Fear of a nuclear disaster has existed in cinematic fiction ever since the United States military dropped atomic bombs on Earth from the sky on August 6 and 9, 1945. Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Faced with a real threat such as the total destruction of the world, cinema has always been able to approach from many angles by paying attention to fears and social concerns. the possibility of a third world war and hence doom.
However, the greater plethora of titles are linked to some of the Cold War’s greatest moments of tension, particularly 1962 Missile Crisis and with the conflict between the early 80s USSR and USA at its highest boiling point. Fear of the atomic bomb seemed to have subsided over the past four decades, turning to other global fears such as terrorism or environmental catastrophe, and this is both Lack of recent games about World War III like the surprising absence of the genre’s classics on streaming platforms; As if that dreaded mushroom was a fear that had long since been overcome.
Today, Russian invasion of Ukraineactivation of the nuclear arsenal in “special war mode” and Attack on Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, the bomb scare and the final fire reappear. The time remember the horrors of nuclear war and its irreversible consequences through 11 titles available ‘on stream’ and in physical formats such as DVD or Blu-ray.
“The Last Hour” (1959)
‘Winners or Losers?’ two years before he made his movie, stanley kramer he directed this apocalyptic and nihilistic movie. The world was devastated by a nuclear war and only a small group of people survived in a remote part of Australia. During massive radioactive cloud advancing, the crew of a submarine is trying to find survivors. Kramer on his anti-nuclear tirade personal dramas The story of a group of characters awaiting the final announcement in many different ways. It had the stellar cast of the time: Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Fred Astaire and Anthony Perkins. Available in the movie.
‘La jete’ (1962)
A fascinating narrative experiment that only lasted half an hour. Photonovel technique by Chris Marker. The world disappeared after a while. basic contentionTime travel is the only way to preserve what’s left of humanity. You can go backwards to change the course of events and forward to find solutions. Suddenly, a blink of a human eye appears among the well-stitched still photographs, a beautiful sign of life. Terry Gilliam did a very free ‘remake’. “12 monkeys” (1995) and in 2015 it was adapted into television series format for free. Available on Mubi.
Red phone? We’re flying to Moscow’ (1964)
In the middle of the Cold War, stanley kubrick He took a very serious novel about the atomic danger written by Peter George and turned it into an ominous parody in which he left no headless puppet. An American general who believes that the communist Soviets have polluted his country through water tanks, Nuclear attack on Moscow. The pilot of the plane carrying the bomb is nicknamed King Kong and literally takes him to his fateful destination. Peter Sellers, an American president, a British officer named Mandrake, and an orthopedic Nazi, Dr. He plays three roles, including Strangelove. Available in Movistar +; For rent on Apple TV+, Prime Video and Rakuten TV.
“Boundary Point” (1964)
Released a few months after the premiere of Red Telephone. We’re flying to Moscow’, it’s tense Sidney Lumet’s political thriller it was eventually swallowed up in the public’s memory by Stanley Kubrick’s military satire, but the passage of time has given it an air of cult and prestige. Shot again in impressive black and white, the film chronicles the desperate efforts of the President of the United States (Henry Fonda). Stop a fleet of B-58s from bombing Moscow After a failure in the Pentagon’s strategic control system. President, III. It can be rented on Apple TV+ and Google Play.
“War game” (1966)
This documentary drama or fake documentary It was made by the BBC, but when the channel executives saw the final cut, they decided to shelve it and it wasn’t aired until 1985. Too demoralizing. Outstanding British filmmaker peter watkinsSet in Paris for years, relied on credible reports to stage the effects of a nuclear attack on the British city of Rochester and the ensuing struggle for survival in a radiation-contaminated land as if it were a newsreel on the ground. This is not a documentary, but it won the Hollywood Oscar in this category. Available on DVD and Blu-ray (English VO, with English subtitles).
