The Film
What do you do when you have a successful film franchise with plenty of bestselling books to draw upon but your star--coincidentally the biggest box office draw in history-- has decided to pass? Harrison Ford departed the lead role of Jack Ryan after Clear and Present Danger, not a great fan of the next novel on deck, The Sum of All Fears, finding it not as timely as Danger and Patriot Games. A drastic reboot made the ongoing saga of heroic CIA analyst Ryan fresh again, with an infusion of young blood and another outstanding supporting cast. Newly appointed headliner Ben Affleck no doubt mused, "If my best bud Matt Damon can bring Robert Ludlum's work to the big screen, can't I do the same for Tom Clancy?"
Affleck's mix of wide-eyed wonderment and ass-kicking confidence is a hit, and the script by Paul Attanasio and Daniel Pyne--trimmed extensively like all Tom Clancy adaptations must be, and copiously reworked after the switch from Harrison to Ben--enlivens a clear, compelling narrative with frequent glimpses of how secret government stuff gets done. Strong characters and profound politics helped give the series a fresh new start… so where's the next one?
The Picture
Colors in the 2.35:1 frame are consistently solid, if unspectacular, that is until the football game attended by the president, where fans and players alike really pop with lively hues. The occasional establishing shot of Moscow or Washington, D.C. or some desert scenery has ample detail, with a varying level of grain throughout the movie. Big clouds of dust and smoke are stable and realistic, without breaking down into blockiness as often happens on Blu-ray and DVD. Blacks are usually indistinct here, however, and a strange digital speckling plagues many shots particularly in the second half of the film.
The Sound
Hang onto something, as the Dolby TrueHD 5.1 soundtrack begins with the flight of an ill-fated A-4, with lots more surprises in store. Generous use of the rear channels provides atmospheric effects, even in "quiet" moments, and when the action gets going, the sound moves front-to-back, side-to-side, and all around the home theater. It's no secret that a nuclear bomb actually goes off in this movie (it's shown in the trailer, included on the disc in high-definition), and the booming shockwave replete with devastation is staggering. A subsequent missile attack on an aircraft carrier, kept short like the bomb blast, is as bold in its own way as anything we might find in Independence Day. Planes taking off, fire trucks, car trouble: Sonically, it is all fully realized.
The Extras
For a guy who was no one's first choice to direct Sum of All Fears, not even his own, Phil Alden Robinson certainly embraced his duties, and now he fronts two commentary tracks. The first, shared with his cinematographer John Lindley, explores more of the production nuts and bolts, while the other, side-by-side with the man himself, author Tom Clancy, marks the only time Clancy has participated in a special edition of one of his cinematic offspring, making this a genuine treat. The "making of" is broken into two parts. "A Cautionary Tale: Casting" spends much of its 13 minutes packaging various actors fawning over one another, while "A Cautionary Tale: Production" touches upon most other aspects for 17 minutes, including a discussion of favorite scenes plus how the movie straddled 9/11, its inception before the attacks but being released in a post-9/11 world.
"Creating Reality: The Visual Effects of The Sum of All Fears" analyzes five key sequences, including the helicopter, motorcade, and hospital scenes which comprised the "trilogy" that illustrated the shockwave from the nuclear blast. While packing the usual "I had no idea!" revelations, it does seem a trifle long at just under a half-hour, as the same information is sometimes tread over and over by different voices. All of this bonus material is ported over from the DVD and is presented in standard definition.
Final Thoughts
Ben Affleck the actor has had a rough go of it in recent years, but I defy any fan of intelligent thrillers to find nothing to like in this rejuvenated, revitalized Tom Clancy yarn. The extras might not be new, but the audio at least is HD-ready.
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