Classic Cold War Flicks

[Randomizer]

For those who can get Turner Classic Movies, Saturday has two Cold War thrillers in an accidental nuclear war double-bill.

First up is Fail Safe, 1964 where U.S. President Henry Fonda tries to manage the crisis caused when a computer glich launches SAC bombers against Russia. Dr. Strangelove without the laughs.

Following up is 1965's The Bedford Incident with Captain Richard Widmark, USN playing a particularly nasty version of cat and mouse with a Soviet diesel boat in the high arctic. Also features Sidney Portier as a visiting journalist and veteran British actor Eric Portman as a former U-Boat commander and now a senior officer in the West German Navy on board as an advisor. (Portman also played a U-Boat captain in the 1941 propaganda movie 49th Parallel.)

So what other Cold War movies does everybody like?

[Herr-Berbunch]

Funeral in Berlin.

A more realistic film than most of it's contempories. Harry Palmer travels by bus! No sports car, a bus.

The Ipcress File is good too, but not as good as Funeral.

Also the book of By Dawn's Early Light - I thought it was great, and was geared up for watching the film scheduled to be shown on TV but then either Desert Shield or Desert Storm kicked off and it wasn't shown - I've still to watch it :damn:

[TLAM Strike]

Does The Hunt for Red October count as a classic? :hmmm:

[Gerald]

Nope!

[Herr-Berbunch]

Does The Hunt for Red October count as a classic? :hmmm:

Nope!


classic means something that is a perfect example of a particular style, something of lasting worth or with a timeless quality.

So if The Hunt for Red October is a perfect sub-based cold war movie with a quality that lasts then it is a classic. The time period, both setting and filming was within the cold war. It is a good movie, and it is - bar Das Boot, the best modern sub movie.

[TLAM Strike]

and it is - bar Das Boot, the best modern sub movie.

I don't think Das Boot really qualifies as a modern sub movie. Unless you are a sailor for the North Korean People's Navy, then it could be considered a training film! :03:

Unless by modern you mean filmed recently... :hmmm:

... modern... damn I wasn't even born when Das Boot came out... :haha:

[Herr-Berbunch]

I don't think Das Boot really qualifies as a modern sub movie. Unless you are a sailor for the North Korean People's Navy, then it could be considered a training film! :03:

Unless by modern you mean filmed recently... :hmmm:

... modern... damn I wasn't even born when Das Boot came out... :haha:

I did mean when it was filmed :D

Maybe I should've put it another way. Releases in '81 and '90 - modern(ish) to most people? Das Boot is the classic WWII sub movie. Red October is the classic Cold War sub movie. Up Periscope is the classic Comedy sub movie. :hmmm: Wait, wut? Okay, you catch my drift.

[Sailor Steve]

I... modern... damn I wasn't even born when Das Boot came out... :haha:
Both of my kids were. Which of us feels worse now? :O:

[Hawk66]

For those who can get Turner Classic Movies, Saturday has two Cold War thrillers in an accidental nuclear war double-bill.

First up is Fail Safe, 1964 where U.S. President Henry Fonda tries to manage the crisis caused when a computer glich launches SAC bombers against Russia. Dr. Strangelove without the laughs.

Following up is 1965's The Bedford Incident with Captain Richard Widmark, USN playing a particularly nasty version of cat and mouse with a Soviet diesel boat in the high arctic. Also features Sidney Portier as a visiting journalist and veteran British actor Eric Portman as a former U-Boat commander and now a senior officer in the West German Navy on board as an advisor. (Portman also played a U-Boat captain in the 1941 propaganda movie 49th Parallel.)

So what other Cold War movies does everybody like?

both are really very good cold war movies. I can recommend 'Torn Curtain' and 'Ice Station Zebra'.

[Bill Nichols]

Here are a couple:

"The Hunters"

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/1b/The_hunters_movie.jpg



"Strategic Air Command"

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/68/Strategic_Air_Command_-_1955-_Poster.png


And, who can't help but love "Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb"?

http://i2.listal.com/image/1149597/600full-dr.-strangelove-or%3A-how-i-learned-to-stop-worrying-and-love-the-bomb-screenshot.jpg

[Sledgehammer427]

I still need to see Ice Station Zebra.

But Dr. Strangelove is one of my all time favorites.

[Sailor Steve]

Here are a couple:

"The Hunters"
One of the all-time great fighter-pilot movies. "Coo-coo, daddy-o!"

