The Obligatory Cold War Movies/TV Thread

Dudess · 11-08-2008 2:35pm #1

I'm a sucker for nuclear holocaust movies/TV programmes and in my opinion, the daddy of them all is Threads: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090163/
It's terrifying...

Of course there are many other types of Cold War film too - the spy one being major. There were all the John Le Carré adaptations, and it constitutes a lot of the early 007 material also. The Fourth Protocol is a gem of that ilk: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093044/

A fantastic television show is Edge of Darkness. I can't recommend this highly enough: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090424/

mike65 · 11-08-2008 4:15pm

Dr Strangelove - best comedy of terror.

Fail Safe - deadly serious apocalypse then

Billion Dollar Brain - barking mad in the freezing cold.

Mike.

One-Day-Juande · 11-08-2008 5:23pm

I have to say the t.v adaptation of Le Carres, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, is fantastic. Really atmospheric and you really can't beat Arthur Guinness in a role like that.

Dudess · 11-08-2008 5:24pm

The Day After is the American Threads... and nowhere near as scary. Good though. Testament is a beautifully made American film similarly focusing on how a nuclear strike would affect ordinary people.

The War Game (not WarGames with Matthew Broderick, although that is very much a Cold War film) is a precursor to Threads (from the 60s and promptly banned due to being a little too realistic). Harsh and harrowing stuff.

Nuclear apocalypse dramas seem to be either terrifying or sad.

The saddest of all, in my opinion, is When The Wind Blows. It's a beautiful film about an elderly couple who think they'll have no problem getting through it having survived the first two world wars. Gorgeously illustrated by Raymond Briggs (The Snowman).

Mike mentioned Fail Safe - some scenes from it are brilliantly lampooned in The Simpsons (the episode where Sideshow Bob threatens to nuke Springfield

).

Pat Mustard · 11-08-2008 5:29pm

I agree with Mike.

Dr. Strangelove.

Earthhorse · 11-08-2008 10:12pm

Hunt for Red October starring Sean Connery as the world's first Scottish Russian submarine commander defecting to the US of A.

Five pings.

Also derived from a Clancy book is The Sum of All Fears though from reading the plot on wikipedia it looks like the Cold War element is thrown out in the film.

I have this feeling I've seen way more Cold War films but all I can think of right now is Spies Like Us.

Dudess wrote: »

(not WarGames with Matthew Broderick, although that is very much a Cold War film)

Would you like to play a game?

Morlar · 12-08-2008 1:18am

'Red Dawn'

Wolverines are go !

The movie itself is about the invasion & occupation of the united states by russian and cuban commandos. Obviously the americans join insurgent groups to fight the occuppiers to the death.

I thought it was a bit ironic that the americans used the title of that movie as the name of an operation in Iraq (to fight insurgents).

The russia house - the third man - the odessa file - the episode of the avengers where the russian sleeper agenst all woke up. The very similair charlie bronson kgp movie where he has to track down the sleeper agents in the us.

There were millions of good movies based round a cold war theme - it just lead it self to high drama -opposing ideologies and the human stories against that backdrop - pure movie gold !

thusspakeblixa · 13-08-2008 8:43pm

Morlar wrote: »

'Red Dawn'

That Film is possibly my favourite Cold War Film, I don't know why because it is very very silly.
Other than that
''Das Leben der Anderen'' (The Lives Of Others) revolves around a few Stasi agents. Very very good, a tad inaccurate though.
''Soy Cuba''. Watch it. Now.

Dudess · 14-08-2008 1:41am

Ooh yeah, The Lives of Others is amazing.

And Goodbye Lenin! is concerned mostly with life after the fall of communism, but there's a good chunk beforehand also. Fantastic film.

mike65 · 14-08-2008 9:48am

I saw that on BBC4 a few months back, good fun in a slightly sad way.

Mike.

thusspakeblixa · 14-08-2008 12:29pm

Dudess wrote: »

Ooh yeah, The Lives of Others is amazing.

