The War Game

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Audience Member A must see.. But very hard to find and stream.. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/23/25 Full Review Daniel C. M A very devasting and misanthropic documentary; in other words: it's very realistic. The ending in special is without description. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/20/25 Full Review Leaburn O On its own merits it is worth a watch at only 50 minutes. There is no comparison with Threads though which is slightly updated and far superior on the same topic. Unfortunately, for all that this was banned from TV because of the shock factor, in truth it was a very toned down recreation of the aftermath of a nuclear attack. Filmed in Kent, particularly in Gravesend, Tonbridge and Dover. Watched on Docsonline. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 11/27/24 Full Review William L You've seen 'Duck and Cover' in your 1950s homeroom class, now you're old enough to hang with the big boys. Bring on the nuclear fire, and don't forget the teabags! A faux-documentary based on reports from genuine nuclear strikes and firebombing campaigns (not sure why people refer to it as a legitimate documentary, it's a Cold War civil service project steeped in theoretical panic rather than fact), The War Game focuses less on generals arguing in clouds of cigar smoke as it confronts the potential street-level reality of a nuclear engagement that was very possible at the height of the Cold War. Despite the fact that the film was government-funded, it actually goes out of its way to highlight incompetencies in the Crown's efforts to prepare its citizens for a potential strike, often infused with a surprsing amount of dry humor (the nuclear pamphlet that you had to purchase for ninepence, described as a "bad seller"), and further creates a scene of social collapse that is anything but reassuring. Candid, well-acted, and startlingly brutal, the film would certainly have been something of an inspiration to Mr. and Mrs. John Q. Homeowner to read up on the effects of Strontium-90 and begin packing canned goods, but it is in such stark comparison to other newsreel-esque programs of the era in its lack of positivity that it's little wonder that the BBC pulled it, as it could have just been downright demoralizing. (3.5/5) Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 07/09/21 Full Review s r 1001 movies to see before you die. It might be one of the first propaganda documentaries that want to manipulate you oppose nuclear bombs. It takes cheap shots against religious leaders and others by setting them up to ignorance. It was on internet archives. Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Great, genuinely hard to watch, eminently memorable and absolutely no fun at all. But that's really important I think, so much media really tries to sort of paint this candy-coated filter over subjects like war, when in reality, war, especially nuclear war, is pretty fucked. There's nothing wrong with making those other movies, the ones where the heroes win the day and good guys triumph, those will never go away, nor should they, but every now and then, some hard truths need to be confronted too, and The War Game is very confronting. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/22/23 Full Review Read all reviews

The War Game

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