The Conqueror: Hollywood Fallout

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2:09

The Conqueror: Hollywood Fallout

2024

1h 56m

Documentary

History

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Popcornmeter

92%

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12 Reviews

94%

Popcornmeter

Fewer than 50 Ratings

Hollywood's infamous flop, "The Conqueror," stars John Wayne as Genghis Khan, embodying a slew of racist and sexist problems. Its enduring notoriety stems from the tragic fact that nearly half its cast and crew developed cancer, revealing a tale of government deception and negligent production choices, highlighting the devastating impact of nuclear fallout.

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Leonard Maltin

leonardmaltin.com

The backstory of the notorious turkey The Conqueror, starring John Wayne as Genghis Khan, has all the ingredients for a stimulating documentary, but Hollywood Fallout puts that story into a larger and more troubling context.

Jun 28, 2024

Full Review

Randy Myers

San Jose Mercury News

Director William L. Nunez’s thorough, illuminating documentary looks at the deadly toll the filming took on the cast and crew as well as on communities near St. George, Utah, where it was shot.

Rated: 3/5

Mar 20, 2024

Full Review

Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

“Please, God, don’t let us have killed John Wayne!”

Rated: 3/4

Dec 16, 2024

Full Review

Aaron Murray

Loud and Clear Reviews

William Nunez shares a great ambition to tell a broader story that gets to the absolute horror of propaganda within the chaotic hub of Hollywood. Leading to a film made with fury but also with pure compassion.

Rated: 4/4

Aug 4, 2024

Full Review

Erik Childress

Movie Madness Podcast

In the wake of Oppenheimer this is a story worth a reminder of how hubris, avarice and just flat-out bad judgement led to generations of tragedy. Let’s hope the production of Horizon, filmed at the same location, does not suffer the same fate.

Rated: 3/4

Jul 1, 2024

Full Review

Mike McGranaghan

Aisle Seat

This haunting documentary captures an important intersection of cinema history and the unintended perils of America ingenuity.

Rated: 3/4

Jun 29, 2024

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D W

Involving, sobering documentary of how the irresponsibility of the US government in safeguarding nuclear testing in the Nevada desert caused untold illness and death for generations of "downwinders". Factoring into all of this is the ultimately tragic decision by Howard Hughes to film the absolutely dreadful epic "The Conqueror" in the area, a move that provided if not the decisive factor certainly a major contributing one to the death from cancer of the entire main cast (John Wayne, Susan Hayward, Agnes Moorehead and Pedro Armendariz) as well as a huge percentage of the rest of the cast & crew of the film. Horrendous but in a strange way, a stroke of luck for the others affected since the publicity of those famous personage's fate helped lead to some accountability (not enough but some) for the other victims. Remove Ads Comment?

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/24/25

Full Review

Roger T

I loved how this documentary discusses one of the worst movies of all time and shifts to one of the least discussed environmental and medical issues of our time. If people doubt the cancer rates among the people of Utah I suggest they speak with them as they don't believe it. This documentary does an exceptional job in making sure their stories are on equal footing with the rich and famous. High recommendation!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/24/25

Full Review

Mary Chris J

The movie is scant on epidemiological data and fails to provide the viewer with nuanced interpretations of the evidence. The Wikipedia entry for The Conqueror describes disagreement among scientists about the impact of the blasts on human health. In fact, the percentage of people affected by cancer in the fallout zone is not considerably higher than the norm, according to some experts. However, that disagreement is not reflected in this film. I would have liked to see some interviews with scientists and public health experts but it doesn't seem like any were consulted.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

01/23/25

Full Review

Holy Trinity R

Insightful documentary

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/01/25

Full Review

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William Nunez

Director

Sophie Okonedo

Narrator

Patrick Wayne

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Barrie Chase

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Mark Sennet

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The Conqueror: Hollywood Fallout: Trailer 1

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Synopsis

Hollywood's infamous flop, "The Conqueror," stars John Wayne as Genghis Khan, embodying a slew of racist and sexist problems. Its enduring notoriety stems from the tragic fact that nearly half its cast and crew developed cancer, revealing a tale of government deception and negligent production choices, highlighting the devastating impact of nuclear fallout.

Director: William Nunez
Producer: William Nunez, Douglas Waller
Screenwriter: William Nunez, William Nunez
Distributor: Blue Fox Entertainment
Production Co: LipSync, North End Pictures
Genre: Documentary, History
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 28, 2024, Limited
Runtime: 1h 56m

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