The Sum of All Fears

Blu-ray Review

Paramount Home Entertainment

Released: August 5, 2008

The Sum of All Fears marked the comeback of the Jack Ryan film franchise, and starred two big Hollywood names in Morgan Freeman and Ben Afleck. Paramount has taken this film, loosely based on the Tom Clancy novel, and released it on the Blu-ray format.

This time around, Ben Afleck stars as a younger Jack Ryan, who is more of an analyst than anything else.

Jack Ryan manages to secure a trip to the Kremlin, and goes along with CIA Director William Cabot (Morgan Freeman). Things quickly take a turn towards disaster though,a s the two realize that Russian officials are playing games with them.

Three nuclear technicians have gone missing, and Russian officials have been lying about them. The film gets hectic when Jack Ryan figures out that a neo-Nazi named Richard Dressler (Alan Bates) has a nuclear bomb in Baltimore. The race is on to prevent it from blowing up, as it rests in a highly-populated spot, with the U.S. president on the scene.

I was skeptical the first time I saw The Sum of All Fears, simply because I was unsure as to how Ben Afleck would do in the role of Jack Ryan. It is safe to say though that this turned out to be quite an enjoyable film, even though it definitely goes away from the novel.

The film, despite what other critics may say, turns into a very enjoyable thriller, as Morgan Freeman and Afleck manage to keep you on the edge of your seat from star to finish. This is a solid thriller which will not disappoint fans of films that get your blood pumping.

The video quality for the Blu-ray release of The Sum of All Fears is presented in 1080p and is AVC-encoded. Unfortunately, the film does not transfer over very well to the high-def format, as the picture has some issues with edge enhancement, as well as issues with sharpness.

Not to harp on it too much though, the Blu-ray release does look far more impressive than past DVD releases, as the colors are clearly more vibrant, and have a lot of pop throughout. The fleshtones also come across very naturally. If you do not have an eye for picking out minor issues mentioned above, you will likely think this release looks tremendous, as it does. If you aren’t looking for the bad spots, this is one video-transfer that can truly impress. It is not the best out there though.

The audio mix is presented in Dolby TrueHD 5.1 and is far superior to the video transfer in just about every aspect. The audio mix does a tremendous job of setting up a great atmosphere for the film, using all of the surround channels, as well as the subwoofer to provide some great bass during the action sequences.

On top of that, you also get a very nice presentation of the dialogue, which is extremely clear throughout and is supported by great ambient add-ins in the rear channels. The audio mix is clearly a huge improvement over any release of the film in the past.

The Blu-ray release of The Sum of All Fears packs in some decent extras which fans are surely going to appreciate. The first is two commentary tracks. The first commentary track is with director Phil Alden Robinson, as well as cinematographer John Lindley, while the second is with the director, as well as the author himself, Tom Clancy.

The second commentary was, to be quite honest, my favorite aspect of the entire release. The commentary between Robinson and Tom Clancy is absolutely top notch, as Clancy talks a great deal about how the film strays too far from the novel itself. It is actually pretty comical to hear Clancy rip Robinson about the issues with the film, great stuff.

Rounding out the extras, you have a 30-minute making-of feature, as well as a 30-minute special effects documentary.

The special effects documentary brings some great stuff to the table, talking about how they put together some of the key moments of the film.

The theatrical trailer is also included in full HD.

The Sum of All Fears is a very enjoyable film, with great performances from both Morgan Freeman and Ben Afleck. Though it strays far from the actual Tom Clancy novel, this is a great addition to the Jack Ryan series. The decent video transfer is picked up by a nice audio mix and solid extras. I would say this one is worth adding to your collection if you are a Jack Ryan fan.

Film: 8.0

A solid film with great performances from Ben Afleck and Morgan Freeman, plenty of action and suspense.

Video: 7.8

The video quality is a bit of a letdown, as there are some clear issues with edge enhance, among other things. Overall though a nice upgrade over the DVD release.

Audio: 8.5

Not much to complain about with the audio, a nice mix which sets up a great atmosphere.

Extras: 8.0

The commentary track with Jack Ryan and the director takes the cake, great stuff!

Final Score: 8.2