"Strategic Air Command"
Not the greatest, but one of my favorites. Little-known fact: As a former USAAF pilot, Jimmy Stewart had a lot of fun. In the scene where he is being checked out in the B-36 the rest of the crew get up and go for coffee, leaving Stewart alone in the cockpit. The fun part is that the B-36 was big enough for a camera to be placed in the cockpit. It was filmed in flight, and Stewart was actually flying the plane.

Brigadier General James Stewart also went along for a check ride in a B-52 over Vietnam.

And, who can't help but love "Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb"?
I can. I've never figured out why, but Dr. Strangelove has always put me off.

[Bill Nichols]

Dr. Strangelove has always put me off.

Steve, I'm beginning to worry about you...

[MM2(SS)]

The hunters, I think I've seen a scene or two of that movie. I always loved the lines of the sabre, so I definitely need to check this movie out!

[frau kaleun]

I can. I've never figured out why, but Dr. Strangelove has always put me off.

The first time I tried to watch it (years ago) I couldn't even get past the first 20 minutes or so. It just didn't work for me. I suspect it's because I was expecting it to be a comedy, or rather an entirely different kind of comedy from what it actually is.

Then it popped up on my Netflix queue because I'd gone in there at one point and added everything from the AFI "Top 100" list that I'd never seen all the way through. When I got it in the mail I kinda groaned "oh no not again" but by then I knew more about it and decided I would soldier through it if only so I could say I'd seen it and could form an opinion based on the entire movie. Well, I really enjoyed it - maybe because my expectations were completely different this time around. I've said it before but the scene where Peter Sellers as the US President has to explain to a drunken Soviet leader (via telephone) that one of our base commanders "went and did a silly thing" is worth the price of admission. :yep:

Certainly a more enjoyable experience than sitting through A Clockwork Orange again, which I saw as a teenager and which Netflix dutifully delivered when it also came to the top of my queue. I have to admit it sat here for 2 months before I could get myself up for it. Still have little use for it, oh it has its moments and I get the point but not something I ever want to sit through again.

Back on topic, I DVRed The Bedford Incident and I'm hoping I'll have time to give that a looksee sometime soon. But I still haven't watched either version of Das Boot on the new Blu-ray so I'll probably do that first.

[Sailor Steve]

Steve, I'm beginning to worry about you...
Welcome to the party. :rotfl2:

The hunters, I think I've seen a scene or two of that movie. I always loved the lines of the sabre, so I definitely need to check this movie out!
Be prepared to wade through a whole lot of schmaltz to get to the flying. It's worth it though, and no worse than Top Gun, which I hate, or Wings (1927), which I love.

@ Frau Kaleun: Since my opinion of A Clockwork Orange seems to exactly parallel yours I guess I'll have to give Dr Strangenlieben another chance.

[frau kaleun]

@ Frau Kaleun: Since my opinion of A Clockwork Orange seems to exactly parallel yours I guess I'll have to give Dr Strangenlieben another chance.

I really was NOT looking forward to sitting through all of Strangelove just to say I'd seen it... so I was really surprised at how much I liked it the second time around.

Or I may just have been in the right mood for that type of film that day, when the first time, I wasn't. Which is why if a movie is generally regarded as a classic for some reason, I will usually give it a second chance if the first viewing doesn't go well.

[Sailor Steve]

Does that mean I have to watch Citizen Kane a second time?

[frau kaleun]

Does that mean I have to watch Citizen Kane a second time?

WHOA WHOA WHOA THERE PARDNER...

:timeout:

Does this mean that you didn't like it the first time? :o







BURN THE WITCH!! BURN HIM!!





How can someone not like Citizen Kane? IT HAS JOSEPH COTTEN IN IT for Pete's sake. :O:

[the_tyrant]

Does james bond count?

Thirteen days is definitely worth watching
http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMTkwMTkxNTYyM15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTYwOTc5NTk2._V1._ SY317_CR1,0,214,317_.jpg

[Randomizer]

for spy flicks the original Manchurian Candidate with Frank Sinatra and not the tepid remake.

Not a Cold War flick per se but one where it sits in the background of the plot like some malevolent beast is 1979's The Great Santini. Robert Duvall is superb as a Marine Corps fighter pilot in 1962 looking for a hot war and if he can't fight Russian's, he'll fight at home instead. Blythe Danner is the long suffering wife and the youngsters out there can see where daughter Gwyneth Paltrow got her looks. A superb movie about a warrior without a war.

Another winner is Seven Days in May from 1964, where President Fredric March, after signing a disarmament agreement with the Soviets, tries to fend off a military coup lead by General Burt Lancaster and members of the Joint Chief's of Staff. Some accounts say that the real President Kennedy was looking forward to seeing the finished movie but that the Joint Chief's were not amused and refused the producers all military assistance during shooting.

