As far as I am concerned no movie will ever touch DR. STRANGELOVE for capturing the black, absurd, yet amazingly funny dynamics of the Cold War. This is not just a great film about the Cold War, it is a great film.
My public high school history teacher showed us this movie (as well as the duck-and-cover spots) in 1986. Only much later did I realize how cool this was.
He also lent me the game "D-Day", one of the first hex-and-counter wargames I ever played.
Also, they had to change Slim Pickens's dialogue where he's going through the survival kit. In the released film, he say that you could have a great weekend in Vegas with all this. As originally shot, he said Dallas.
But then JFK was assassinated in Dallas.
This is also why the film was delayed from it's 1963 release until early 1964.
First, Peter Sellers was planned to play the bomber pilot, not Slim Pickins. However, Sellers broke his leg and couldn't do all the climbing around. So Slim Pickins was choosen. And what a choice he was!
Did I say the movie actually had to be any good? This is not a great film by any stretch, but has any film ever captured the strong American sentiment that if push came to shove, we would go it alone? This film reminds all Americans that our national roots come from an insurgency. It was also the cinematic justification for Reagan's foreign policy in Central America.
Oh, no. I didn't say it influenced his policies. They were well underway when the film came out. I said it JUSTIFIED his policies. Remember, America is invaded by a combination of Cubans and Nicaraguans via Mexico.
Interesting trivia: A few years later Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey would co-star in "Dirty Dancing" (not a Cold War film by any stretch). >eah Thompson, who worked with them in "Red Dawn" said "They CAN'T....STAND....each other."
A lot a great intrigue in this thriller, but there are also a lot of great performances. An early example of a reality bending film, with evil North Koreans to boot.
Avoid the remake. Instead of the frightening notion that anyone could be brainwashed to act against his will, they use the magic chip-in-the-brain gimmick. Also, the "bad guy" is just a multinational conglomerate, possibly modeled on ADM, which I suppose they thought was a more modern international threat, unlike, say, terrorist organizations that use sleeper cells, which would seem a bit more fitting.
As for the original, you'll never look at Jessica Fletcher the same way again. Or a game of solitaire for that matter . . .
By the way, the basic plot of this movie has been redone several times I think. I'm immediately recalling the Star Trek:TNG version where Geordi LaForge is kidnapped and brainwashed into assassinating the Klingon Chancellor or some such thing. Even in Star Trek they avoided the chip-in-the-brain gimmick and went for good ol' fashioned brainwashing.
Oh, yeah. Babylon 5 had this plot, too, with some guy who was brainwashed by the PsiCorp to kill . . . who was it? One of the ambassadors? Can't remember. But some pattern would appear on one of the comm stations and then he'd go to his happy place and start killing.
They recycled the plot again when
Spoiler (mouseover to reveal):
they needed to write Talia Winters off the show, making her the sleeper agent.
(Spoiler for Season 2 if anyone cares).
And didn't Doctor Who use this plot back during the Tom Baker years with someone trying to kill some big high mucky-muck Gallifreyan dude?
When I first saw this a young lad I thought it was just another cold-war thriller. It wasn't until I saw it in recent years that I realized that the whole film from start to finish was one big "fuck you" directed at Joe McCarthy. Most subversive liberal film Evar. Some conservative media critics continue to list it as one of their favorite films.
Regarding tv show swipes. I recall a rather shameless swipe done by an episode of MacGuyver.
And we must never forget Frank Sinatra's kung-fu moves; one of the most unintentionally funny scenes of any A-list movie.
Ahh the Cold War's natural environment. A quiet clash atop the pole. Its got Rock Hudson and captures the presumed WWIII scenario of a skirmish that escalates out of control.
A more recent entry, and not a fictional work, but rather a film that tries to capture the world on the brink -- the Cuban Missile Crisis. I found the mock staging of famous photos a little distracting. However, the performances work, and its still tense even when you know the outcome.
Remember when Tom Clancy was cool and not a hack? It wasn't THAT long ago. Either way, this film, which was reasonably true to the book, set Clancy on the path to becoming a brand. I actually preferred Alec Baldwin to Harris Ford as this character.
Alec Baldwin at least looks like he *might* be Jack Ryan. He looks like the guy who starts in Intel and is only accidentally drawn into OPS. Harrison Ford, OTH, has made a career of playing the OPS guys.
I agree, Alec Baldwin made a great Jack Ryan. I heard/read that he wanted more money next time round (and should have got it) but got replaced, big mistake by the makers. Note: Chronalogically, Patriot Games happens before Red October so they should have had a younger actor not the older Harrison Ford.
