Hacker Cinema
The War Game
1966 · Film · 48 min
Directed by Peter Watkins
A hypothetical Chinese invasion of South Vietnam triggers a new world war between East and West. In Rochester, Kent, the anticipation of a nuclear attack leads to mass evacuations. When a stray missile explodes, the ensuing firestorm blinds all those who see it. It's not long before the fabric of society is ripped apart from radiation poisoning, a lack of infrastructure and rioting for food and other necessities.
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18 comments on Hacker News
Another film (docu-drama) about a nuclear attack on the UK in the 1960s was The War Game.
"The War Game is a 1966 British pseudo-documentary film that depicts a nuclear war and its aftermath.Written, directed and produced by Peter Watkins for the BBC, it caused dismay within the BBC and also within government, and was subsequently withdrawn before the provisional screening date of 6 October 1965. The corporation said that "the effect of the film has been judged by the BBC to be too horrifying for the medium of broadcasting. It will, however, be shown to invited audiences..."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_War_Game
Also The War Game from 1966 by Peter Watkins. Was commissioned by the BBC to prepare the public for a nuclear strike, but was then not televised as "the effect of the film has been judged by the BBC to be too horrifying for the medium of broadcasting". Went on to be considered one of the best British documentaries of all time, and one of the most realistic depictions of the effects of a nuclear strike on a populace.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_War_Game
Can be watched here: https://archive.org/details/TheWarGame_201405
I can recommend The War Game[0] in the same genre/time but involving the UK:
"The War Game is a 1966 British pseudo-documentary film that depicts a nuclear war and its aftermath. Written, directed and produced by Peter Watkins for the BBC, it caused dismay within the BBC and also within government, and was subsequently withdrawn before the provisional screening date of 6 October 1965. The corporation said that "the effect of the film has been judged by the BBC to be too horrifying for the medium of broadcasting. It will, however, be shown to invited audiences..."
The film eventually premiered at the National Film Theatre in London, on 13 April 1966, where it ran until 3 May. It was then shown abroad at several film festivals, including the Venice one where it won the Special Prize. It also won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 1967.
The film was eventually televised in Great Britain on 31 July 1985, during the week before the fortieth anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing, the day before a repeat screening of Threads."
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_War_Game
Somewhat off topic
Sort of reminds me of *The War Game*[0], a BBC pseudo-documentary on a nuclear attack against Britain in the 1960s, was sort of censored.
The BBC or government said "the effect of the film has been judged by the BBC to be too horrifying for the medium of broadcasting.", but got shown to a select few, and then got played at film festivals a year later and won an Oscar for best Documentary in 1967.
"The film was eventually televised in Great Britain on 31 July 1985, during the week before the fortieth anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing, the day before a repeat screening of Threads."[0]
I haven't watched Threads, but I'd highly recommend watching this film. It's not gory, it's almost satirical, but also horrifying.
> The War Game is a 1966 British pseudo-documentary film that depicts a nuclear war and its aftermath.[1] Written, directed and produced by Peter Watkins for the BBC, it caused dismay within the BBC and also within government, and was subsequently withdrawn before the provisional screening date of 6 October 1965.[2] The corporation said that "the effect of the film has been judged by the BBC to be too horrifying for the medium of broadcasting. It will, however, be shown to invited audiences..."[3]
The film eventually premiered at the National Film Theatre in London, on 13 April 1966, where it ran until 3 May.[4] It was then shown abroad at several film festivals, including the Venice one where it won the Special Prize. It also won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 1967.[5][6]
The film was eventually televised in Great Britain on 31 July 1985, during the week before the fortieth anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing, the day before a repeat screening of Threads.[7]
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_War_Game
Whether or not it counts as PTSD, I remember it being a stressful time, causing worry that has persisted through to the present. There were the films, of course; When the Wind Blows and The Day After are films I watched (the former was also available as a graphic novel IIRC). I'm not sure about Threads, but I definitely saw The War Game (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_War_Game). The scene with firemen trying to put out a firestorm and being suffocated has stuck in my head. The Protect and Survive booklet (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protect_and_Survive) was around to instruct families in how to construct temporary makeshift shelters against nuclear blast. I recall such planning, including watching a film explaining how long the various Protect and Survive shelters might last at different distances from a blast ("The occupants of this shelter will be fine, for 6 seconds until the blast wave hits..." etc. etc). Military training at school (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combined_Cadet_Force) also involved, from time to time, lectures from liaison officers who would remind us of the odds against us in terms of land forces, and how long we might hold out before things went nuclear (should the Warsaw Pact have attacked NATO).
