The War Game (1965)

The War Game is a fictional, worst-case-scenario docu-drama about nuclear war and its aftermath in and around a typical English city. Although it won an Oscar for Best Documentary, it is ... See full summary »

Director:

Peter Watkins

Writer:

Peter Watkins

Stars:

Michael Aspel, Peter Graham, Kathy Staff

Won 1 Oscar. Another 4 wins.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Michael Aspel	...	Commentator
Peter Graham	...	Commentator

Storyline

The War Game is a fictional, worst-case-scenario docu-drama about nuclear war and its aftermath in and around a typical English city. Although it won an Oscar for Best Documentary, it is fiction. It was intended as an hour-long program to air on BBC 1, but it was deemed too intense and violent to broadcast. It went to theatrical distribution as a feature film instead. Low-budget and shot on location, it strives for and achieves convincing and unflinching realism.

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Plot Keywords:

nuclear war | nuclear attack | civil defense | 1960s | euthanasia | 

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Taglines:

BBC TV's film about a nuclear attack on Britain directed by Peter Watkins

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Genres:

Drama | Sci-Fi | War

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 February 1967 (USA)

Also Known As:

Krigsspel

Filming Locations:

Canterbury, Kent, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

48 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

After it had won an Oscar for Documentary Feature, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences changed their rules regarding eligibility for this category.

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Quotes

Soldier: The Honest John, the Mace, the Corporal, the Pershing, the Sergeant, and if things don't get better soon all these weapons will be slamming away nuclear warheads and then God help us all!

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Connections

Featured in The 100 Greatest Scary Moments (2003)

User Reviews

Too important to ignore, too powerful to dismiss.

Although this film clocks in at a mere 48 minutes, not a scene, second or frame is put to waste. A level-headed and all too analytical examination of civil preparedness versus the yield of nuclear weapons. What this film presents is the absolute horror of nuclear war in simulated newsreel footage so realistic, you may feel the pain of those on screen. Fire-storms, asphyxiation, flash-burns, over-burdened hospitals leaving victims to die in pain, street executions under martial law, total social collapse, all filmed in a typical English suburb. Originally planned to be a simple documentary on nuclear warfare made for BBC-TV, the film was banned from television (officially because of it's graphic depictions of suffering, but most likely for it's anti-authoritarian stance and defiance of the official line). Later released to theaters, it went on to win major film awards. Two scenes in particular, one of men being executed for violating water rationing and an interview with children at a medical camp, haunted me for days. This is the great-grandfather of such films as "Threads" and "The Day After", but the matter-of-fact narration in BBC English to the devastation on screen adds an element of sheer horror that no other film comes close to. If anyone you know talks about the survivability of nuclear attack, show them this film, and watch their reaction. This film is too important to ignore, and too powerful to dismiss.