A nuclear war! Ever since the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima in Japan, all people fear it. During the Cold War period (1945-1990), many movies were made in which the Americans had to fight off the USSR. Think for instance of "Top Gun", one of the most popular movies about this subject at that time. But even today the fear for nuclear attacks hasn't diminished. Today they fear extremists and terrorists rather than the Russians and that's exactly the idea on which the story of this movie was based.
"The Sum of All Fears" starts with the sudden death of the Russian President. He is quickly succeeded by a man whose politics are virtually unknown to Washington. The CIA is convinced that he is a hardliner and because the United States is very critical of the Russians' treatment of Chechneya, they fear the man. And their fear becomes truth when the Russian President tells them that Chechneya is an internal issue and none of their concern. CIA analyst Jack Ryan, who did research on the man, doesn't think he is a hardliner, but while Ryan and his boss, Bill Cabot, are inspecting disarmament at a Russian nuclear site, 3 Russian scientists have mysteriously disappeared. Although the Russians have explanations for their absence, none of them are true. In the meantime in Austria, a neo-fascist has developed a frightening plan to incite a war between Russia and the U.S. He will use an unexploded Israeli bomb from the deserts of the Middle East. And than the unimaginable happens: a nuclear bomb explodes in U.S. city and America is quick to blame the Russians...
What I probably liked most about this movie was the acting by Morgan Freeman. That man really is a class of his own. I don't know many other actors who are able to save a rather mediocre movie like this one from complete oblivion. For the rest I don't see many other reasons why you should watch this movie. The rest of the acting is in a range from 'OK' at best to a 'could be worse' and the story is rather far-fetched, although not necessarily unbelievable. Even though I don't consider it to be very likely that a Neo-Nazi group would be able to start a nuclear war between Russia and the U.S., that doesn't mean that a terrorist attack with a 'dirty' bomb isn't possible.
Overall I would say about this movie that Morgan Freeman's performance the best reason to watch it. The rest of the acting isn't very special and the story didn't really do it for me. That's also why I can only give it a 6.5/10.
"The Sum of All Fears" starts with the sudden death of the Russian President. He is quickly succeeded by a man whose politics are virtually unknown to Washington. The CIA is convinced that he is a hardliner and because the United States is very critical of the Russians' treatment of Chechneya, they fear the man. And their fear becomes truth when the Russian President tells them that Chechneya is an internal issue and none of their concern. CIA analyst Jack Ryan, who did research on the man, doesn't think he is a hardliner, but while Ryan and his boss, Bill Cabot, are inspecting disarmament at a Russian nuclear site, 3 Russian scientists have mysteriously disappeared. Although the Russians have explanations for their absence, none of them are true. In the meantime in Austria, a neo-fascist has developed a frightening plan to incite a war between Russia and the U.S. He will use an unexploded Israeli bomb from the deserts of the Middle East. And than the unimaginable happens: a nuclear bomb explodes in U.S. city and America is quick to blame the Russians...
What I probably liked most about this movie was the acting by Morgan Freeman. That man really is a class of his own. I don't know many other actors who are able to save a rather mediocre movie like this one from complete oblivion. For the rest I don't see many other reasons why you should watch this movie. The rest of the acting is in a range from 'OK' at best to a 'could be worse' and the story is rather far-fetched, although not necessarily unbelievable. Even though I don't consider it to be very likely that a Neo-Nazi group would be able to start a nuclear war between Russia and the U.S., that doesn't mean that a terrorist attack with a 'dirty' bomb isn't possible.
Overall I would say about this movie that Morgan Freeman's performance the best reason to watch it. The rest of the acting isn't very special and the story didn't really do it for me. That's also why I can only give it a 6.5/10.