The film begins with a prologue set during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, where an Israeli fighter jet carrying a nuclear bomb is shot down and sinks to the bottom of the ocean. Decades later, a group of neo-Nazi terrorists led by Richard Dressler (played by Alan Bates) recovers the lost bomb with the intention of using it to trigger a nuclear war between the United States and Russia.
Meanwhile, in the present day, Jack Ryan (played by Ben Affleck) is a young and relatively inexperienced CIA analyst who is assigned to investigate the sale of a nuclear device on the black market. His investigation leads him to a neo-Nazi group in Germany, but he struggles to convince his superiors, including CIA Director William Cabot (played by Morgan Freeman), of the seriousness of the threat.
As tensions escalate between the United States and Russia, a series of terrorist attacks orchestrated by Dressler’s group further destabilize the situation. The President of the United States (played by James Cromwell) orders a military strike against Russia in retaliation for the attacks, bringing the two countries to the brink of nuclear war.
With time running out, Jack Ryan must race against the clock to uncover the truth behind the terrorist plot and prevent a catastrophic conflict. He teams up with John Clark (played by Liev Schreiber), a seasoned CIA operative, to track down Dressler and neutralize the nuclear threat.
In a climactic showdown, Ryan and Clark confront Dressler and his associates at a football stadium where the Russian president is attending a game. With the help of Russian forces and a last-minute intervention by the American president, they manage to defuse the bomb and avert a global catastrophe.
The film ends with Ryan being promoted within the CIA and receiving praise for his heroic actions. However, the threat of terrorism and nuclear proliferation persists, reminding him and the audience of the ongoing challenges faced by the world in the post-Cold War era.
“The Sum of All Fears” received mixed reviews from critics but was a commercial success at the box office. It’s praised for its tense atmosphere, gripping storyline, and strong performances, particularly from Ben Affleck as the iconic character Jack Ryan.