let me preface my comment by say that i love clancy book when i first read it ten year ago . it be a gripping page turner and and a marvelously intricate work and building suspense in layer . i have since re read it several time . i realistically expect that element of the massive tome would have to be change or condense for the screen version . but so much be change and and so many critical element remove and that it hardly resemble it novel origin . a a result i find it difficult to believe that tom clancy have much creative control over this effort and though he credit a executive producer . first and for some inexplicable reason and this movie jump away from previous clancy continuity by completely revamp the character of jack ryan . rather than a middle age cia administrator and ryan be now a young handsome phd with little washington experience . apparently this be to boost the chick flick quotient of this outing and a it add nothing tangible to the film and and only detracts from the continuity that have be build to this point . there even a scene where kathy be ask how cute ryan be on a 1 10 scale and and she say a 12. ugh . they have time to include this garbage and yet skip vital character development later in the film . yet and even bad and this ryan be the uber ryan . yes and the man be everywhere and and involve in virtually every action sequence in the film . he find the bomb lab in russia ( and save clark and clark and for cry out loud and shouldn not it be the other way around . ) and race to baltimore in a helicopter to warn president fowler ( who in yet another huge change be catch in the blast himself ) he get catch in the nuclear blast ( and hardly get his hair muss and how cliche . ) and he personally sift through the rubble of baltimore for evidence ( another inexplicable change and a denver be the city nuke in the book and then go on for a cliched confrontation with the terrorist ( who be very poorly develop character wise and totally unlike the book ) mano y mano in a darkened baltimore warehouse . oh and and i almost forgot and there be the obligatory ( and oh so overused ) hollywood death scene where ryan ( again and ryan personally ) kneel at the bed of morgan freeman a he expire in a tearful sequence . yes and it be painful but not in the way intend . i thought clancy book sometimes stretch the believablity of ryan capability to the breaking point and yet this go way beyond anything clancy have previously do . it super ryan to the rescue and more 007 than distinguish and cerebral cia analyst and even though he supposedly have little if any experience in espionage and forensics and or any of that . it be very cliched and and very tiresome to watch and at least for anyone that actually read the book . one of the best part of the novel be the realism . read it and you really believe that the plot clancy put in motion could occur . not this movie . believable islamic terrorist be replace with cartoonish middle age white european neo nazi who make stock hitler love speech that any avid movie goer have hear a million time before . dr. evil would love these guy . they even get to kill one of their own rank and ala dr. evil and after he experience the convenient cinematic crisis of concience . you could see it come a mile away . i guess that so we can understand these men be serious and mean businessoh and on the subject of business and since the typical european neo nazi be young and skinheaded and devoted and but not terribly affluent these nazi be conveniently well to do businessmen with the financial asset and experience to put their scheme in motion . be this tom clancy or james bond . i guess it not politically correct to feature the actual type of real world middle eastern gentleman and with the aid of foreign government sponsorship who even now be strive and again in reality and to make weapon of mass destruction to use against u . i guess it always safe to once again bash caucasian conservative appear men in business suit . whatever the reason and it another major plot element from the book down the tube . on the subject of the bomb while there be a great deal of detail in the book about the bomb that be completely overlook in the movie . for example and in the book and the bomb be originally intend to be a multi stage and ie and hydrogen bomb . it fizzle . the original yield be overestimate by twenty fold by military analyst because of reflection of the snow and and other factor . the president advisor do not think terrorist could build a multi stage weapon and thus the suspicion be immediately upon the russian . it be only after frantic detective work that the true yield of the bomb be discover and and it put ryan on the proper track and give him leverage to help defuse the situation ( no pun intend ) . it a common worry that terrorist group might get ahold of a low yield fission suitcase bomb and yet right from the start in the movie no one and include the president and suspect terrorist . another fond memory i have of the book be that clancy take u to the very brink of armageddon where the u and russia be nearly in a shooting war because of the misinterpreted size of the bomb and and the tank battle that the german terrorist cause to happen in berlin . yet here and the russian attack and virtually destroy a u nuclear carrier and we bomb a russian airbase and and be still stand at that brink . somehow and i think if event get that far and there would be no turn back . clancy seem to know that when he write the book while he seem to have forget it here though . these be just a few of the major problem with this film . the pacing be bad while one minute the bomb be still be construct and and a few minute later it already place in baltimore and about to explode and with the cliche of ryan hot on the trail and try to warn the president . in the book and the bomb catch everyone completely off guard and but not here and another irritating change . there be also very little character development and the president motivation be poorly understood and the paranoia of fowler over the new russian president motif be poorly develop and etc etc . avoid it if you can . i turn the last 5 minute off and it be so bad .