Notes
Story Synopsis:
Based on the Jack Ryan series of novels by Tom Clancy, "The Sum Of All Fears" finds Ryan (Affleck) thrust front and center into the spy community when the Russian president dies and is succeeded by the shady Nemerov (Hinds), a Russian politician on whom Ryan is an expert. While Ryan insists that Nemerov is not a warmonger, he joins CIA Director William Cabot (Freeman) in a desperate attempt to uncover the truth behind the suspected increase in Russian nuclear weaponry. Meanwhile, terrorists plot to provoke war between East and West by detonating a nuclear bomb-detained years earlier from an Israeli jet crash-at the Super Bowl in Baltimore. (Suzanne Hodges)
DVD Picture:
The anamorphically enhanced 2.35:1 DVD exhibits a rich, slightly dark picture, with deeply saturated colors. The scenes at the Super Bowl exhibit bright, vibrantly saturated colors, superb contrast, and endless blacks. The picture can also be stylized with a desaturated look and blue-gray hues to help depict the cold Russian environments or the stark, almost black-and-white images after the nuclear blast in Chapter 9. Film grain is often utilized in the scenes following the blast to convey a visually harsh atmosphere. Images are sharp and nicely detailed, with excellent contrast and shadow delineation. Edge enhancement can be bothersome at times, but its presence is not as plentiful as would be expected for so many highly contrasted scenes in the movie. Pixelization is also occasionally noticed, often in the satellite images, but otherwise the picture is smooth and solid. (Suzanne Hodges)
Soundtrack:
The Dolby Digital 5.1-channel audio presentation has the makings of a very fine production, including excellent fidelity, liberal spatial engagement, and selective yet effective use of frequency and dynamic range. The spatial soundstage character varies according to the nature of the scene, from those which are dialogue-dominant and virtually quiescent in the surrounds, to those which call for all-out sonic activity around you. The music score figures prominently in terms of dimension, contributing to heightened surround activity. Composed by Jerry Goldsmith, the music has been very well recorded, with impressive fidelity and tonal articulation. There’s also a nice low-end foundation. As mentioned, the soundtrack has an abundance of dynamic range content, with relatively quiet scenes of modest on-screen activity, as well as the full onslaught of audio, such as the huge explosion in Chapter 9. Oh yes, and there’s a lot of aggressive split surrounds and powerful bass activity to rock your subwoofer. The latter includes prominent .1 LFE engagement and low frequencies at levels that can be enough to pose a challenge. Voices sound compellingly natural, with very good spatial integration. This is a very well-produced soundtrack that is distinguished for the use of dimension and high-quality recording standards. (Perry Sun)
This Disc Contains The Following WSR-Rated Superb Qualities:
Reference Quality
Superb Music Score Recording Quality