Zero Days (2016)

A documentary focused on Stuxnet, a piece of self-replicating computer malware that the U.S. and Israel unleashed to destroy a key part of an Iranian nuclear facility, and which ultimately spread beyond its intended target.

Director:

Alex Gibney

Writer:

Alex Gibney

Stars:

David Sanger, Emad Kiyaei, Eric Chien

1 win & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sergey Ulasen	...	Self
Eric Chien	...	Self
Eugene Kaspersky	...	Self
Vitaly Kamluk	...	Self
Ralph Langner	...	Self
Liam O'Murchu	...	Self
David Sanger	...	Self
Gary Samore	...	Self
Rolf Mowatt-Larssen	...	Self
Olli Heinonen	...	Self
Emad Kiyaei	...	Self
Richard Clarke	...	Self (as Richard A. Clarke)
Michael Hayden	...	Self (as General Michael Hayden)
Yossi Melman	...	Self
Amos Yadlin	...	Self (as Major General Amos Yadin)

Storyline

Documentary detailing claims of American/Israeli jointly developed malware Stuxnet being deployed not only to destroy Iranian enrichment centrifuges but also threaten attacks against Iranian civilian infrastructure. Adresses obvious potential blowback of this possibly being deployed against the US by Iran in retaliation.

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Plot Keywords:

iran | cyber attack | computer worm | hacking | stuxnet | 

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Taglines:

Welcome to the next global war.

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Genres:

Documentary

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

PG-13 for some strong language

Did You Know?

Quotes

Michael Hayden: Look, for longest time, I was in fear that I couldn't say the phrase Computer Network Attack. This stuff is hideously over classified and it gets into the way of a mature public discussion as to what it is we as a democracy want our nation to be doing up here in the cyber domain. Now, this is the former director of NSA and CIA saying this stuff is over classified. One of the reasons it's highly classified as it is: this is a peculiar weapon system. This is the weapon system that's come out of ...

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Connections

References Aqua Teen Hunger Force (2000)

User Reviews

A gold standard in documentary films and a very interesting story

Once you go beyond the automatic dislike of computer screen hexadecimals turning into beautiful 3D animations, which is the norm in all popularizing documentaries, you can see not only how interesting the story is and how well the film is done, but how much effort came into the gathering of the information in it.

This two hour film describes how Stuxnet changed the world, first from the eyes of malware researchers and how they discovered the worm and how they started to analyze it and realize how advanced it is and what it does, then goes into the political realm, describing how the US and Israel did this to Iran, then narrows down, showing not only how this was something the US did to prevent the Israelis to do even worse things, but how Stuxnet came back to bite its creators in the ass. In the end we are shown the true reality of a world in which anyone can do horrible damage with no attribution while the security institutions keep everything secret and out of public discussion and decision.

A very informative movie, filled with useful tidbits, showing the story of Stuxnet from start to end and to later consequences, interesting to both technical people and laymen alike. Well done!

Details

Official Sites:

Official Site

Country:

USA

Language:

English Persian German French Hebrew Arabic Russian

Release Date:

8 July 2016 (USA)

Also Known As:

Zero Days

Filming Locations:

USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$49,110, 10 July 2016

Gross USA:

$109,649

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$109,649

Company Credits

Production Co:

Global Produce, Jigsaw Productions, Participant

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1