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Give me a vote for The Hunt for Red October, Vasili. One vote only, please.
I am just barely old enough to have been alive and conscious for the tail end of the Cold War. One of my enduring memories of the news and the world was my parents forcing me to watch Germans take sledgehammers to the Berlin Wall and instructing me to remember this moment (I did!). So while I never really lived in fear of nuclear disaster, the people I know who are older did experience that fear and for them life was different. There is a lack of urgency to anything that was made about the Cold War long after its conclusion and I can't shake that experience when I vote in this poll. Watchmen is disqualified as a movie (blergh), though not as a graphic novel (masterpiece). Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Good Night and Good Luck are out for the same reason. I love the Atomic Café suggestion because it is so evocative of that fear of annihilation. I love that someone mentioned Wings of Desire as well, but that film is dedicated to exploring what unites humanity at a moment when politics implacably divided humanity (and I am a former Germanist and I adore Wim Wenders in general and Wings of Desire in particular). It's a movie dedicated to opposing the personal experience of the political Cold War, so I can't quite vote for it in this context (respect for bringing it up, Jason!). And I really love the person who mentioned Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country which is absolutely about struggling with the New World Order (Klingons were always Russians, right?). But in the end, I had to vote for The Hunt for Red October. I am an optimistic guy and the sheer darkness of The Manchurian Candidate is too much for me, especially based on how history actually played out. Doom and gloomers were not right. John McTiernan made a taut film about how the Cold War could end when sane people without any kind of demagogic impulse got together to solve some problems. The world did not end. Slim Pickens did not ride that bomb to destruction. The Cold War ended without nukes being fired and The Hunt for Red October captures a moment of sanity and relief at the end of a long period of tension better than any other film, at least for me.
I wasn't aware there were any Cold War films other than Top Secret. This "Dr. Strangelove" sounds like a sad rip-off.
Of the films offered, I would have gone with The Manchurian Candidate, one quality that's overlooked is just how funny the Manchurian Candidate is, particularly Angela Lansbury's performance. But I went with other and offer The Third Man, a brilliant critique of American foreign policy at the beginning of the Cold War. The Russians are rather shadowy figures, but they are there and set the context for the conflict between two Americans: the exploitive Harry Lime (the great Orson Wells) and the naive Holly Martins (Joseph Cotton), who is educated by Major Calloway (Trevor Howard) in the realities of post war Europe and the best way that Americans could help. So many great things: the music, the cinematography (love the way Lime is always shot with the frame slightly askew), and the performances.
I chose other and went with a personal favorite of mine George Clooney's 'Good Night, and Good Luck'. Maybe not directly about the cold war the film does an excellent job of displaying all of the tension, anxiety and paranoia that the era would come to embody. With an outstanding performance by David Strathairn and some less convincing performances from his co-stars (I'm looking at you Robert Downey Jr) the film best demonstrates the significance of individuals standing up for personal liberties and the right to freedom of thought even under the threat of total annihilation.
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. The subtlety of the excellent script slowly reveals the film's broiling subtext: The deep-seeded distrust among the men of the Circus has an ultimately corrosive effect on their relationships, both professional and personal. The resulting anxiety and paranoia greatly informs their strategies for managing allies and enemies, all among shifting loyalties, disposable human assets and blurred Cold War objectives.
In terms of capturing the Cold War spirit of paranoia and doom-saying, as well as just the movie I'd rather watch again and again, I'm going with Norman Jewison's 1966 comedy The Russians are Coming! The Russians are Coming! starring Alan Arkin as the hapless Soviet submarine first mate accidentally run aground off the coast of a small New England town and the domino effect of misunderstanding and hilarious overreaction that results as everyone assumes the sky is falling.
I chose "Other," with my vote going to Wim Wenders' 1987 masterpiece "Wings of Desire." This tale of an angel who wants to live as a human is set in Berlin as the Cold War is winding down, and the weariness of the divided city's residents is palpable. There are no spies, no intrigues - unless you count Peter Falk's turn as a Mephistophelean actor tempting Bruno Ganz's Damiel to reject his divinity - and no political brinkmanship, but the tensions of that period are central to the story, as we glimpse the lives of an aging poet, a fading circus troupe and a live performance by a demonic Nick Cave. Even the production was plagued by Cold War problems, as the crew was not allowed to film the actual Berlin Wall and was cheated by the contractors hired to build a mock-up. You can't get any more Cold War than irrational dictum and profiteering.