[frau kaleun]

for spy flicks the original Manchurian Candidate with Frank Sinatra and not the tepid remake.

Not a Cold War flick per se but one where it sits in the background of the plot like some malevolent beast is 1979's The Great Santini. Robert Duvall is superb as a Marine Corps fighter pilot in 1962 looking for a hot war and if he can't fight Russian's, he'll fight at home instead. Blythe Danner is the long suffering wife and the youngsters out there can see where daughter Gwyneth Paltrow got her looks. A superb movie about a warrior without a war.

Another winner is Seven Days in May from 1964, where President Fredric March, after signing a disarmament agreement with the Soviets, tries to fend off a military coup lead by General Burt Lancaster and members of the Joint Chief's of Staff. Some accounts say that the real President Kennedy was looking forward to seeing the finished movie but that the Joint Chief's were not amused and refused the producers all military assistance during shooting.

The Duvall pic is not one of my faves but still worth a look. Great performances all around.

The other two - a big thumbs up for both. The Manchurian Candidate was the first movie I bought on VHS when we first got a VCR back in the Dark Ages. I had a copy of the book but put off reading it until I could watch the movie, knowing it would probably take something away from the experience. Turned out to be a good decision. There are so many "OMG" moments in that film and it manages to be both shocking and heartbreaking all at the same time. Seven Days In May is also great, but then I love March and Lancaster is never less than magnificent IMO. Douglas was never one of my all-time favorite actors, but this is certainly one of my favorites of all his performances.

[Randomizer]

The Duvall pic is not one of my faves but still worth a look. Great performances all around.
She Who Must Be Obeyed feels much the same way so maybe there's a bit'o gender bias at work. Last time we watched it on TCM, having not seen it since my soldiering days in the early eighties, she commented "We knew people like that when you were 'in'" referring to Duvall's character and his family. That hit home.

[frau kaleun]

She Who Must Be Obeyed feels much the same way so maybe there's a bit'o gender bias at work. Last time we watched it on TCM, having not seen it since my soldiering days in the early eighties, she commented "We knew people like that when you were 'in'" referring to Duvall's character and his family. That hit home.

I tend to have problems when the main character, by default the protagonist, is someone I don't find very likeable. It doesn't make it a bad picture, just one that doesn't resonate for me as much personally. I have the same problem with Gone With The Wind, lol, which kinda blows the "gender bias" theory right out of the water. :O:

[andy_311]

Would " By Dawn's early light" be classed as a cold war movie i seen it on video inthe late 80's about a B-52 Bomber group,i know it was on telly some years ago,the gist of the story was USSR v US nuclear war the crew of the B-52 have moral doubt's about there mission or somethig like that somebody get;s nuked and they fly into the sunset(something like that0 been a while since i saw the movie.

[Sailor Steve]

WHOA WHOA WHOA THERE PARDNER...

:timeout:

Does this mean that you didn't like it the first time? :o







BURN THE WITCH!! BURN HIM!!





How can someone not like Citizen Kane? IT HAS JOSEPH COTTEN IN IT for Pete's sake. :O:
Umm...:oops:


*Quickly changing the subject*

Yes, Seven Days In May is a GREAT cold-war flick. I'm also a fan of Failsafe (a more serious look at the Strangelove scenario) and, when it turns hot, a little-known film about the layman's reaction to a nuclear war called Panic In The Year Zero.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056331/

Another in the same vein was The World, The Flesh and The Devil, a very unusual movie and progressive at the time.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053454/

[Randomizer]

Frau Kaleun wrote:
I tend to have problems when the main character, by default the protagonist, is someone I don't find very likeable. It doesn't make it a bad picture, just one that doesn't resonate for me as much personally. I have the same problem with Gone With The Wind, lol, which kinda blows the "gender bias" theory right out of the water.

Not necessarily. SWMBO hates Gone With the Wind because of the character of Scarlet O'Hara is so unlikable (and figures that Vivian Leigh probably wasn't really acting she seemed such a natural B. Meow!). She also doesn't like Casablanca or From Here to Eternity for romances saying the endings are depressing. I really enjoy all three but Chocolat, a favorite of hers, makes me break out in hives. She even cried after watching Captain Corelli's Mandolin; at Nicholas Cage for god's sake!

Back on the Cold War topic though...

Nobody mentioned Red Dawn! Here on SubSim, the ultimate flag-waving, commie killing, pick-up driving, Cuban bashing, USA boosting propaganda epic passed unnoticed and obviously unwatched. Amazing!

