If You Love This Planet

This documentary, an Oscar-winning production of the National Film Board of Canada, is an extremely good, if clearly biased, look at the dismal prospects of nuclear arms. Let me state here that, while I share those biases, I think that it is necessary to admit that, throughout, worst-case scenarios are discussed, even though 1) they weren't most likely scenarios and 2) even most likely scenarios are scary. The effects of a bomb blast will be catastrophic. This was like gilding a lily! I personally think that they didn't have to engage in the overkill they went to here. But I salute their efforts nonetheless and may we never see a mushroom cloud outside of a piece of film ever again!

I definitely agree with the comment posted above. A good description of the film. Yes, Caldicott does explain the absolute worst case scenario of nuclear-war, from the environmental consequences, the biological outcomes and the absolute physical destruction that would arise. She does not hold back and shares all of the gruesome and realistic details in the outcome of a nuclear war. However, we need to remember that this was shot in 1982, at the height of the cold war. The outcomes she discusses are all factual and possible outcomes of nuclear war. This movie touched me, even though I was not even born at the time. It instilled a feeling of shock and dismay over nuclear-armament.

I understand the 1st British showing of this film was at the RENOIR London WC1 on the 13th April 2008.It is remarkable that it won an "Oscar"The film is short and to the point and I found it very moving even though it was made over 25 years ago,the use of historical film is well done and includes some of President Ragan when he was a film actor during W.W.11,the faces of the young people listening are priceless.Through out Dr.Helen Caldicott put across the truth about the use of Nuclear Weapons and using drawings at the end is very powerful.Well worth seeing but please remember there is sad and moving film of people damaged by Nuclear Weapons.

Dr. Helen Caldicott is one of the most renowned individuals in the world. She founded Physicians for Social Responsibility to protest nuclear weapons. We've loosely heard about the risks of nuclear war as well as the potential effects of nuclear fallout. But you can't understand the sheer horror of it until you hear Caldicott describe it. The main thing that she makes clear in the Academy Award-winning "If You Love This Planet" is that there would be no winner in a nuclear war, just a dead planet and people slowly dying of radiation poisoning. She noted that there was the chance that we weren't going to make it to 1990 due to the high number of nuclear weapons in existence.

While we made it past that year, and both the US and post-Soviet Russia have decreased their stockpiles, other countries have developed nuclear weapons. I recently saw a photograph of an anti-nuclear protest at which people held up signs saying NUCLEAR-ARMED -- BE ALARMED, showing the faces of Donald Trump (United States), Theresa May (United Kingdom), Emmanuel Macron (France), Vladimir Putin (Russia), Benjamin Netanyahu (Israel), Nawaz Sharif (Pakistan), Narendra Modi (India), Xi Jinping (China) and Kim Jong-un (North Korea).* These countries have the means to bring about the end of civilization as we know it. Indeed, a recent alert in Hawaii mistakenly said that there was about to be a nuclear attack.

Everyone should see this documentary. One thing that I would like to see would be a debate between Helen Caldicott and climatologist James Hansen, whose studies the Bush administration censored. They have taken opposing positions on whether nuclear energy contributes to global warming - she says yes, he says no - so I'd like to hear a debate between them.

*For the record, the only country that developed a nuclear weapons program but then abolished it entirely is South Africa, in which the apartheid government developed nuclear weapons but the post-apartheid government dismantled them.

Made amidst the first term of Ronald Reagan's US Presidency, this short documentary uses some clips of his wartime propaganda feature "Jap Zero" (1943) along with some devastatingly effective archive to illustrate a lecture from Dr. Helen Caldicott. She's an Australian paediatrician who is using her time at the podium to warn of the dangers of nuclear proliferation by pointing out some of the medical issues any use of these weapons might cause. The death toll in Hiroshima and Nagasaki is proof of the sheer destructive capability of these devices that can wipe out huge swathes of living things whilst leaving any survivors severely burned and unlikely to receive adequate medical attention from an equally decimated profession now devoid of staff and facilities. The imagery is potent but her accompanying diatribe is much less so. She really does lecture her, admittedly captivated, audience. Not that this is exactly a laughing matter, but she does rather pontificate at us rather than carry us along with her. She frequently cites her reference sources and recent surveys selected, it seemed, to support her position rather than promote any discussion of the political and military realities that prevailed at the height of the Cold War. It's the imagery on screen that we see that pulls no punches. Her tones are at times rather patronising and her school-mistress style of handing-down the gospel according to Dr. Caldicott did start to grate as she continued for just a bit too long. Yes it's a serious issue, none more so, but to engage an audience you have to make them feel invested in your ideals, your language, and your personality - a bit of charisma never goes amiss. I just didn't feel she did that here and there are way more striking demonstrations of the horror of atomic warfare to be found in cinema than this.