Of course, Rocky IV is winning. So is Donald Trump.
I took the Other option and voted for Dr Strangelove. Yes, the movie is so good it deserves to win a poll for which it is ineligible. My High school history teach Mr. Wichman used to show it for both his World and US history classes. Endlessly quotable. Chillingly prescient. My runner up choice would be Fail Safe, the joke free nail biter on which Strangelove was based. Henrik Hansen Yalding, Kent, England
I have to vote for Watchmen as my favorite Cold War movie. Not only does Alan Moore's story nail the dread of a world literally living under the constant threat of nuclear annihilation; not only does the story use fictional flawed superheroes with conflicting ideologies as metaphors for real flawed super powers with conflicting ideologies; but it's also a film that's going to be featured in Josh's upcoming book on movies as prayer. (Like how I worked in that plug, Josh?)
My choice: 2010: The Year We Make Contact. Yes, yes, I hear you, members of the Cineaste Chorus: the sacrilege of not only mounting a sequel to such a monumentally cinematic achievement as Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, but having the gall to reveal all of that film's timeless mysteries, is tantamount to leaping onstage after the magic show where the magician stored the doves up his sleeve. But I've always had a soft spot for this film, independent of its status as a follow-up to Kubrick, for any number of reasons: a tighter script than many remember, no small share of mysteries of its own, an underrated performance by Bob Balaban as a man we truly believe can speak to computers, the always-welcome presence of Helen Mirren, even an uncredited voice cameo by Candice Bergen as the SAL 9000. But the best part of the film is the political context that it adds to the mythology: as the US and USSR stampede toward all-out war on Earth, the astronauts and cosmonauts orbiting Jupiter are left to plan with each other for the intervention from above that's to come. Worth a second look.
The Lives of Others
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - the BBC mini-series. I know, I know, it's not a movie.
Voted for other...Crimson Tide. Still remains the ultimate submarine movie in my opinion dammit.
I had to go for Miracle. My favourite movies are those that play out their themes via proxies: the supernatural as a proxy for the psychological, the physical struggle as proxy for the inner struggle, hockey as a proxy for war? Why not! This film drips with crying bald eagles and star-spangled banners, but the patriotism is so sincere and deeply felt that it makes me shed a Canadian tear or two every time.
@Oliver While on the Kevin Costner trail - what about "No way out"
Anyway, choose other: "The spy who came in from the cold"
What's a better pick than something that is played out in the absolute epi center of the cold war: Berlin in the 1960s.
Looking at above listed picks, an honorable mention is "Firefox" that doesn't shame it self in this company.
There are probably better movies, in fact I'm almost certain there are, but I love Red October so much that I saw it and blindly voted.
Red Dawn has about as much of a chance of success here as the Soviet's strategy of sneaking up on us through Alaska, but I love it. Manchurian Candidate is the better made film, but it doesn't pack the punch. And Red October is really a submarine movie; Rocky is really a boxing movie; the Cold War is just a back drop, almost a MacGuffin to provide some motivation. Red Dawn is the cold war made hot--you cannot have Red Dawn without it. Red Dawn was so bold, so exciting, so ridiculous, so Swayze--it made me root for America, made me want to win. Some might pick an "Other" that explores the nuances of the Cold War better, asks us to ponder the ramifications, or casts aspersions on our goals or methods. Pfft. The only room for gray in my cold war is Jennifer Grey. Give me good, bad, and kids shooting RPGs at Russian tanks any day.
Wolverines!
Nick
Seattle
I chose The Atomic Cafe.
I went with other: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. A superb retrospective look at the genre with some added seventies nostalgia. Oh yeah, and an all star cast that was uniformly brilliant.
My gut reaction was to go for The Hunt for Red October, the only movie on this list I've actually seen, but then I saw "other" and then my mind went back to high school when my favorite movie was The Right Stuff, based on the Tom Wolfe book about the beginning of NASA and the Cold War space race. Weird favorite movie for a high schooler, I know, but the unique dialogue, the camaraderie between the characters (against the ruskies, naturally), the wonderment at outer space exploration, and most importantly, the insistence on the skill and humanity of the pilots themselves made me love the movie. I haven't seen it since high school because I had seen the movie so many times that I can still replay the movie and quote it in my head to this day.
Good Night, Good Luck also comes to mind, and my favorite of the Sean Connery era James Bonds: From Russia with Love. But all in all, I gotta go with The Right Stuff.