A superb cast in the classic "trust no one" thriller. Robert Redford, Faye Dunaway, Cliff Robertson -- its the best of the Cold War in one of the better Cold War spy films. Also a great non Hollywood ending.
A more conventional look at escalating tensions leading to Global Nuclear Holocaust. An amazing cast, but a less than amazing film. Nevertheless, it remains something of an archetype for the Cold War crisis flick
This is basically Dr. Strangelove without the humor. Larry Hagman (yes, Larry Hagman from I Dream of Genie) puts in an amazing performance as the russian language interpreter for the president. Harry Fonda as the President has to make a very difficult decision to prevent a full scale nuclear war with Russia. I think it's a very good movie.
Same here. I'm a lefty and I appreciate the themes that were laid out by Dr. Strangelove AND I usually love Kubrick, but I'd much rather watch Failsafe than Dr. Strangelove.
They made a telemovie of this a few years with George Clooney. Notable for being shot live to air. I saw about half of it which seemed pretty good. My first tough also was - Dr Strangelove without the humour.
I caught this movie half-way in at midnight back in the late 80s. There were no commercials, and even though it was black-and-white, the real-time aspect sucked me in. It was chilling.
I watched it again from the beginning a few years later, and it was less impactful. Still good, though.
This film scared the hell out of me after I saw it. Much worse than the Day After. Not a documentary exactly, but not fiction either. Sort of a hypothetical documentary.
but teh film clip you have is of "the war game" which is still pretty harrowing it was made 20 years afore threads which was made in the early 80's it aired once on BBC1 and traumatised an entire gneration (ifn they managed to see it) its avalible on dvd through amazon and is well worth seeing ifn only to scare you into never allowing a nuclear war to start
Was John Forbes Nash really schizophrenic? Or did the government mess with his mind, using him to out think the Russians wtih those patterns patterns patterns?
While I'm not a big fan of the movie, it did an effective job keeping me guessing on this central question. Even after the cat was out of the bag, so to speak, I was still ready to believe the alternative. A very well made movie, even though I quickly got tired of trying to decipher Russell Crowe's mumbling.
The best thing about the movie was the brilliant way screenwriter Akiva Goldsman (whom I normally can't stand) and Ron Howard depicted the way John Nash's mind worked in spotting the patterns and deciphering them.
I thought the movie was much better than people gave it credit for, but no way was it the Best Picture of the Year.
I expected to see this movie in the list. Another John Frankenheimer film with Rod Serling on the screenplay, I think. This one posits the idea that U.S. Military leaders are plotting to overthrow the president whose promotion of a nuclear disarmament bill they fear will cripple the U.S. while the Soviets prepare for attack.
(This story also provided the plotline for a Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode that had Starfleet officials plotting to overthrow the Federation president because they felt he was too weak against the threat from the Dominion. Yeah, I'm a geek.)
General Scott (Burt Lancaster): "I asked you a question! Do you know who Judas was?" Colonel Casey: (Kirk Douglas): "Yes, Sir. He was a man I respected and admired, until he disgraced the 4 stars on his uniform."
Jason, you owe it to yourself to track this one down. A near forgotten classic.
Not exactly from the height of the cold war era, this documentary is a collection of 60s-era films about nuclear testing, those ridiculous "duck and cover" PSAs, military propaganda about the use of the bomb . . . it's absurdly frightening.
The most awesome (awful?) footage is of the infantrymen marching toward the mushroom cloud. What makes the movie most frightening is that some politicians today still think a nuclear exchange is "winnable".
Speaking of Late War cheesy (but fun none the less) movies like Red Dawn. This fast flying movie about a "Thought Guided Plane" was great. At least at age thirteen, I thought it was great.
The Bedford Incident. This was the third (Dr. Strangelove and Failsafe) in the "Doomsday" trilogy, with Richard Widmark and James Macarthur accidently setting of a crisis while Sidney Poitier looks on.
Thought of a couple films on the Eastern side of the equation. Too ponderous for my tastes. But this might have been the last of the Cold War spy movies.
A truly excreable film. It was sad to see the top of John Le Carre's head come off like a wacky jam jar lid, but it happens to everyone sooner or later.
One, Two, Three--Billy Wilder at his zaniest. Takes place in Cold War Berlin, just before the wall goes up. A Coke executive tries to keep the daughter of an Atlanta big-wig from falling for a communist! A great, great movie.
David Wright is hitting over .400 and has an OBA of over .500. He is a young god!
