Bleak, black and thoroughly depressing this film has to go on the list of all time downers. This is the story of the end of the world via radiation as survivors try to find a safe place and other people still alive, but instead find only the abyss.
Stanley Kramer's powerful look at what nuclear war may bring is a masterpiece of film-making. It moves you to ponder not only your own mortality but also that of the world. Made at the height of the nuclear arms race this story was once a day or two off from actually happening, today its still possible, but I think we'd have a little better chance of averting it (or at least I hope). Its a wonderful heart felt movie on all levels both in front of the camera and behind it.
The problem with a film like this is, why would anyone want to watch it. Yes, its a well made and well told drama, but its so depressing and the ending is such a foregone conclusion that watching it becomes an exercise in self abuse. What can we get out of story that is now so clichéd that as we watch it we fill in the blanks of whats going to happen next. I'm guessing even when it was made everyone pretty much knew what the outcome was to be. To be honest other than a chance to see great film-making I don't know why anyone would want to make oneself feel so depressed on purpose.
This film is a vital warning about "tomorrow". It just may leave you feeling too hopeless to do anything to stop it.
Stanley Kramer's powerful look at what nuclear war may bring is a masterpiece of film-making. It moves you to ponder not only your own mortality but also that of the world. Made at the height of the nuclear arms race this story was once a day or two off from actually happening, today its still possible, but I think we'd have a little better chance of averting it (or at least I hope). Its a wonderful heart felt movie on all levels both in front of the camera and behind it.
The problem with a film like this is, why would anyone want to watch it. Yes, its a well made and well told drama, but its so depressing and the ending is such a foregone conclusion that watching it becomes an exercise in self abuse. What can we get out of story that is now so clichéd that as we watch it we fill in the blanks of whats going to happen next. I'm guessing even when it was made everyone pretty much knew what the outcome was to be. To be honest other than a chance to see great film-making I don't know why anyone would want to make oneself feel so depressed on purpose.
This film is a vital warning about "tomorrow". It just may leave you feeling too hopeless to do anything to stop it.