I opted for other: “Bobby Fischer Against the World”
Carl Reiner, Jonathan Winters, and Alan Arkin in his first major film role for which he won a nomination. This is a comedy film from 1966 with a very big message. A major standoff with guns, evil glares, and a heroic rescue. As the Russian sailors said: Eeeemergenseee! Everyone to get from street!! (See this movie!!)
Wargames.
This was easy easy easy. It MUST be the Manchurian Candidate. Indeed if Dr. Strangelove had been a part of this poll it would have been harder. Not because I think Manchurian Candidate competes overall with Strangelove as a film, I think Manchurian Candidate does catch the paranoia of the height of the Cold War era better in many ways. Strangelove, which I watched again just a few weeks ago, transcends the "Cold War" context and indeed that is what makes it a truly great film. Manchurian Candidate is more closely tied to the historical moment of the Cold War, thus I might (I say, might) consider it over Strangelove in this poll if that movie was here. But as the poll stands . . . there is nothing that comes close to Manchurian Candidate here. I will mention two things out of this truly great thriller to highlight. First, are the two great sequences where we see the brainwashing of the American soldiers (esp. that first 360 degree pan that moves seamlessly between the "garden party" and the meeting of political/military leaders for the demonstration). The surreal combinations of different elements that reflect reality and the brainwashing experience strongly place the viewer in the actual experience of being brainwashed in a way that has never been beaten. When I first saw this film, these sequences took my breath away. The second thing I would highlight in this film is simple: Angela Lansbury. When I first saw this film, I only had one cultural reference for Lansbury . . . which of course was Murder, She Wrote. So to see her in this film was almost unbearably shocking to me. And after exploring other work she has done both before and after this film, I still find this to be the most compelling work she has ever done. She is quite simply the scariest woman in any film ever. She is completely horrible and yet galvanizing in every moment that she is on screen. Of course, the climax of this is when she gives that great (and horrifying) speech to her son when it is revealed that she is the ultimate evil behind this whole Communist plot. She cannot be beat for embodying a cold, unrelenting, and seemingly unstoppable evil. Finally, I will just say that this performance also embodies one is great about the whole film . . . it generally is unrelenting and uncompromising in its dark vision. Therefore, I would say that it makes a nice companion for Dr. Strangelove . . . where Dr. Strangelove presents its dark vision in an absurdist comic light . . . Manchurian Candidate presents a similar kind of vision in a more straightforwardly dark horrible way. One is not necessarily better than the other, as far as approach. As I say, the only think that elevates Dr. Strangelove above Manchurian Candidate is its ability to transcend its historical moment in a way that the Manchurian Candidate does not quite.
Tangentially, how about 'Matinee'?
The minute I heard this poll idea I thought of 'The Manchurian Candidate.' (OK, should have been Dr. Strangelove, but I guess that film is also in my mental pantheon.) Manchurian is also a wicked satire, but more subtle. And the film has as a co-star Sen. Ted Cruz (um ... I mean Joe McCarthy) or is it Donald Trump? A vicious, well-told story. As great as Stranglelove is, it goes massively over the top. Manchurian stays tight to the ground and delivers perfectly. Remake? Why did you try? I cannot be improved.
Spies Like Us
Voted for Manchurian, but forgot about Failsafe - definitely my choice if I'd remembered the title.
Definitely RUSSIA HOUSE (1990, Dir: Fred Schepisi). Sean Connery plays an alcoholic left-wing publisher who hangs out with dissidents in the Soviet Union, including a disillusioned Soviet nuclear physicist (Klaus Maria Brandauer) who claims that the USSR's nuclear arsenal is not as threatening as both sides in the Cold War want to believe. Connery reluctantly agrees to work for MI6 to try to draw information from the physicist while also falling in love with Brandauer's accomplice (Michelle Pfeiffer). This is one of my favorite films of all time. It has wonderful performances by everyone involved; I particularly liked the banter of the MI6 and US bureaucrats who are constantly monitoring Connery (James Fox, Roy Schneider, and KEN RUSSELL of all people) but really have no idea what the hell they're doing. This film really pokes fun at the supposed glamour of espionage and the cold warriors on both sides come off as dangerously stupid.
This is a rare pleasure for me in that I get to stick up for the classic film. Normally I would opt for the more nostalgic pick, meaning one of the movies I actually saw in theaters... But even when faced with a couple of movies I genuinely love (Red October and yes, Rocky IV) I still have to give my vote to the Manchurian Candidate. When my friend put the DVD in I fully expected to see another old and slow black and white film who's charms were lost on me. But Angela Lansbury and Sinatra blew me away and I was forced to admit that people way back in the sixties were every bit as capable as their modern counterparts. In fact, I give the old and slow "lost charm" award to Tinker Tailor. What a snore. I just didn't get it I guess.
