Search - Sum of All Fears*The-Dvd (Chk) on DVD

Samuel K. (Solvanda)
Reviewed on 11/25/2018...

When we contemplate nuclear weapons, I think generally what comes to people's minds are the 2 which were dropped on Japanese civilian populations. That was only 65 years ago. However, what most folks don't have clearly in mind is that since the first test of Gadget at Trinity in 1945...The Powers that Be in this World (as well as God (for the time being, anyways)) have allowed at least 2,038 nuclear bombs to be tested underground and under the ocean, above ground and sea, and in the atmosphere of this planet. The ridiculously complicated problems these double-edged swords represent for our planet is something which mankind has never had to deal with until only the last few decades...and in that very short amount of time nations have accumulated peak stockpiles of approximately 65,000 warheads worldwide. The probability that one of these bombs will explode again in our (near?) future seems to be inevitable when considering these statistics. Yes, I know. It's morose.

This issue is what 'The Sum of All Fears' addresses. Well written, engaging script...hardly noticed that 2 hours had elapsed. I much approved of the fact that the creators of the film chose to visually show a nuclear detonation. These are good reminders for the public that this threat is still very real. Many films and television shows do not get to this point and plot tension revolves around the avoidance of the hypothetical disaster...with no disaster ever occuring. 'The Sum of All Fears' found a way to work in both scenarios...although, I was left with a bit of a bad taste in the mouth from the fact that the effects of the blast were largely ignored in script. Other films in the past have worked in much of this sort of material, and are, as result, I think, more deterrent. (e.g.: The Day After, Black Rain, Jericho (which examined sociological repercussions), and Threads (which makes all the rest of these genre entries look like musicals.)

Before this review gets too lengthy...let's conclude with a few brief words from a man who lived through the reality: "I learned that the nuclear weapons which gnaw the minds and bodies of human beings should never be used. Even the slightest idea of using nuclear arms should be completely exterminated from the minds of human beings. Otherwise, we will repeat the same tragedy. And we will never stop being ashamed of ourselves." Hiroshi Sawachika.

Robert S. (Bo)
Reviewed on 11/18/2012...

A prediction of what terrorists might do if ever they were to posess an atomic weapon.

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