Admirers of Leo McKern, whose delightful performance as Rumpole of the Bailey has so won our hearts, will be interested to see him as a tart-tongued science journalist grimly tracking down the implications of increasingly strange weather. This film is remarkable for intelligent, complex characterizations, and fast-paced, clever dialogue. Unusual among apocalyptic science fiction is the light touch with which we're invited to appreciate the rhetoric of political spin-doctoring; as the crisis deepens, our characters gather around the radio to hear the latest announcement from the Prime Minister; the matter-of-fact cynicism with which our heroes accept the various governmental cover-ups tells us far more than the predictable indignation which we've become so familiar with, in films such as Armageddon and Deep Impact.
Review of The Day the Earth Caught Fire
