Buy it... if you seek Jerry Goldsmith's last robust action score, along with the majority of original and source songs heard in the film.

Avoid it... if you expect more than ten minutes of truly unique, choral and solo vocal music from Goldsmith in a score otherwise defined by its predictable suspense material.

Goldsmith

The Sum of All Fears: (Jerry Goldsmith) If The Sum of All Fears had been a standalone picture with no historical context and no siblings in a movie franchise, it would have been an outstanding film. Unfortunately, it exists as a prequel to the first three Jack Ryan films despite the fact that each of the films' stories and adaptations have been firmly rooted in the contemporary politics of the year of their theatrical release. The plot of Tom Clancy's The Sum of All Fears specifically dealt with the possibility that Middle Eastern terrorists would get their hands on a rogue nuclear bomb and detonate it in the United States at the time and location of the Super Bowl. Given how scary Clancy's smart vision of the future had been many years earlier, the adapted screenplay switched the villains to a Neo-Nazi group. Despite the strong foundation of Clancy's concept, as well as a handful of extremely effective scenes, the film was extremely frustrating for several reasons. First, the changes in the plot from novel to screen are ridiculous and only served to placate a nervous studio in regards to sensivity issues. Second, Ben Affleck is an ineffective Jack Ryan at every level. Third, the depiction of a Super Bowl with Canadian teams and a fictional stadium was laughable. And, finally, the entire situation with the prequel status was too bizarre to sweep under the rug. The production had its own set of crew-related problems. Not only was director Phil Alden Robinson a last minute replacement for Phillip Noyce, who had directed the previous two films in the franchise, Robinson managed to get into an argument with composer James Horner, also a veteran of the franchise, and, despite their prior collaborations, he stepped aside from this film as well. Thus, the assignment of the music for The Sum of All Fears landed on the veteran Jerry Goldsmith, who was in the final year of major composing before illness and death followed in the next two years. Because three composers had written the Jack Ryan scores over a span of twelve years, and because Horner's two entries had little in common stylistically, this franchise ultimately had absolutely no musical continuity whatsoever. Chalk that one up as another frustrating problem with this production.

It's safe to say, in retrospect, that Basil Poledouris' music for The Hunt for Red October was a spectacularly singular event; Horner's two subsequent scores for Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger are not generally regarded as either strong accompaniment for their films or notable entries in the composer's career. Robinson turned to Goldsmith to jack up the environment with a powerful and ethnically charged action piece. Goldsmith's output in the previous three years, following his magnificent stretch of production in 1998 and 1999, had slowed to a crawl. His scores had been functional at best, lacking in much of the spirit that had distinguished his long career. He had also been the victim of being associated with some very underperforming films during that time, too. In these regards, therefore, his involvement with The Sum of All Fears represented a welcomed return for Goldsmith to the mainstream blockbuster scene, a scene which seemed to bring out the best in him. In addition to the quality of the score itself, The Sum of All Fears is a project that gained Goldsmith more recognition than his usual efforts because of its song placement. The title song, "If We Could Remember," is a vocal interpretation of Goldsmith primary theme for the film (co-written by Paul Williams), and serves the topic of innocence and remembrence well. In the film, the pop variation of this song is heard at the end, although identical versions of it bracket the album (likely since the performer, platinum artist Yolanda Adams, was an Elektra artist and the label was pushing her as much as they possibly could). More noteworthy is the operatic translation of the song into Latin for "The Mission" at the opening of the story, with soaring layers of vocals performing the piece in between Goldsmith's instrumental accompaniment to the scene in the film. It's a very decent song, nothing to hear at awards time but certainly no disgrace to the film or album either. Its employment is a bit overwhelming in the film when compared to the remainder of the material. The solemn beauty of "The Mission" also accomplishes two other tasks. First, its rhythmic, snare and brass driven action motif at the end is ballsy Goldsmith action at its best. The cue also, throughout its ranks, introduces the noble theme for the CIA agents and the instrumentation for the villains' material.

The theme for the protagonists is standard Goldsmith issue, though its translation into a state of panic during "Clear the Stadium" is very well handled. Its employment as a sobering, pulsating reminder of the grim circumstances of the world is a bit disspiriting in many cues throughout the score, including its very final moments. Far more curious is Goldsmith's theme for the villains. Instead of tacking a particular sound on the Neo-Nazis, Goldsmith instead provides a theme that represents the bomb itself. That means that a fair amount of Middle Eastern influence survives in the score even if it doesn't in the film. While a touch of percussion and regional instrumentation from The 13th Warrior therefore carries over into The Sum of All Fears, Goldsmith goes a step further and adapts his Russian-inspired style from Air Force One into the progressions and deep choral performances of the theme as well (perhaps to represent the fact that the Russians are supposed to be implicated in the attack). At any rate, the theme becomes one of a faceless international villain, dominating "The Bomb" and "That Went Well" with its ominous, though harmonious tones. Some might consider this material too melodramatic, a valid argument given that Goldsmith was obviously attempting to really pull the strings on the symbolism in the dramatic terror of the plot. The score's strongest points in both the film and album occur in the first half, with the presentation becoming more like Goldsmith's stock action material from the 1990's as it plays. The majority of score, with its well balanced combination of symphonic and electronic elements, is similar in style to a light version of The 13th Warrior and the tension of Star Trek: Nemesis, with organic instrumentation from the former and electronics from the latter. This is, at the very least, a compliment towards Goldsmith's achievement in The Sum of All Fears. It contains less brassy, bombastic action than a score such as Executive Decision, but its intensity is not dimished in any way. The final cue, "The Same Air," provides the score's only truly symphonic performance of the title theme with the composer's usual sensitivity in high strings and solo woodwind, and this tender touch is sadly missing from the relaxed portions of the remainder of the story.

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It has been mentioned by some Goldsmith collectors that the score, and more likely the song, was a continuation of the effort by the composer to pay tribute to the victims of the attacks of September 11th, 2001. He accomplished this in his score for The Last Castle, though it wouldn't be surprising if Goldsmith took an active role in the production of the title song for the film as an extension of that tribute. The likewise somewhat restrained and occasionally grim tone of his score also reflects the kind of stirring, but somber environment that many felt in America at the time. As a whole, The Sum of All Fears is a much more varied and experimental effort than anything else that Goldsmith had produced in that late period of his career, and the infusion of a fresh sound stirred his fans just in time for them to behold yet another Star Trek score from the composer later in the year. It's not the most consistent of listening experiences, but some rearrangement solves that issue. The album for The Sum of All Fears, which includes remarkable sound quality for the orchestral cues (though not the same kind of overwhelmingly wet, echoing mix that existed a few years prior in his work), is also generous in its inclusion of most the material that was featured prominently in the film. The insertion of an extra copy of the same song at the start of the album was completely unnecessary. Goldsmith, however, as he did in The River Wild, mixed the orchestra right into the beginning and end of the songs which he produced. That flow is superb at the end of the album in particular (with the aid of acoustic guitar), and makes the inclusion of the reprise of the song at the start of the album superfluous. The film generated much hype over its other song placements, and both Giacomo Puccini's operatic "Nessun Dorma from Turandot" and Tabitha Fair's contemporary "If We Get Through This" are included on the product. Absent, however, is the memorable performance of the Star Spangled Banner heard before the big game (a much requested martial rendition). Without the songs, there is only roughly 35 minutes of score material presented on this album, but for Goldsmith collectors, it will be well worth the price to hear him burst forth with one last volley of robust action music in the days before his declining health ended his career. ****   Amazon.com Price Hunt: CD or Download

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For Jerry Goldsmith reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.26 (in 113 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.32 (in 133,461 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.