This is a taut espionage/political thriller while watching, but some of the scenarios require a suspension of disbelief upon considering real world implications. Although a nuclear weapon can be set off at ground level, it's generally triggered in the air above it's intended target at a precise altitude. That's one, with the aftermath of the blast causing radiation poisoning for miles around the surrounding area, something which wasn't even brought up as a concern, except for a mention of the wind in a northern and westerly direction from the explosion site. You're pretty much not expected to think about things like that while watching, but I just can't help it myself.
The global political machinations involving Russia's intervention into Chechnya prefaced by a little more than a decade the unrest in the Ukraine when Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, so that was somewhat prophetic. From a present day standpoint it's easy enough to point that out, but I don't know if anyone was thinking about that back in 2002 when this film was released. At that time, everyone was still focused on 9/11.
Considering it's a Jack Ryan story, with the hero portrayed by Ben Affleck, you have to allow for some latitude in the amount of freedom allowed the character to access the levels of command he was able to given his civilian position. Especially after his mentor William Cabot (Morgan Freeman) died, but I guess that's why it's called a thriller. With all due respect to novelist Tom Clancy, who wrote the book upon which this film is based, the idea of a rogue outsider attempting to foment war between opposing powers in order to step into the breach after they destroy each other, is not itself entirely new. A similar plot element was used back in 1977 for the James Bond film, "The Spy Who Loved Me". Same idea, but with British and Russian nuclear subs about to fire upon Moscow and New York City until Bond makes the save.
The global political machinations involving Russia's intervention into Chechnya prefaced by a little more than a decade the unrest in the Ukraine when Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, so that was somewhat prophetic. From a present day standpoint it's easy enough to point that out, but I don't know if anyone was thinking about that back in 2002 when this film was released. At that time, everyone was still focused on 9/11.
Considering it's a Jack Ryan story, with the hero portrayed by Ben Affleck, you have to allow for some latitude in the amount of freedom allowed the character to access the levels of command he was able to given his civilian position. Especially after his mentor William Cabot (Morgan Freeman) died, but I guess that's why it's called a thriller. With all due respect to novelist Tom Clancy, who wrote the book upon which this film is based, the idea of a rogue outsider attempting to foment war between opposing powers in order to step into the breach after they destroy each other, is not itself entirely new. A similar plot element was used back in 1977 for the James Bond film, "The Spy Who Loved Me". Same idea, but with British and Russian nuclear subs about to fire upon Moscow and New York City until Bond makes the save.