Kevin's Watch

The Terminator sorta counts because the end of mankind was brought about by the US and the USSR nuking each other.

The Abyss definitely counts (if you're watching the 4-hour director's cut) since Cameron beats the anti-war message over the viewer's heads.

Cail wrote:The Abyss definitely counts (if you're watching the 4-hour director's cut) since Cameron beats the anti-war message over the viewer's heads.

Anti-war or anti cold-war?

Eh, a little of both I suppose.

Fail Safe totally kicks ass.

The Day the Earth Stood Still is also a good cold war flick IMHO.

Cail wrote:The Terminator sorta counts because the end of mankind was brought about by the US and the USSR nuking each other.

I thought it was Skynet that nuked everyone.

Skynet launched against the Soviets, the Soviets launched against us.

OK, so it was a reach.

No, it's just been a while since I've seen Terminator.

I recently saw TDtESS. A great one, indeed!

yah, I agree with 13 Days and Dr. Strangelove ... they would be my top 2 picks...


Fail Safe was also a very effective movie!

Have you ever seen The Bedford Incident?

I must confess it has always slipped under my radar. I love Potier, so I will have to give it a go...
thanks...

Widmark's in another good 'cold-war' called Twilight's Last Gleaming with Burt Lanchaster and an outstanding cast.

I'm watching The Bedford Incident as I type.

What a great film.

Let's hope they don't remake it with Matt Damon and Will Smith.

Spys Like Us! Just kidding.

Yes, The Hunt for Red October counts, and I'll add Crimson Tide.

My fav is Fail Safe followed by On The Beach.

I hated The Day After

Fail Safe was done again some years ago as a Live show, with Richard Dryfuss as the president. Didn't stand up to the origional, but they re-did the very ending and that haunting brief few seconds stayed with me for days....so that part they did well.

I just watched The Bedford Incident again and I can't believe what a powerhouse film it is. 1965 black and white and still holds up to this day. The other two times I've watched it, probably in '72 and '76, I'd never seen the begining 20 minutes and the ending is SO severe that I, probably, forgot it on purpose.

I was an antisubmarine warfare operator in the Navy in '79 and, given what I learned, The Bedford Incident is the most accurate and realistic portrayal of destroyer/sub technology of it's time. Since I was 9 when it hit the theaters I have no idea how it was received but it must have simply scared the audience to death. I know Widmark is known for King Rat, Jim Bowie and Madigan, but I can't imagine why he didn't get the Oscar for this movie. Politics in Hollywood? God forbid!

The effects, for it's time, the realism and tension too much! Richard Widmark, Sidney Potier, Martin Balsam, Eric Portman, James (book 'em) MacCarthur, Wally (pre-Underdog) Cox and even a bit part by an aspiring young actor named Donald Sutherland playing a med-tech and doing some "Sub-forensics". This "arm" of Columbia films also produced The Caine Mutiny (not a bad CW flick in itself) and Fail Safe.

Sorry Lore and others, I watched On the Beach about a month ago (and still can't get Waltzing Matilda out of my head) and recoginize what a great story and film it is, but The Bedford Incident (pardon the pun) blew it out of the water.

danlo wrote:Sorry Lore and others, I watched On the Beach about a month ago (and still can't get Waltzing Matilda out of my head) and a recoginize what a great story and film it is, but The Bedford Incident (pardon the pun) blew it out of the water.

On the Beach has it faults, danlo. No apology necessary.

There's Atomic Cafe, a documentary made up of various commercials, public service announcements, speeches, and so on about the atomic bomb. Most of the film's focus is the cold war, though the beginning addresses Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Just want to add in that Failsafe rocks.

More of an exploration of the fear of nuclear armageddon, than a specific anti-cold war statement, Kurosawa's I Live in Fear/Record of a Living Being suits the theme.

Lucimay wrote:

Awesome pick, Luci. Man that's a damn good film (great book too).

If we are widening the point of view, how about *MASH*?

Does The Beast ( www.imdb.com/title/tt0094716 ) qualify? At the time, it was considered the Cold War Das Boot, but topically, it seems pretty current.

If we're going with Cold War themes, I'd like to nominate Invasion of the Body Snatchers and Eye of the Needle.

And (of course) The Manchurian Candidate (the first one).