The Sum of All Fears

Plot hole: When the President of the United States attends a public gathering (such as the SuperBowl) the level of security is extremely high. So why wasn't Mason's delivery on the day of the game checked for explosive devices?

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Suggested correction: Without knowing what the full security protocol was for such a situation in 2002, it's impossible to claim this is a plot hole. Either it wasn't checked or it only had a cursory check. Either way, it's not explained and just has to be accepted.

Plot hole: The bomb is found by Bedouin in the Golan (north of Israel). However, it was dropped in the Negev desert (south of Israel). How the bomb managed to move itself 500km is not clear. And Bedouin don't live in the Golan.

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Mistakes

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Revealing mistake: In the scene where Jack Ryan uses the radio after the helicopter crash, the film is reversed - the word frequency appears as a mirror image.

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Quotes

President Fowler: Order the planes to stand down, take us to DEFCON-3... and will somebody ask Mr. Ryan if I can use the phone now?

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Trivia

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Questions

Question: As President Fowler is being escorted from the football stadium, he tells Cabot to "get the people out of here." How did the President know that the bomb was in the building? No one in the scene knew its exact location, so why does he think that if the fans leave the stadium they will be safe?

Answer: The President telling Cabot to "get the people out of here" is just a political life boat. If asked what he did when he found out about the bomb he can "honestly" say he asked for an evacuation.

It's unlikely at such a time of panic that one would consider a 'political life boat'. There's also nothing in the character as presented to suggest that would be his thought process. The president's just been told that there's a bomb in Baltimore (not the building) and says "get those people out of the stadium." He's being evacuated from a location that contains thousands of other people. It's fair to assume he knows all those people are also in danger so wants them evacuated too.

Answer: He likely (and correctly) assumed that, because he was being evacuated in such a hurry, his current position was either Ground Zero or somewhere close enough to be affected - especially once he is practically thrown inside his limousine and held down.

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