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The Sum of All Fears
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Stars:
Ben Affleck, Morgan Freeman, James Cromwell, Liev Shreiber, Alan Bates, Philip
Baker Hall, Ron Rifkin, Bruce McGill, Bridget Moynahan, and Ciaran Hinds
Writers:
Paul Attanasio and Daniel Pyne
Based
On The Novel By: Tom Clancy
Director:
Phil Alden Robinson
Feature
length: 123 minutes
Extras:
Director and Cinematographer Commentary, Director and Novelist Commentary, The
Making Of The Sum Of All Fears, Creating Reality: The Visual Effects Of The Sum
Of All Fears, Theatrical Trailer
Languages:
English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and English and French Language Dolby
Surround Sound
Subtitles:
English Captions and Closed Captions and French Language Subtitles On The Extra
Features
Packaging:
Amaray Keep Case
Chapter
Stops: 17
Sound:
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and Dolby Surround Sound
Year
of Theatrical Release: 2002/DVD Release: 2002
Theatrical
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Home
Video Distributor: Paramount Home Entertainment
MPAA
Rating: PG-13
Reviewer:
Mark A. Rivera
After
producing three films based on Tom Clancy’s “Jack Ryan” suspense novel
series in the 1990s Paramount Pictures ultimately chose to take the franchise in
a different direction and cast Ben Affleck as a young “Jack Ryan” and bringing
in the “William Cabot” character with Morgan Freeman to provide a
mentor figure for the young “Jack Ryan” to get his entry into the higher
levels of the CIA. So the motion picture adaptation of is not a prequel to the
previous films, which starred Alec Baldwin and Harrison Ford, but re-imagining
of the film series to give future possible adaptations a fresh start from which
to launch while not necessarily negating the previous three films. Some who have
followed the films might feel upset that after watching the last three films it
seems unfair to suddenly toss them aside and start over, but the way I figure if
you look at MGM’s “Bond” franchise and see all the changes between the
books and movies as well as the amount of actors who have played the character
over the last 30 plus years and I think I have no problem watching “Goldfinger,”
“Live And Let Die,” and “Goldeneye” which were made in three different
decades with three different actors playing the signature role so why not have a
new younger guy play a new “Jack Ryan” for the 21st Century? In
the end it is the story on film that is the most important thing anyway and
while I am not a “Jack Ryan” aficionado, I can honestly say that this film
did not put me to sleep unlike “The Hunt For Red
October,” which put a
friend and I to sleep in the theater, though I have to add that we had come off
something like a 14 hour work day as production assistants on a music video and
saw the late show so that probably had a lot to do with why we fell asleep in
the theater more than the film itself.
Paramount
Home Entertainment’s DVD edition of “The Sum Of All Fears” in part is the
best looking DVD release of a “Jack Ryan” feature as well as the one with
the most special features because the previous films were released in
letterboxed format and not anamorphic widescreen like “The Sum Of All Fears”
along with the fact that the DVD is RSDL dual layered so there is more room for
the transfer, which also benefits from the advances in MPEG-2 compression
technology in the years between the first three DVD releases and this one and
this DVD is also a part of Paramount’s “Special Collector’s Edition”
series of films on DVD-Video so it benefits from extra value materials not
previously made available on the other DVD discs of the previous three films.
Hopefully in the next year Paramount Home Entertainment will revisit “The Hunt
For Red October,” “Patriot Games,” and “Clear And Present Danger”
perhaps as a way to create anticipation for the next “Jack Ryan” big screen
adventure, whatever and whenever that will be.
“The
Sum Of All Fears” looks great on DVD with a solid transfer that has nice deep
colors and no artifacts. “The Sum Of All Fears” is presented in an
anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) aspect ratio with a full English Dolby Digital
5.1 Surround Soundtrack as well as the English and French Language Dolby
Surround Soundtracks and English Captions and Closed Captions for the hearing
impaired as options. The extra value features like the featurettes also include
optional French Language Subtitles. Director Phil Alden Robinson participates in
two screen specific audio commentary tracks, one with Cinematographer John
Lindley and one with Author Tom Clancy. I preferred the commentary with Tom
Clancy because Clancy completely and without hesitation tells the Director and
the DVD viewer listening exactly what is a contrivance and what appears
appropriate. There is one thing not touched upon in the commentary tracks
however, which is the EMP from the bomb would have rendered any radio,
television, or modem like appliance in the blast area outside of ground zero
permanently unusable so for him to use the chopper radio after the crash landing
as the result of the blast wave appears contrived, but maybe I am wrong.
“The
Making Of The Sum Of All Fears” is made up of two featurettes with videotaped
interviews with cast and crewmembers in “A Cautionary Tale” (12:36) and
“Production” (17:01). The “Creating Reality: The Visual Effects Of The Sum
Of All Fears” is split up into five segments illustrating the wizardry behind
the “Carrier Attack” (8:40), “A-4” (6:25), “Hospital” (3:55),
“Motorcade” (3:58), and “Helicopter” (4:54). The (1.85:1) widescreen
theatrical trailer (2:26) with a full English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
Soundtrack wraps up the extra features included on this DVD.
The
main interactive menu is animated with animated transitions to standard
interactive still frame menus that are easy to navigate. “The Sum Of All
Fears: Special Collector’s Edition” will debut on DVD-Video on Tuesday,
October 29, 2002 from Paramount Home Entertainment.
©
Copyright 2002 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.
Or
Buy The "Jack Ryan Special Edition DVD Collection Now By Clicking On The
Text Link Below!
The Jack Ryan Special Edition Collection...