I like Bigelow movies and this one was no exception. It does have that semi-annoying "same time period from different perspectives" thing, but it was still good.

Except the end. The end sucked. IYKYK.

I just finished watching it. I thought it was outstanding - except - I agree completely with AllenInAR. The ending really leaves you hanging. However it still earns a recommendation from me. For the older guys here the movie can be compared to FAIL SAFE, but updated to today. Definitely worth your time.

I was expecting more from it. Started fast forwarding towards the end because it felt redundant. Its good but after the second skip to another angle I knew how it was going to end.

I wanted to, but little bits caught me (like the helicopter "OMG!" chatter) that got addressed in later bits (in that example, the SECDEF).

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The ending really leaves you hanging.

That's for sure. I was totally surprised when the credits began running as I was expecting another flashback or new chapter.

I found the ending at that time to be very effective after thinking about it as the credits ran. The viewer had all the relevant information about circumstances leading up to the end point and was left to construct their own scenario of what would/could happen next based on their worldview and knowledge of human behavior.

Sure glad I'll never have to make a decision like that. Any of us here can analyze the facts and I suspect most, if not all, of us will come to the same conclusion:

Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

I read this thread before watching the movie and was still shocked when it ended.

I thought it was well done and the acting was good. Once I got the format, I understood the dialog from the different perspectives and that makes me want to watch it again.

As for the ending, I'd rather have it spelled out for me. I prefer a complete story, whether I agree with the ending or not. It's thought provoking, but it leaves me less satisfied.

I watched it last night and the first segment was really good but beyond that it was a total bummer. There was no closure of any kind unless there is a sequel in the works.

i fully agree with 6guns POV.

I enjoy Bigelow’s movies in general. She’s fine in my book.

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I enjoy movies and shows portraying the steps leading up to launching our missiles…War Games, The Day After, The Sum of All Fears, Paradise (Hulu series), Terminator 3 (to a lesser extent). Even the Hollywood version of what happens is interesting to watch…who is attacking or posing a threat, are our systems showing reality, reactions as Defcon levels change, the personnel just doing their jobs while wondering ‘is this really it?’.

I enjoyed this movie and thought the cast did a good job. I really wish they would have at least revealed more where in the heck the ICBM come from!

Thinking on it, had they revealed who launched it, that would have taken away the whole question of how does the U.S. respond.

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I enjoyed this movie and thought the cast did a good job. I really wish they would have at least revealed more where in the heck the ICBM come from!

And that’s the part of the movie I’m struggling with. I thought the NSA had satellite technology that could read the expiration date on your sunscreen bottle. Suddenly this ICBM just *appears? That aspect is key to American response to the attack. Does the U.S. hit everybody? Nobody? I’m more bothered by that more than the abrupt ending.

When watching the third viewpoint from POTUS’s perspective, as the Lt Cdr flipped through the binder and it showed huge swaths of maps covered in red I was wondering that too. Like, how cold would you have to be to hit the big reset button without knowing who fired?? A near-impossible decision for all but the scummiest politicians.

I didn't care for this film at all. I think it's a shame to even mention this in the same breath as the masterpiece film, Failsafe.

Despite the stacked cast, it felt like a TV movie to me. And I'm no expert on these matters, but it seems to me that the ordinance experts could figure out where the single missile came from after the attack and then the U.S. could retaliate. It didn't make sense to me that we would attack the entire world (shotgunning) in the hopes we got the right attacker(s).

Also, now that I think of it, since it was just one missile, why didn't the Alaska site send up more than two anti-missiles, since everybody seemed to know the chances of success were just a little better than 50-50? It seems to me that would have been the time to try to shotgun down that one missile with multiple anti-missiles.

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Originally posted by M'headSig:
Also, now that I think of it, since it was just one missile, why didn't the Alaska site send up more than two anti-missiles, since everybody seemed to know the chances of success were just a little better than 50-50? It seems to me that would have been the time to try to shotgun down that one missile with multiple anti-missiles.

That question was asked in the movie and the response was that they only had 50 (or so) interceptors in the entire arsenal. More may have been needed for further ICBMs and they didn’t want to blow their wad on the first missile.

I did not care for the ending. Wife laughed at how pissed I was at it.

Read this thread and still watched knowing the ending would blow. Movie wasn’t bad until the end, it’s like they ran out of money and finished the movie early. Wasn’t the worst waste of time, but I wouldn’t feel left out or disappointed if I never watched it.

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Wasn’t the worst waste of time, but I wouldn’t feel left out or disappointed if I never watched it.

Yeah, you can say that now...

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Originally posted by M'headSig:

Despite the stacked cast, it felt like a TV movie to me.

Speaking of TV movies, anyone remember "The Day After" from the 80s?
That's my favorite nuclear war picture. I saw it as a kid and it scared the heck out of me.

^^^^^^^^

I have it on DVD! Great movie, and I particularly like how it portrays life after being hit by nukes. It isn’t funny, but I still chuckle when the farmers get together and realize how inadequate the prep manuals were for making fields usable again.