Many film genres reflect the current fears and anxieties of the population. This does appear to hold up particularly true for the venerable type of film known as the spy thriller. Whether it was Nazis in the forties, Russian spies in the sixties and seventies or terrorists in more recent times these movies always show how the men who covertly work as spies save the world time and time again. There have been many names that have taken top honors in the heights of this genre but one stands above the rest; Tom Clancy. His many books have been a standard on the best selling list for decades now. His take on espionage is well known as being intelligent, well crafted and full of the tiniest details. His main character of Jack Ryan is just about as famous in this genre as James Bond although Ryan is technically not a spy. This may be one of the reasons that people have responded to Clancy’s novels so well. His hero is a family man working as an analyst for the CIA. Sure, he gets to see more than his share of action but this is a more down to earth character than other movies spies. So far there have been four films made from the novels of Tom Clancy. The last one, under consideration here, ‘Sum of All Fears’ came out in 2002. Hopefully more of these imaginative novels will find their way to film and keep the franchise going. This series of movies has mirrored the changes in the spy business over the years from the end of the cold war to the growing threat of international terrorism. Like the previous films of this series this one targets the prevalent fears of the audience and plays it for suspense and thrills. This is a film that is pure entertainment. There is already a rather well done DVD that has been out for some time now but Paramount has included this is their recent set of Blu-ray re-releases. Also available in this as separate discs are ‘The Hunt for Red October’ and ‘Patriot Games’ so now matter which espionage age you prefer there is something for you.

This Clancy novel was adapted into a screenplay by Paul Attanasio and Daniel Pyne. Pyne’s earlier career was in television series like ‘Miami Vice’ and films that include ‘Doc Hollywood’. Attanasio had a little more intense body of work with scripts for ‘Homicide: Life on the Street’, ‘Donnie Brasco’ and ‘Quiz Show’. Together they have written a script that is fun but not really true to the book. In a commentary track Clancy introduces himself as the author of the novel and Attanasio as the man who ignored it. The most obvious change is in the identity of the terrorist group. In the book it was a Muslin faction but this was changed to Neo-Nazis for the screen play. There were some rumors that this was due to the September attacks on the World Trade Center but the principle filming was already complete by that tragic day. The real reason was to help clam down groups of Amrericans of Middle Eastern heritage who were upset with their people always being shown as the villains. There were also changes in the location of the final scene and just who was present but these are just typical examples of Hollywood changing things to make them more visually acceptable. You have to remember that this is a completely different media and any novel translated to the movies will undergo many changes. One of the more significant alterations is with the main character; Jack Ryan. In the books he was happily married with two children. His wife Cathy was an ocular surgeon; smart and every bit ass determined ass he was. This worked with Harrison Ford in the role. By casting the younger Ben Afflick as Ryan the writers placed this at the start of his career before he was married. This took away one of the best features of this character; the audience could relate to him. Spies like James Bond are fantasy heroes that every man dreams of being. He is dashing, has cool gadgets and gets all the beautiful women. With Ryan the best thing about him was he had a family to go hoe to each day just like all of us. For the most part he had a desk job, something else most of us identify with. Ryan is taken out of this familiar environment and placed right in the middle of the action. This is something most of us have daydreamt about. Bond is all fantasy but we can see an idealized reflection of ourselves in Jack Ryan. In this film working for the CIA presents some relationship problems with his girlfriend but the loss of the family aspect takes away a large part of the character’s appeal.

At the start of the film we get a flashback to 1973 during the Yom Kipper War. An Israeli jet carrying a nuclear bomb is shot down over the Syrian Desert. Over time the bomb is lost in the midst of the sand. Almost three decades later the bomb is uncovered by some Arab scavengers and without knowing exactly what it is sells the device to an international arms dealer. From there it falls into the hands of a radical Austrian Neo-Nazi group for $50 million dollars. The group, headed by Richard Dressler (Alan Bates) plans to use it to force the Americans and Russians into a shooting war. The time seems right since a new Russian president; Alexander Nemerov (Ciaran Hinds) has just taken office. He is hard core in his determination to regain control over the military. This is a great concern to the American president, Robert Fowler James Cromwell) and his CIA director William Cabot (Morgan Freeman). Cabot brings in an expert on Nemerov, CIA analyst Jack Ryan (Ben Affleck). He is young and relatively inexperienced but considered one of the brightest men in the field. In due time a plot to use the nuclear device on American soil is discovered and Ryan is drawn into the action.

Fans of the novel will be a little disappointed here with the loose translation to the screen Still, it is an engaging terrorist age thriller that holds up. For the Clancy crowd just pretend these are different characters and take the movie for what it is. This Blu-ray edition is a major step up from the previous DVD release. The color palette is consistently vibrant and true to nature. The TrueHD audio is extreme. The channel separation is remarkable. All of the speakers will get a good workout here. During the explosions, and there are a few, the sub woofer shakes the room. The extras are the same as the DVD release. There are two commentary tracks; the first features director Phil Alden Robinson and director of photography John Lindley. It was mostly technical details of the production and will mainly interest those out there who are really into the creation of a major movie. The second commentary has Robinson and Clancy. They do get into some of the differences with the book. There is also a couple of featurettes including a making of and a look at the visual effects. This is a fun watch that most out there will enjoy.