Nuclear Bunker Busters

Instant Event Idea

The Sum of All Fears

The successful franchise of Paramount motion pictures based on novelist Tom Clancy's techno-thrillers featuring heroic CIA intelligence analyst Jack Ryan stages a much-publicized "do-over" with this action-adventure that recasts the character of Ryan as a rookie to the complex game of geopolitical warfare. Ben Affleck takes the reins from Harrison Ford as Ryan, a greenhorn CIA historian and analyst who finds himself thrust front and center into the spy community's spotlight when Nemerov (Ciaran Hinds), a Russian politician on whom Ryan is an expert, suddenly becomes the leader of the former Soviet Union upon the current president's unexpected demise. Attached to the director of the CIA, Cabot (Morgan Freeman), Ryan insists -- contrary to the opinions of many high-ranking White House officials -- that Nemerov is not a warmonger. Meanwhile, a cadre of neo-fascists, led by Dressler (Alan Bates), plots the detonation at the Super Bowl in Baltimore, MD, of a nuclear device recovered from a long-ago Israeli fighter jet crash, a terrorist incident they intend to spark a war between the super powers, leaving them to conquer the world in the conflict's post-apocalyptic vacuum. The Sum of All Fears co-stars James Cromwell, Bridget Moynahan, and Liev Schreiber as covert operative John Clark, a character central to another series of Clancy's best-selling tomes. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

1. Examine the means in which the nuclear weapon entered the United States. Is this a likely possibility? What could be done to stop such threats?

2. Is it possible for relations between two major powers, such as the United States and Russia, to deteriorate as fast as they did in this movie? Explain your answer.

3. If a situation such as this were to actually happen, a nuclear strike on the United States, what response do you think would be warranted and within what kind of time frame?

4. Examine the chaos and breakdown of command and control within the cabinet after the attack. What could be done to ensure such things do not happen?

5. Is the plan of counter attack with a nuclear strike in response to a similar attack, as was suggested by this movie, a reasonable response on the part of the United States? If so, justify such action. If not, what other course of action do you think would be appropriate?