this shit?
-
http://www.chud.com/news/april02/april11sum.php3
4.11.02
By Nick Nunziata
Contributing sources:
First let me emphasize that this IS NOT A REVIEW. It is not an ad, an advertorial, or a cross promotion (though we will be doing a CHUD screening of this film soon).
This is a reaction. A STUNNED reaction.
I STAND CORRECTED.
I like food. Pasta, seafood, steak, ribs, a good salad. Today, I'm eating my words. For two years I remarked about how the Tom Clancy franchise was sent spiralling into the abyss when they went "young" with Ben Affleck. I joked about it, I raised Hell. I assumed Tom Clancy was high when he said Affleck was the best choice for the role.
Fella was RIGHT.
I saw The Sum of All Fears this morning. It was a temp print. Some music was missing, the print wasn't consistently as clean as it could be. Some looping was quiet, and there were other little things out of whack.
Except the film itself.
The Hunt For Red October is one of my very favorite films of all time. Last year on our message boards where we were asked to list our top ten of all time, the McTiernan film edged past some really good stuff and made the 10 spot. I've seen the Baldwin flick about 40 times and it NEVER gets old. I ever watch it more than Das Boot, for God's sake!
If the finished print is the film I saw today, only cleaned up for release... it will TOP the first Jack Ryan film. It's that good. I am not kidding. This is the best film I've seen this year, including the wonderful Y Tu Mama Tambien, Frailty and Blade II. I don't want to overhype the film for fear of scaring folks off but I LOVED this movie. What a cast. What INTENSE stuff. What BALLS to do some of what they did, especially post 9/11.
Ben Affleck does not play Ben Affleck here. He's Jack Ryan and he does a really good job of anchoring the film, and with pros like Morgan Freeman, Colm Feore, James Cromwell, Bruce McGill, Philip Baker Hall supporting him, it's amazing.
Three performers deserve a special nod:
1. Michael Byrne. Best known for playing Nazi characters in films like Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade... he STEALS the movie. You'll know who I mean, the weathered looking older gent. He's AWESOME.
2. Liev Schreiber. Forget Willem Dafoe's John Clark. Liev IS the man. He deserves his own film series. Really.
3. Bridget Moynahan. Not just a pretty face. Forget Coyote Ugly, she's the goods.
I cannot wait to see this again with a crowd. My favorite kind of films are the 13 Days, All the President's Men, The Insider, The Hunt for Red October type and this film absolutely had me glued just as well.
Affleck haters, just you wait. Clancy die-hards who like me were terrified, prepare to eat crow just like.
I pray this does well, because I'd rather see this franchise barrel forward with this crew than with my beloved Alec, my beloved Harrison or anyone else.
I am not kidding, this is the high water mark for 2002 thus far and I'm already jazzed about seeing it again.
-
Christ, I have no time for a reviewer who can't take the time to check his grammar and spelling. And yes it is being pedantic critiquing a film simply because the lead actor doesn't brush his hair. I pity any upcoming director reading this and thinking that's what current audiences care about.
-
Sorry to say I'm not too hot to see this one. The series seems to be in decline from Red October onward. Sum Of All Fears was my favorite of the Jack Ryan books and I'm disenfranchised to see it get the screen treatment I hear it's getting. I don't know who's getting the final screenwriting credit(s), but once I'd hear that Avkiva Goldsman had a hand in it, my heart fell. Oscar-winner or not, he's trashed more things he's been involved with than he's made better, IMHO. As for Clancy using a ghostwriter, it wouldn't surprise me. It's been only recently that the true writers of his other series (Op Center, Power Plays and Net Force) have been let out of the shadows. Regarding a comment made about turning "Without Remorse" into a movie, I thought I'd heard scuttlebutt about an effort like 5 or 6 years ago with Gary Sinese attached as Clark, but that tanked for reasons I never heard about. Bummer, he'd have been at least a halfway-decent Clark, though I did like Dafoe's all-too-limited performance.
-
Akiva Goldsmith is not one of the screenwriters. Paul Attanassio and Daniel Pine are the writers.
And that total rave review from Chud.com is pretty awesome.
Readers Talkback
User Login
Top Talkbacks
- Whitney Houston 1963 - 2012 -- 383 total posts 380 posts
- New JUDGE DREDD post production footage pops up -- 111 total posts 111 posts
- WTF HOLLYWOOD: SOLARBABIES -- 75 total posts 73 posts
- HANNA's Saoirse Ronan to boss around seven little people -- 71 total posts 68 posts
- Does ‘SNL’ Rhyme With ‘Deschanel’?? Learn Which SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE Vet Hosts After Sexy Zooey!! -- 77 total posts 55 posts
- If the Behind the Scenes Pics of the Day drops her pen, pick it up, but don’t look at her legs or else it will be on your record. -- 54 total posts 48 posts
- There's a STAR TREK video game that is going to lead into JJ's STAR TREK 2 apparently... -- 165 total posts 41 posts
- Herc’s Seen Tonight’s Return Of THE WALKING DEAD!! Discuss Also DOWNTON ABBEY, FEAR FACTOR, PAN AM, ONCE, SIMPSONS, DYNAMITE, LUCK, SHAMELESS, BAIT CAR, THE GRAMMYS And More!! Sunday Is Sweeps Day 11!! -- 41 total posts 41 posts
- To Commemorate The 3D Release Of STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE, George Lucas Wants You To Know...Greedo Shoots First!! -- 500 total posts 35 posts
- Avid Comic Reader Hercules Does Battle With Tedium During Kevin Smith’s COMIC BOOK MEN! -- 28 total posts 28 posts