And Goodbye Lenin! is concerned mostly with life after the fall of communism, but there's a good chunk beforehand also. Fantastic film.

Forgot about Goodbye Lenin, that would rank as one of my favourites too. (Even though half the humour doesn't really translate)

Jack Sheehan · 14-08-2008 1:01pm

Dudess wrote: »

The Day After is the American Threads... and nowhere near as scary. Good though. Testament is a beautifully made American film similarly focusing on how a nuclear strike would affect ordinary people.

The War Game (not WarGames with Matthew Broderick, although that is very much a Cold War film) is a precursor to Threads (from the 60s and promptly banned due to being a little too realistic). Harsh and harrowing stuff.

Nuclear apocalypse dramas seem to be either terrifying or sad.

The saddest of all, in my opinion, is When The Wind Blows. It's a beautiful film about an elderly couple who think they'll have no problem getting through it having survived the first two world wars. Gorgeously illustrated by Raymond Briggs (The Snowman).

Mike mentioned Fail Safe - some scenes from it are brilliantly lampooned in The Simpsons (the episode where Sideshow Bob threatens to nuke Springfield ).

Dear god When the Wind Blows had me up at nights, and I didn't even see the whole thing.

Lockstep · 17-08-2008 12:30pm

Dudess wrote: »

The Day After is the American Threads... and nowhere near as scary. Good though.

The Day After is a good movie, the end of it was really sad.

Dudess wrote: »

The saddest of all, in my opinion, is When The Wind Blows. It's a beautiful film about an elderly couple who think they'll have no problem getting through it having survived the first two world wars. Gorgeously illustrated by Raymond Briggs (The Snowman).

I read that book when I was a kid and just wanted to cry. The bit where they insist on cutting the pastille and Jim's attempts to stay chipper....

guinnessdrinker · 17-08-2008 1:16pm

Rocky IV.

Jack Sheehan · 17-08-2008 3:50pm

guinnessdrinker wrote: »

Rocky IV.

'If I can change, and you can change...'

Rocky single handedly defeats communism. Unbeatable.

Mahatma coat · 18-08-2008 2:05pm

when the wind blows

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3335238684076482887&hl=en-AU

watched it again tonight after rememberin it from here, brilliant movie,

I' gonna nip off now and watch Dr Strangelove

Yeeeeeeee Ha

Dudess · 21-08-2008 3:46pm

I'm also absolutely fascinated by the McCarthy witch hunts: the film Guilty By Suspicion with Robert De Niro and Annette Bening is an excellent, extremely moving depiction of life for those in the film industry at the time.

Citizen Cohn is about the life and times of Roy Cohn, the rather horrible lawyer and mate of Senator McCarthy who was instrumental in Julius and Ethel Rosenberg being sentenced to death for passing info to the Soviets (and whose guilt has been questioned).
Cohn was, in his own words, an anti-semitic, homophobic Jewish homosexual. He died of AIDS in the 80s and is portrayed by Al Pacino in that super-long televised play from a couple of years ago, Angels in America. As he lies dying in his hospital bed, a hallucinatory Ethel Rosenberg (Meryl Streep) perches herself next to his bed for a chat. Strange but good...
The blue-haired, really sarcastic "lawya" in The Simpsons with the strong New Yawk accent is said to be based on Roy Cohn.

And the superb Good Night and Good Luck is also concerned with the harsh realities of McCarthyism.

IRISH RAIL · 21-08-2008 7:24pm

Watched those the other night best part in when the wind blows

come on you stupid bitch and get in

laughed for ages after that

Dudess · 05-09-2008 1:27pm

Watched The Day After again last night. It's so true that Threads is a more accurate portrayal. TDA is undoubtedly bloody horrible but there's something a bit... off about how the aftermath of the attack is depicted. A few plot holes imo. But the producers even add a note before the end credits saying words to the effect of "If there really were a nuclear strike, the consequences are likely to be worse than those depicted in the film".