Excellent addition! Jimmy Cagney is brilliant; it's hard to believe this was his last film (well, except for a cameo appearance decades later) or that he so hated working with Wilder that he quit the business! Hilarious comedy and a film *entirely* about the Cold War!
Glad you added this! No way this should not be top 10 material. I think this and Failsafe are the two most characteristically Cold War movies -- they require some feel for the era to fully appreciate. Movies like Dr. Strangelove and Manchurian Candidate, while set in the Cold War milieu, are more accessible to the historically challenged -- better movies, but not quite as tied to the era.
1964 film starring Henry Fonda and Walter Matthau. During the Cold War, US bombers scramble to face off against the Soviets, but some of the planes cross their fail-safe lines and can't be recalled back.
I caught this movie as a double feature with Dr Strangelove on TV Ontario a few years back. A very tense and serious Cold War thriller - the flip-side to Dr Strangelove.
Rocky IV: The worst Rocky film ever? Not for people who saw Rocky V! And here is the physical embodiment of the Soviet menace Drago. Too bad there's a lame message of peace at the end. Why do we have to ruin all the Cold War films with lame messages of peace?
This animated film follows a wonderfully naive elderly British couple in the days during and after The Big One. There's just something wonderful and at the same time utterly horrifying about watching these people as they earnestly expect the imminent return of electricity and mail service whilst slowly dying of radiation poisoning.
Mystery Science Theater certainly has a few episodes with Cold War theme:
Invasion USA (1952) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044750/ No Chuck Norris, but 2 Lois Lanes! A hypnotist mesmerizes patrons of a bar to teach a lesson on sacrifice needed to win a war against "The Enemy" who atacks with a lot of stock footage.
Has this immortal scene: Capitol Guard: Halt! "Enemy" Soldiers: Don't Shoot! Ja, we from Chicago! Capitol Guard: How'd the Cubs do last year? "Enemy" Soldiers: Cubs? You mean little bear? Capitol Guard: Shoot Him!
The Starfighters http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058615/ Future Congressman Bob Dornan stars as a fighter pilot training (acompanied by the "Lite-FM") in his poopysuit! If the US is ever attacked by little white squares, he'll be ready!
Agent for H.A.R.M. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060074/ Eastern Bloc agents are trying to recapture a defecting scientist who has developed a deadly spore gun. The Agent for H.A.R.M. (Heck if I know what it stands for!) must protect him after a quick romp on the "judo range".
Glad to see that someone mentioned The Spy Who Came in From the Cold. It should be noted that some of the best 'cold war' films were based on John LeCarre novels. Three that have not been mentioned are: The Little Drummer Girl (with Diane Keaton) and IMHO, the absolute best of them all, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy with Alec Guinness as George Smiley. Guinness plays this role twice, the second time in the follow up to Tinker, Tailor - Smiley's People, in which George finally catches his Moscow Center counterpart and adversary, Karla (played by Patrick Stewart in both films and in both, he never says a word). For those taking notes, it should be mentioned that there are three books in the 'Hunt for Karla' series, though they never made a film out of the middle book, "The Honourable Schoolboy." Tinker, Tailor and Smiley's People were not released theatrically. They were BBC productions, which showed up here in the colonies on Masterpiece Theatre. Both are available on DVD and if you like your 'spy' novels and films to embrace the politics and sly tradecraft over the bang, bang, shoot 'em up stuff of James Bond, you should check them out. Unfortunate additions to the 'cold war' movie list are the two films with Dean Martin as Matt Helm. On the other hand, Donald Hamilton's series of Matt Helm novels, which begins with Death of a Citizen are (again, IMHO) among the best 'adventure' spy novels ever written. Helm (always the narrator) has a no-nonsense 'voice' about him, which is consistently entertaining. The movies were an absolute joke that true Matt Helm fans never got. Helm is at least as interesting a character as Jack Ryan or James Bond, and it's a shame that a potential 'franchise' character like Helm got handed to Dean Martin and the movies just plain sucked.
I really like this list. So many of these movies came out when I was a kid (Fail Safe, Dr. Strangelove, Manchurian Candidate), and the first and last of these three literally scared the hell out of me. I had images from both of these rattling off my mostly empty head for decades. The decision in Fail Safe that the president had to make still resonates. What a movie.
I guess most of the Bond movies would qualify, but these core films, and later Hunt for Red October, really chronicle the cold war for me.
. I heard/read that he wanted more money next time round (and should have got it) but got replaced, big mistake by the makers
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