“The Next Day” (1982)
With Cold War tensions in the worrying red zone, Ronald Reagan has recently been elected president of the United States. Nicholas MeyerTV movie It left ABC’s North American audiences in a state of ‘shock’ while recounting it in a realistic tone. devastating effects of nuclear holocaust In the lives of the inhabitants of a small town in Texas. Sad as it is believable, it was the most watched movie in television history at the time, having grown up with a fear of bombs for several generations. 100 million viewers it would be broadcast live and screened in movie theaters in Europe. available on youtube.
“Threads” (1983)
overwhelming telefilm BBC co-productionIn a neorealistic, almost documentary tone, it describes the dire consequences of an event. Nuclear attack on Sheffield, England, in the context of a conflict between the USSR and the USA. Released just one year after ‘The Day After’, Mick Jones’ film chronicles the lives of two Sheffield families and their disbelief, fear and anguish between the threat of war, the explosion of the atomic bomb and the next nuclear winter. It is a raw and compelling film whose existence is precisely based on the ‘Wargame’ since the then-director of the BBC, Alasdair Milne, began production after watching the banned documentary. Available on Blu-ray and DVD (English VO, also with English subtitles).
‘When the Wind Blows’ (1986)
‘Time’ magazine named it one of the 25 best animated films of all time. And if the cartoons are commendable for being simple and transparent with ‘stop motion’ image additions for the backgrounds, the text from the comic of the same name raymond briggs A published in 1982 Soviet nuclear attack on Britain It is told from the perspective of a retired British couple. The music was composed by Pink Floyd Roger Waters, the main theme was by David Bowie, and he served as director. Jimmy T MurakamiUntil then, he was in the service of Roger Corman in films such as ‘The Magnificent Seven of Space’. Available on Blu-ray and DVD (English VO, with English subtitles).
“Letters from a Dead Man” (1986)
Tarkovsky’s student, with whom he worked as a production assistant on ‘Stalker’, Ukrainian director Konstantin Lopushanksy He debuted in 1987 with this claustrophobic drama with an expressionist aesthetic about a group of survivors hiding in the basement of a museum following a nuclear war caused by the failure of a missile launch platform. Released a few months after the Chernobyl disaster‘Letters from a Dead Man’ exudes a sad mood of the end of everything, where the protagonist, Nobel Prize winner in Physics (Rolan Bykov), takes refuge in his correspondence to his son, who died in a nuclear accident. disaster. Available on Youtube (VO, Russian, English subtitles).
“70 minutes to get away” (1988)
Unusual love, intrigue, nuclear attack and definitely eighties aesthetic’70 minutes to escape’ chronicles Harry (Anthony Edwards) frantic attempts to find Julie (Mare Winningham) in just over an hour, in the short time remaining before USSR-launched nuclear warheads hit The Angels. Almost all of it is filled with neon lights and shot at night in real time. Tangerine Dream electronic soundtrackSteve De Jarnatt’s film, despite its sparkling love story, becomes an unexpected challenge to a happy ending. Available in the movie.
“Black Rain” (1989)
the best possible visualization of the horror it causes Atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and NagasakiThe result of the so-called Manhattan project led by Robert Oppenheimer, of course, had to come from Japanese cinema. Shohei Imamura He shot ‘Black Rain’ in a spectral black and white, which makes the images more permanent: The black rain in the title is produced by radioactive particles after the terrifying effect is complete. Imamura focuses on the young survivor and how she tries to rebuild her life after being exposed to radiation. The sequence of firing and ensuing destruction has a strength and realism that is hard to beat. Available on DVD (Japanese OV with French and English subtitles).
“Twin Peaks (Season 3, Episode 8)” (2017)
On Monday, July 16, 1945, the United States conducted the Trinity Test, the first test of a nuclear weapon that detonated an atomic bomb in the New Mexico desert prior to its deadly practical implementation in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In this explosion, according to David Lynch, origin of evilfor breaking the fabric that separates the different worlds and lodges; and from there emerges the figure of Bob, the evil interdimensional being who feeds on atomic barbarism, Human pain, fear and sorrow; and ultimately, diabolically responsible for the brutal murder of Laura Palmer. Available on Blu-ray and DVD.