I first went with Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy but then switched my vote to Rocky IV. Sure Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is the better film and has some things to say about honor and identity; but it's labyrinthine plot makes it easy to forget whereas Rocky IV has stuck with me...every gloriously hammy and down right stupid moment. It was recently on TV and I told my wife to watch some of it (her having never seen it) I told her it was written by Stallone, she immediately could see what I meant by 'written by Stallone' and found the film bewilderingly funny. Rocky IV took the Rocky formula and went to 11, it remains fist-pumping, hilarious, and most importantly 'Merican!
Does THE THIRD MAN count?
Gotta go with "Other: Fail Safe" on this one.
We're takin the Frabk Sinatra/Angela Lansbury Manchurian Candidate, right? Ever since I saw that movie I've told everyone that I think Frank shot JFK. I mean, if ever there was a dame to kill for, Marilyn would be her.
I'm with Russell. My mind immediately went to The Iron Giant, and maybe that is just because I caught The Signature Edition at my local theater a week ago. A brief anecdote from that experience. The audience in the theater was generally speaking, adults. Yes, there were the 20 somethings like myself who wanted a chance to bask in our childhoods once more, but there were definitely some Baby Boomers, judging by the gray hair. There is a scene where protagonist Hogarth Hughes (Who names their kid Hogarth?) is at school, drawing doodles of the Giant, while his teacher plays an adorable short film about ducking and covering in case of a nuclear attack. The scene drew laughs specifically from the oldest members of the audience which made me aware of just how authentic that scene may have been for them.
The Iron Giant captures the intense fear of a by gone era and packages it up in a film that speaks across generations, or at least that's what my theater going experience would suggest.
The Hunt for Red October is the best listed, but I was really torn between Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, and The Good Shepherd. But with the Tinker Tailor miniseries not eligible it would only be a proxy vote for the movie and The Good Shepherd isn't going to be a favorite. So it's Le Carré's other great spy film that gets my pick.
Fail Safe is my immediate and uncontested choice for this poll. The day my 10th grade history teacher had us watch that film was a pivotal moment in my life- the first in a series of events that steered me towards studying international relations. The way the film commodifies human life is profound; the tension and grief wound around the sterile words of diplomatic exchange is heart wrenching. Obviously, I can't pretend to objectively judge a film that impacted me so deeply, but the enduring sound of the phone line boiling down to a whistle is just good cinema, emotional connection or not.
Also, it would be interesting to know the ages of voters for this poll, just to see whether there is a difference in the choices of listeners who lived through the Cold War and those (like me) who were born to late for it and so don't have any first-hand memories.
Best,
Alyssa Myers
Arlington, VA
I voted Other:The Day the Earth Stood Still. Maybe it's not immediately about the Rooskies, but it's a great Cold War movie
Other:
Spies Like Us
I have to go a completely different direction. All these movies (strangelove excluded) are nearly always about some fringe event of almost escalating the cold war. But any number of silly things could have triggered the cold war to go hot. What I find interesting is the psychology behind the cold war. This concept of mutually assured destruction and the fear driving men to action that are objectively bad for everybody involved. The way good intentions and a will to protect your own bring about catastrophic results.
For that reason (and with strangelove excluded) I have to go a completely different route and chose Watchmen!
You may disqualify this as not being about Russia this much but the movie, superheroes or not, is about the quintessence, the true cold blooded caluculating mindest behind the concept of mutually ensured destruction and one of the if not maybe THE only way to shatter the self destructive spiral the two superpowers have gotten themselves into. It is for me the most honest and most uncompromising movies about human flaws and human fear that brought the world to the brink of destruction.
Discounting it simply because it originates from a comic book or contains people with superpowers would irresponsible and doing the movie a disservice!
@Russell I'm amazed that I forgot to choose 'The Iron Giant'!
I did choose another 'other' though, in that 'Star Trek VI' is also a great example, where "the wall comes down in space".
For another 'other', how about 'Thirteen Days'? It's worth a mention at least.
Though there are many great movies depicting the Cold War, the one I'm going to have to go with is The Iron Giant. A fantastic gem of an animated movie set with the Cold War as an ongoing theme. Under seen upon release, it was my favourite animated movie as a child and remains so today.