If disturbingly realistic nuclear war movies are your jam, check out an older UK production from the 50s called The War Game. Threads actually lifts a number of images from it and it was equally terrifying in its time.
The same director did another interesting one called Culloden, in which a 60s BBC documentary crew visits the historic battle as it happens. Hybrid fiction/history experiment.
I'd second recommending The War Game, it also won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 1967.
The full movie ~45 minutes is here: https://vimeo.com/532331716
For anyone interested in this subject / genre I recommend "The War Game" by Peter Watkins [1]
Also by Peter Watkins, "The Journey" (aka "Resan") [2]. Quite long, that one.
Threads is one of relatively few films I have ever been inclined to re-watch. In fact, I watched it soon after the first covid lockdown started, followed by bingeing on "I Shouldn't be Alive". Quite curious about the psychology behind those viewing choices!!
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_War_Game
[2] http://pwatkins.mnsi.net/journey.htm (NOTE: not SSL!)
[3[ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Shouldn%27t_Be_Alive
The BBC also made the excellent "The War Game" in the 1960s - which was withdrawn from being broadcast as "the effect of the film has been judged by the BBC to be too horrifying for the medium of broadcasting. It will, however, be shown to invited audiences...".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_War_Game
"The blast wave from a thermonuclear explosion has been likened to an enormous door slamming in the depths of hell"
I can also recommend The War Game[0] from the BBC.
"the effect of the film has been judged by the BBC to be too horrifying for the medium of broadcasting. It will, however, be shown to invited audiences..."
"The film eventually premiered at the National Film Theatre in London, on 13 April 1966, where it ran until 3 May.[4] It was then shown abroad at several film festivals, including the Venice one where it won the Special Prize. It also won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 1967."
[0] en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_War_Game
For an excellent pseudo-documentary film on a nuclear war in the UK (in the early-mid sixties), The War Game[0] is kind of terrifying.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_War_Game
In the same vein: The War Game.
Recorded in 1965, but not shown until 1985 as
"the effect of the film has been judged by the BBC to be too horrifying for the medium of broadcasting. It will, however, be shown to invited audiences..."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_War_Game
I haven't seen The War Game, but that's the ending from Threads (and Wikipedia lists a different ending for The War Game).
Threads is an interesting film from the 1980s, with a very bleak tone about the prognosis after a full scale nuclear conflict. I have read modern analyses of it that suggest it was perhaps too pessimistic in the long term effects.
Don't mistake this booklet for "protect and survive" which was handed out in the 1970s and 1980s. this was the precursor work.
I was the lucky recipient of "protect and survive" in my terrace house in York in the 1980s. We blithly understood the staircase was our best bet, both for initial blast protection and ultimate entombment. The Raymond Briggs cartoon book "when the wind blows" felt more realistic to most of us.
I did not enjoy watching Peter Watkins "the war game" which was with-held from general broadcast and mostly only seen in film societies. It wasn't exactly hyper realistic, but it was chillingly unpleasant. It was dated by the time I saw it (shot in B&W I believe, and in the sixties so over 15 years old by the time I first saw it)
Hi all - I'm the author (backed by a very capable team) of the YouTube nuclear attack video. I appreciate the commentary and the dialogue about Threads, The Day After, The war Game, Fail Safe and other such movies, all of which inspired us in making our own modest production. Ben Marking.
I'd add in 1965's "The War Game" by Peter Watkins. it was commissioned by the BBC as an educational film to prepare the populace for a post nuclear attack world, but was pulled at the last minute as "the effect of the film has been judged by the BBC to be too horrifying for the medium of broadcasting."
A few years back I started watching Schindler's List and I decided I wanted to watch something a bit less depressing and stumbled onto an evening on Channel 4 that was showing The War Game, The Day After and then Threads.....
Edit: The War Game is worth watching - the BBC refused to show it as "the effect of the film has been judged by the BBC to be too horrifying for the medium of broadcasting":
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_War_Game
If you think The Day After is grim then you should see Threads - the UK BBC equivalent:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090163/
The one I remember most as a kid was actually the QED episode "A Guide to Armageddon":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GJttnC8PoA
Edit: The part starting around 6:40 gave me nightmares when I saw it...
The 1965 The War Game was so bad (i.e. realistic) that it wasn't broadcast until relatively recently:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059894