secondtake
The War Game (1965)The ongoing horrific black and white "footage" of nuclear war preparations and aftermath in Britain is gripping and terrifying. I was a kid in this era, the 1960s, and remember only the official side of it--the government warnings, the bomb shelter information--but I've retained enough of the scariness to really get this inside. You don't need to be fifty to feel the genuine pain of these people. Yet you have to remind yourself, over and over, that this is all fiction, that it's a movie, that it's just a projection of likely effects. The more amazing aspect is that the movie concentrates on areas on the far fringes of the bomb's explosion (6 to 20 miles away), and leaves the closer damages, the total annihilation, to your imagination.It's a short movie, and an amazing one. There's nothing like this, for sure, and I think it's should be required viewing for anyone wondering about the current threats of atomic warfare in a dozen different places. It's too real, and it's avoidable, I believe, if everyone does the right thing. Amazing.
Bill Peter
I saw this film, as a teenager, at my Grammar School Film Club. It is about the build up to, and the effects of, a nuclear war. The only details that I can remember, and which scared me are; 1. In the event of a nuclear attack on Briain there were (are only four aircraft on full-time standby by to protect the whole country.2. In the film it is the West (the good guys) who make the first nuclear strike.I honestly don't know whether I'd want to watch it again - now over four decades later. Why does IMDb insst on a minimum of ten lines? I could ramble on, and probably will, but it will add nothing to what I've already written. Such people are bad enough in the Civil Service. Why should we have to put up with them here?
freemantle_uk
The War Game is a very important what-if documentary. It was banned in Britain until 1985. It is the best what-if documentary I have ever seen and it is a very scary experience. The film shows what would have happened if Britain suffered a nuclear attack and how local authorities and the emergency services would have dealt with it. It doesn't show how the central government would have been handled it and it focuses on the ground level. Firefighters struggling to deal with fires caused, to a child going blind because of the flash, to a the aftermath showing food riots and longterm illnesses. As well as showing these experiences and playing it like it was really happening, the documentary also gives people facts and statistics about government planning for a nuclear attack. This documentary is very well done doesn't overplay things like some other films would have done. It shows how horrible a nuclear attack would have been and you can't watch it without a scenes of shook and sorrow. It is a very good thing and I think it still has a great impact, but I can imagine that it must have been very shocking in the 60s and 70s. You need a strong stomach to watch this film but it is worth it, especially if you like what-if scenarios.
Michael_Elliott
War Game, The (1965) *** 1/2 (out of 4) Peter Watkins documentary has a rather interesting history behind it. It was produced for BBC TV but the company deemed it too graphic and intense so the film was banned. Some sort of loophole allowed the film to be released into theaters (with an X rating) where it eventually won the Academy Award for Best Documentary. The film talks about what would happen if a Nuclear weapon hit Britian. Even with current events, this documentary remains quite powerful and unsettling. The violence and views of the attack and aftermath are fairly hard to watch and they are shown in such brutal force that it's no wonder this film was originally banned. It's also interesting that this would win the Best Documentary award since the film documents something that hadn't happened yet.
AD