Another such film is On The Beach - originally made in 1959 and remade quite recently. It's about a nuclear attack which has wiped out the northern hemisphere, and while the citizens of the southern hemisphere are still alive, they are starting to get ill and know it's all going to end for them too. It's set in Australia - damn sad.

I'm really looking forward to the release of The Road - although it's not specified whether the cause of the apocalypse in that particular story is nuclear war.

Fabio · 12-09-2008 8:06pm

What is Fail Safe like?

I've yet to see The War Game but it's bound to be "good" (not the right word is it?!) if Threads is as good or better.

Also any footbage or material out there about Irish readiness for nuclear war like Britain had with the "Protect and Survive" campaign?

Dudess · 19-09-2008 2:02pm

Fail Safe is very good imo. It got overshadowed by Dr Strangelove at the time and was kinda dismissed for not being as clever etc. Give me Fail Safe any day - Dr Strangelove never did it for me (:eek: I know - dissing a film that must not be dissed!)
The War Game is excellent - Threads is very similar to it, you can tell that's where it got much of its cues from. Once Threads was made, the ban on The War Game was lifted as there was no point banning something for being scary when there was now a similar film which was even scarier.

Cork boy 55 · 19-09-2012 11:17pm

never seen failsafe ,not on utube, i have to look that up
i see there is a 1964 movie and a 2000 tv film version remake.

Dr strangelove was repeated again on film 4 during week
it is brillant and never get olds!
the bits in the bomber with the music as they go thru the bomb drills
are brillant, as is General Buck

best bit

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgyjlqhiTV8

Cork boy 55 · 19-09-2012 11:22pm

On the beach film 1959

Set in 1964, in the months following World War III. The conflict has devastated the northern hemisphere, polluting the atmosphere with nuclear fallout and killing all life. While the bombs were confined to the northern hemisphere, air currents are slowly carrying the fallout south. The only areas still habitable are in the far southern hemisphere, like Australia.
The Australian government arranges for its citizens to receive suicide pills and injections, so that they end things quickly before there is prolonged suffering from the coming radiation sickness.

Cork boy 55 · 19-09-2012 11:45pm

The bedford incident
cold war naval games in the north alantic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDgPtRAhV84

pork chop hill great combat film
Vintage movie trailer for Pork Chop Hill.
1953 Korean War - American GI's must retake a barren hill in Korea that has been overrun by Red Chinese troops. The ensuing battle becomes a meat grinder for American and Chinese alike.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPaEECzwUxI

maquiladora · 23-09-2012 12:18am

Most of the great ones are already mentioned in this thread. A few more.

Molloys Clondalkin · 23-09-2012 2:48am

another good one I watched tonight on youtube
Countdown to looking glass.
I watched Fail safe which I tought was very good, and the day after which was ok ish.

Renn · 03-10-2012 11:27am

Selling this boxset if anyone is interested in it? - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Century-Warfare-DVD/dp/B000260OSA/

Bigfellalixnaw · 08-10-2012 8:46am

I don't know about ye, but I would love to see Christopher Nolan direct a Cold War film.

Teangalad · 29-11-2012 5:14pm

Interesting Documentary on the Potsdam missions the other day on one of the Discovery channels, would love to hear/see more about it ....

maquiladora · 29-11-2012 5:56pm

Teangalad wrote: »

Interesting Documentary on the Potsdam missions the other day on one of the Discovery channels, would love to hear/see more about it ....

Highly recommend this book.

51JGbLccHlL._SL500_SS500_.jpg

Benny_Cake · 02-12-2012 7:49pm

World War 3 / Der 3. Weltkrieg

Sort of an alternative history of what might have happened if there was a successful coup against Gorbachev in October 1989 (after he returned from his visit to the DDR anniversary celebrations in East Berlin) and a major crackdown in Eastern Europe.It uses a lot of real news footage and twists it together quite convincingly.You can find it on Youtube (search for World War 3 the documentary).

My favourites have already been mentioned.I'm very grateful to not have seen Threads as a kid though!

The Obligatory Cold War Movies/TV Thread

Comments