La bombe

Just watched this for the first time, having heard and read much about it. It's still powerful stuff, and for 1966 this must have been particularly strong. The British Film Institute have just released this on DVD including an interesting documentary about the BBC's banning of the film, and a copy of Watkins' earlier film 'Diary of an unknown soldier'. Good stuff.

...saw THE WAR GAME last year and I really enjoyed it... Just caught it on DVD and I can't help but wonder if scenes were cut out of the DVD as I remembered it to be much much longer!?!?

Anyway I digress

I brilliant film made by the BBC which was banned for many years because of the fact it was too real... In most cases it's re-released because films from the 60's tend to date somewhat compared to modern cinema standards. But the War Game is still as hard hitting as it was the day the BBC decided they couldn't put it on television.

Some truely horrible scenes involving the collapse of the nation when bombed by the enemy

For what it set out to do.

10/10

'The War Game' is a fascinating and deeply disturbing documentary which dramatizes what might happen in the event of a nuclear strike. Of course in many ways it is dated but I still think its central message is as powerful and as frightening as ever. It was banned (either officially or non-officially, there is some debate) by the BBC for many years, and it's no wonder. The film is political dynamite. This is not a film you would choose to watch for entertainment, but I highly recommend it to anyone who is willing to look at something confrontational and REAL. The Cold War is long over but the threat of nuclear annihilation remains, and therefore 'The War Game' still deserves to be seen by a mass audience before it's too late.

The War Game (1965) was a TV movie funded by the BBC. Peter Watkins gave them a movie that probably caused the hair on the necks of the BBC's standards and practices department to stand on end. Mr. Watkins paints a grim and bleak outlook for humanity if there ever was a nuclear conflict. Based on data from the hellish bombings of Dresden, Berlin, Tokyo, the atomic bombings of Hiroshima & Nagasaki and nuclear testing information from the U.S .Government (among his painstaking research and sources) shows the utter devastation that even a small exchange of missiles would bring upon his homeland. The acting is top notch (using a cast of unknowns) and the F/X were quite up to par (making the best out of the small budget). Even though the subject matter is dark and bitter, The War Game is a compelling watch and I highly recommended it for everyone.

I saw The War Game thanks to my local branch of CND in 1979 when they showed it in a hall in our town. My mum was vehemently anti-communist so I had to sneak out to see it. The local paper kicked up at 14-year olds being encouraged to see an 'X' film. Was it worth the fuss? Yes, without a doubt. I had already seen Watkin's definitive 'Culloden' earlier that year and was bowled over by the documentary style applied to a drama, but The War Game surpassed even that. I will never forget the scenes of the helmeted English bobbies shooting people in the head to put them out of their misery, or the bucket full of wedding rings or most of all, the line of kids being asked what they wanted to be when they grew up and the replies of 'nuffink.'

For me, that summed up the futility of war, nuclear or otherwise.

'Threads' is good, but 'The War Game' is still the best portrayal of a nuclear attack on Britain ever made. It should be shown more often.