Film On The Beach

August 1945 brought not only the surrender of Japan, but also the start of an arms race that was crucial in the Cold War. In 1949, the Soviet Union ended the United States nuclear monopoly, and the U.S was not prepared for this (Holloway, P. 384). It was not the quantity of nuclear weapons that caused concern; it was the vast increase in their destructive power as the hydrogen bomb replaced the atomic bomb, and missiles fired across continents replaced bombs dropped by planes. Using (and developing) nuclear weapons came with a great responsibility that was not to be taken lightly. During 1955-1958 President Eisenhower had a decision to make whether to use nuclear weapons in Taiwan. Eisenhower was aware of the consequences of using this tactic …show more content…
The director has filmed this scene without sound or any music in a way to give the audience that feeling of being completely alone as the rest of the world is slowly dying off from radiation poisoning. Overall the film On the Beach reminds the audience of how precious human existence is and the importance of the little moments with family and loved ones. (My personal opinion) the director stimulated the controversial facts of the Cold War to the American people and the results if they didn’t act …show more content…
In Fail Safe, Americans focus on the malfunction of machines ordering bombers to attack Moscow, but don’t have the ability to call them back due to Soviets technology jamming. This is an interesting play on how technological developments in both nations lead to the start of a misunderstanding and the beginning of very difficult choices made by the Americans in order to avoid the malfunction from being a war. The United States President in the film is forced to reason with the Soviets that the bomber flying in is not a planned attack but a complete