So today was watch movies I got for Christmas day and since 99 percent of them were from the cold war era I thought I'd start a fan thread. They can be spy movies, war films, scifi, and even post apocalyptic. Today I watched On the Beach, Damnation Alley, and I'm just starting Ice Station Zebra. There's still a ton I need to get though and I have plenty more to go including the Colossus the Forbin Project, Fail Safe, and Invasion USA from the early 50s. Anyone have favorites from that era? I always look at the new Borne Identity movies and shake my head at how unlike the originals they were. In a way even 80s movies like Short Circuit are cold war movies as the robots would have been used against the Soviets.
Cold War -era movie fan thread
- Thread starter Wes R
- Start date
BBC Miniseries - Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Smiley's People. Both starring Alec Guinness in top form. This is not an action packed, running from explosions kind of thriller. It's a complex and faithful adaptation of the John LeCarre novels. If you watch it passively you'll get lost but if you get into it you'll find it's incredibly suspenseful and powerful. There's also a noteable cameo from a young Patrick Stewart.
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Firefox! It's fiction, but it was still one of my favorite movies. Also Stripes! How can you not like an accidental invasion, in an RV, of Czechoslovakia? Those are the only two that came to mind right now, sorry. :lol
Spies like us too lol. I forgot how many stars were in Fail Safe: i saw the old man from robocop 1 and 2 (who must have been a ginger as his hair looked white in 1964 lol), Dom Deluise of all people in a serious part, and the actor who played Pete on McGuyver. Now I'm watching Colossus the forbin project, i chuckle that it has Mrs C from Happy Days in it and Victor from Young and the Restless.
Red Dawn
Bridge of Spies
Bridge of Spies
Well amongst all those mentioned I guess " War Games" is a fond memory.
And I really did like the three Harry Palmer films, "The Ipress File, Funeral in Berlin, and Billion Dollar Brain". Perfect miserably grey antidotes for all James Bonds OTT spy thrillers (I guess "From Russia with Love" counts!).
Sc fi wise "The Day the Earth Stood Still" (the original Black /White) had me glued to the TV screen as a kid, its about one of the earliest films I can recall watching with a cold war overtone/message.
And anyone remember a british TV film "Threads" about Sheffield getting nuked???
Just thinking about the Cold War era- are we just talking the Soviets or other communist states in general??? If you include them then theres a stack of other movies!!!
And I really did like the three Harry Palmer films, "The Ipress File, Funeral in Berlin, and Billion Dollar Brain". Perfect miserably grey antidotes for all James Bonds OTT spy thrillers (I guess "From Russia with Love" counts!).
Sc fi wise "The Day the Earth Stood Still" (the original Black /White) had me glued to the TV screen as a kid, its about one of the earliest films I can recall watching with a cold war overtone/message.
And anyone remember a british TV film "Threads" about Sheffield getting nuked???
Just thinking about the Cold War era- are we just talking the Soviets or other communist states in general??? If you include them then theres a stack of other movies!!!
I haven't seen Testment yet. I have 2 versions of The Day After, youtube has a version with director's commentary. My complaint about post apoc stuff that's modern is they dont' realize that if nobody is manning nuclear reactors the cooling pools will boil off once the generators run out of fuel and they'll explode in radioactive steam. So the zombies in TWD should be radioactive lol. A good UK one is called Threads, which is basically their take on The Day after. When the Wind Blows is a good one too and left a big enough mark that Iron Maiden made a really good song about it.
I hadn't seen the original The Day the Earth Stood Still up until a few years ago. Every time I see it I keep thinking that from the outside Klaatu looks like a creepy old dude hanging around with a kid all day. :lol
IMO The Day After is just a terrible melodrama using nuclear war as a backdrop. It came out at the same time as Testament and was heavily advertised as a grand television event. Even as a teenager I thought it was poorly written and I'm sure it hasn't even aged well. Testament seems chillingly real. (It also features a cameo by a young Kevin Costner).
I heard about Threads. I'll have to check it out.
Oh, and I definitely recommend Colossus: The Forbin Project. I love that movie.
I will second The Hunt for Red October (even if the rest of the Clancy adaptations dropped the ball), War Games, Firefox, A Boy and His Dog (read the books, too), and both old and new John la Carre adaptations (I like each for their own reasons)...
And I will add my nominations for Real Genius, Cloak and Dagger, and an honorable mention for Reilly: Ace of Spies. It's WWI era, but Reilly was a Russian Jew who became one of the best intel assets the British ever had, and some of his work was trying to take down the Bolsheviks -- Cold War stuff before it formally is considered to have started. Plus, young Sam Neill.
--Jonah
And I will add my nominations for Real Genius, Cloak and Dagger, and an honorable mention for Reilly: Ace of Spies. It's WWI era, but Reilly was a Russian Jew who became one of the best intel assets the British ever had, and some of his work was trying to take down the Bolsheviks -- Cold War stuff before it formally is considered to have started. Plus, young Sam Neill.
--Jonah
brandomack
Sr Member
+1 Yesh.
unbuiltnautilus
Active Member
The Bedford Incident, with Richard Widmark and Sidney Poitier.
"If he fires one, I'll fire one."
"Fire one!"
Nooo! First time I watched it, dumbstruck for five minutes..that's the Cold War for you..
"If he fires one, I'll fire one."
"Fire one!"
Nooo! First time I watched it, dumbstruck for five minutes..that's the Cold War for you..
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