The Sum of All Fears is a well written and highly topical movie, even today. You have to pay attention to the conversations of the fascists in the movie, especially the bearded one with a gold watch. He leaves it sitting on the podium while giving a speech early on. A lightly engraved Swastika is on the back.
When this movie came out in 2002 it got many four and five star reviews. I love Morgan Freeman and he does a great job. Anyone who watched The West Wing all the way through will see some familiar faces. Bruce McGill has been a staple of worthwhile entertainment since at least is time on the late 1980s MacGyver series. Overall this film is really well cast. Now that we are 23 years past its initial release we can look back and appreciate the job the casting director did.
Most importantly this movie cements the belief that if women didn’t find Ben Afflek dreamy cute when he was young he would have never had a movie role. The dude just can’t act. In Pearl Harbor he had a massive cast and film to carry him.
One Monologue
There is one Monologue in particular which explains both the movie and America today. The bearded fascist is talking into a video chat type thing explaining that Hitler wasn’t crazy, he was stupid. Despite Germany’s might the world was too big for it alone to impose fascism on it. He goes on explaining that with the Internet, cable TV and other means of communication the world has gotten small. Fascist right-wing parties and leaders where everywhere now.
This is exactly how we got Donald Trump. Putin’s Propaganda Network (also known as Fox News) knowingly published constant fake reports having not a shred of journalistic integrity within the company. The roughly $787 million settlement with Dominion wasn’t nearly enough. That needed to go to trial so Fox lost its broadcasting license and upper management went to prison.
Too many fascist corners of the Internet like X and Facebook exist today. Removal of fact checking and basically allowing the unrestricted posting of fascist and racist material normalizing White Supremacy and hatred. People who visit these Internet shit-holes have no connection to reality and can be easily manipulated.
Sum of All Fears Summary
This is a great movie to watch some two decades after its release. Pay attention to the speeches and monologues as it explains how fascism is allowed to spread. I was shocked to realize just how well this movie ties into a new book I will have coming out shortly: Twenty of Two The Infamous They – Five Nuclear Wars You Can Win.
Phantom tried to start a similar war between America and China using slightly different tactics. The difference is Phantom had some truth to it. Sum of All Fears is based on a Tom Clancy novel.
For more movie rental ideas please see list one and list two.
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