[Sailor Steve]

I watched it. That doesn't mean I would ever mention it.

[TLAM Strike]

The Beast (AKA The Beast of War) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beast_of_War)

[Herr-Berbunch]

Also the book of By Dawn's Early Light - I thought it was great, and was geared up for watching the film scheduled to be shown on TV but then either Desert Shield or Desert Storm kicked off and it wasn't shown - I've still to watch it :damn:

Would " By Dawn's early light" be classed as a cold war movie i seen it on video inthe late 80's about a B-52 Bomber group,i know it was on telly some years ago,the gist of the story was USSR v US nuclear war the crew of the B-52 have moral doubt's about there mission or somethig like that somebody get;s nuked and they fly into the sunset(something like that0 been a while since i saw the movie.

I'd say it was :yep:

[Cohaagen]

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qf4w24yB79w/TTlY7-a6skI/AAAAAAAAAnM/7FLDoYjAa_g/s320/threads_dvd.jpg

Threads is the daddy of all Cold War films. This is a teleplay that managed to (and I don't use the word lightly) traumatise the whole of the UK - an entire chunk of the population of a certain age will know exactly what you're talking about at even the slightest mention of the title. Certainly it ****ed me and my entire class up when we were shown it at school.

While I "enjoyed" The Day After, there is no doubt that Threads takes everything that was horrifying and shocking about that film and amps it up by several orders of magnitude. The whole thing is on YouTube, and if you're into Cold War films then there's no excuse for not having seen it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQo0BQM3OlQ

Oh, for the same reasons I'd also recommend The War Game, and if you're interested in the Falklands War then An Ungentlemanly Act is a really well-observed and researched BBC teleplay on the initial invasion. Tumbledown also gets the thumbs up as far as the Falklands go, although it has a reputation for being brutal to the point of hard work...mainly for the absolute hands-down nastiest (not to mention historically correct) war movie death scene which involves a teenaged Argentine conscript getting stuck about 10 times in the face and neck with a broken bayonet.

[Sailor Steve]

Threads is the daddy of all Cold War films.
The daddy? Of all the shows that came two or three decades earlier?

Sounds like something worth seeing, though.

[STEED]

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold.

In my view the best Richard Burton film made.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Spy_Who_Came_in_from_the_Cold_(film)

[STEED]

Alfred Hitchcock did a couple...

Torn Curtain & Topaz



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torn_Curtain

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topaz_(1969_film)

[Cohaagen]

The daddy? Of all the shows that came two or three decades earlier?

See

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yn7o35NcJwo#t=01m45s (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yn7o35NcJwo)

and

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PINMSozKIJM

Definition:

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Who%27s%20the%20daddy%3F

[Randomizer]

Threads was an eye opener, I saw it just after completing a series of courses in nuclear target analysis and fireplanning with tactical nuclear weapons and it really hit home.

Wasn't there another UK nuclear war movie, Testament or something like that?

I remember The Day After and the unforgettable scene where the horizon fills with launching Minuteman smoke trails just before the incoming warheads arrive. A couple of years later, while driving past the missile silos at Minot AFB I could not get that image out of my mind's eye.

Atomic Cafe is scary since it lets the propaganda of the time tell the story.

[Herr-Berbunch]

I had a peek of the youtube stuff earlier, just skipped forward a couple of mins, watch 30 seconds, rinse and repeat...

Had to laugh with a young Reece Dinsdale, and had to look up his sister on imdb because I thought she looked vaguely familiar only to find she was the fat lesbian paramedic from Casualty many moons ago. :har:

Did look good though.

Edit - sorry this was about Threads.

[Randomizer]

There is a nasty feature length UK animated movie called When the Wind Blows that's about a retired couple caught in a nuclear attack. Their only guide for what to do is a government civil defence pamphlet and they understand neither what has happened or why the instructions they have followed so conscientiously don't seem to be working.

A depressing but very moving story, SWMBO cried real tears at the end. It used to be on Youtube but has been removed for violation of copyrights.

[Herr-Berbunch]

There is a nasty feature length UK animated movie called When the Wind Blows that's about a retired couple caught in a nuclear attack. Their only guide for what to do is a government civil defence pamphlet and they understand neither what has happened or why the instructions they have followed so conscientiously don't seem to be working.

A depressing but very moving story, SWMBO cried real tears at the end. It used to be on Youtube but has been removed for violation of copyrights.

Yup, by the same guy who did The Snowman - Raymond Briggs. Watched it once many years ago, was good.

[Sailor Steve]

See
Got it. Slang.