On the Beach (1959, United States)
Categories: science fiction movies submarine movies
On the BeachDirector: Stanley Kramer
Czas: 135 minut
Laguages: English
On the Beach war movie
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On the Beach war movie
Czas: 135 minut
1970-01-01 / 1970-01-01
After nuclear war Australia is one of the last places on Earth where radiation is still bearable. Navy sends a submarine to northern hemisphere to check if there are any survivors.
Alternative history: in 1964 the inevitable happened - the atomic powers moved from cold war to nuclear holocaust and all the northern hemisphere was wiped out. Australia is one of the last pieces of land where radiation did not yet arrived. No one actually knows what is the situation in United States or Japan, so the navy prepares a mission of lone submarine to take the measurement of the radiation on the northern hemisphere. Commander Towers is given the orders to take USS Sawfish as far north as possible while submerged and then check how bad the situation actually is. But their other target is to check the source of incoherent Morse signals that were detected somewhere near San Francisco. If someone actually survived in the city this would mean that there is a hope for Australia.
One of the few war movies made at the beginning of Cold War that were aiming to realize people that nuclear war is the final solution not for a city, region or country, but for the entire world. The message is simple - it is easy to push the button and fire the nuclear weapon, but after that there is no way to regain control again, because there will be no future.
Impressive drama set after the nuclear war where what is left of human kind can only wait for the death to come. The movie message was so clear that US Navy didn’t want to have anything to do with the production, so the scenes were shot on Australian submarines and Australian aircraft carrier (yes in those days Australia did have an aircraft carrier). Very good cast, good script that leaves not much to imagination - nuclear war will finish us all.
Our rating
4.8
Film value
6 / 10
Realism factor
3 / 5
Adventure factor
2 / 5
Historical accuracy
1 / 5
