{"id":1177,"date":"2014-03-28T12:43:13","date_gmt":"2014-03-28T12:43:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mattwpbs.com\/?p=1177"},"modified":"2014-03-28T12:43:13","modified_gmt":"2014-03-28T12:43:13","slug":"you-can-keep-your-zombie-apocalypse-films","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mattwpbs.com\/?p=1177","title":{"rendered":"You can keep your zombie apocalypse films&#8230;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I&#8217;ll stick to Cold War nuclear apocalypse ones. We&#8217;re talking about something which came very close to happening at times (either through accident or brinksmanship), and which would have been more devastating than the vast majority of hypothetical hordes of shambling undead.<\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s a few of my favourites after the break. Depending on how your mind works you&#8217;ll either find these crushingly depressing, or you&#8217;ll suddenly find that nothing is quite as bad as you thought it was after watching them. One way to really impose scale on day to day struggles.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><strong>THE HOLE IN THE GROUND<\/strong> (1962)<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/aEY886b1P34\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>This early half hour programme is a government feature (I believe) about the UK Warning and Monitoring Organisation. The UKWMO used Royal Observer Corps reports to map fallout predictions and issue warning to the public (&#8220;TOPSPIN! Papa One!&#8221;). The entire tone is very much that it&#8217;s all going to be survivable and okay. World Status: It&#8217;ll be alright in a bit.  <\/p>\n<p><strong>THE WAR GAME<\/strong> (1965)<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/A27WGHBUd5I\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The War Game was filmed in 1965 by Peter Watkins for the BBC, but they weren&#8217;t necessarily that happy with what they got. To quote &#8220;the effect of the film has been judged by the BBC to be too horrifying for the medium of broadcasting&#8221;. At the time there was a degree of naivety about nuclear war, including the idea that it was a war that one side could win. The War Game completely destroys any possibility of continuing to believe that. Looters are shot, the worst injured are shot, towns and cities (Rochester) are destroyed, bodies are burnt en masse, people are shown starving and suffering from extreme post-traumatic shock. It was finally shown in full on TV in 1985. World Status: Utterly doomed. <\/p>\n<p>PROTECT AND SURVIVE (1970s)<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/m6U9T3R3EQg\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>British government public information films about how to survive after a nuclear exchange. Things like building a sofa fort, putting tape on the windows, hiding in a ditch. Things like that. Oh, and how long to leave a dead body before risking fallout and burying it. Normal things. World Status: Perfectly Survivable. Honest.  <\/p>\n<p><strong>SOUND AN ALARM<\/strong> (1971)<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/o3y0WmONP4E\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>This is another half hour short on the WKWMO, produced nearly a decade after The Hole In The Ground. In the nine years between the two even the government films have taken on a darker tone. It still contains the slightly chipper tone at times, but overall it&#8217;s a lot grimmer. World Status: Some songbirds will die, and people will look unkempt. <\/p>\n<p><strong>THE DAY AFTER<\/strong> (1983)<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/YUEINQCKLHc\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Often talked about in the same sentence as Threads, when The Day After was broadcast in the US it was watched by nearly half of the population at the time. Ronald Reagan&#8217;s response on seeing it was that it was &#8220;very effective and left me greatly depressed&#8221;, and was credited with helping to destroy the concept of a &#8216;winnable&#8217; nuclear war among the higher levels of the US Government. <\/p>\n<p><strong>SPECIAL BULLETIN<\/strong> (1983) <\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/NKY-2zkWJuo\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>This one&#8217;s a bit of an oddity. The protagonists aren&#8217;t the Soviets, but a group of domestic American terrorists. Not religious extremists or anything we&#8217;d expect to see nowadays, but a group of peace activist nuclear scientists who want to blackmail the government into unilateral disarmament with a self-built nuclear device. World Status: Tense. <\/p>\n<p><strong>COUNTDOWN TO LOOKING GLASS<\/strong> (1984)<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/knSSUEdLcvg\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Joint American\/Canadian production which has news style segments in it. This War Of The Worlds style docu-drama is repeated quite often in the North American nuclear apocalypse films (Special Bulletin above for example). There&#8217;s tension in the Middle East which leads to a nuclear exchange. World Status: Dubious at the end. <\/p>\n<p><strong>THREADS<\/strong> (1984)<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/5AUYCnzmDJY\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Follows two families and civil infrastructure around Sheffield from just before the nuclear exchange through to ten years later. Society collapses back to close to medieval levels after the exchange, and we see the children grow up nearly unable to speak. World Status: Doomed. <\/p>\n<p><strong>WHEN THE WIND BLOWS<\/strong> (1986) <\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/37124866\" width=\"640\" height=\"465\" frameborder=\"0\" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>You&#8217;ll probably recognise the animation in When The Wind Blows &#8211; it&#8217;s by Raymond Briggs, who&#8217;s work The Snowman was adapted in 1982. The Snowman &#8211; whimsical Christmas standby. When The Wind Blows &#8211; slightly different in tone&#8230; An elderly couple follow the government advice around nuclear war (building a shelter, filling the bath, etc, etc). Their take&#8217;s very much influenced by their experience in the Second World War, and may be a bit too optimistic. It doesn&#8217;t go well. World Status: Doomed. <\/p>\n<p><strong>FAIL SAFE<\/strong> (2000)<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/djqlAT-7be4\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Very recent in comparison to the rest, but well worth a watch. This was a live action TV play in the US, starring George Clooney, Richard Dreyfuss, Harvey Keitel, and Noah Wyle. Lot of plot similarities to Dr Strangelove, but without the comedy elements. World Status: Hopeful, bit doomed. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I&#8217;ll stick to Cold War nuclear apocalypse ones. We&#8217;re talking about something which came very close to happening at times (either through accident or brinksmanship), and which would have been more devastating than the vast majority of hypothetical hordes of shambling undead. Here&#8217;s a few of my favourites after the break. Depending on how your [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1178,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[344],"tags":[757,763,760,761,756,768,765,767,766,762,764,759,758],"class_list":["post-1177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-videos","tag-armageddon","tag-cold-war","tag-countdown-to-looking-glass","tag-fail-safe","tag-nuclear-war","tag-protect-and-survive","tag-sound-an-alarm","tag-special-bullletin","tag-the-day-after","tag-the-hole-in-the-ground","tag-the-war-game","tag-threads","tag-when-the-wind-blows"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/mattwpbs.com\/wpinst\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/00.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pAkBY-iZ","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":18,"url":"https:\/\/mattwpbs.com\/?p=18","url_meta":{"origin":1177,"position":0},"title":"Recent EnglishRussia.com posts.","author":"MattWPBS","date":"March 3, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Just a quick round up of some interesting links from English Russia (a blog all about stuff that happens in Russia). Russian Antarctic Station. Pictures from a Russian research station in the Antarctic, especially like the first picture with the light through the ice. Miss Atomic. A beauty pageant featuring\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":629,"url":"https:\/\/mattwpbs.com\/?p=629","url_meta":{"origin":1177,"position":1},"title":"Christmas, and a trip to Imperial War Museum Duxford","author":"MattWPBS","date":"February 7, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Got a new wide angle lens for Christmas, used it for some photos at home of Christmas lights, and also when I went to the Imperial War Museum at Duxford. 77962779427802078116781747815078298 Christmas photos 77934779547796277950779297794677942779387796677958780127801678020779887800078008779967798477992 Duxford 7800478062780667807078050780427805878046780747803878054781047811678100780927811278128781247812078108780967817478154781827816678162781787814678170781587815078228782207820878204782167821278224782327820078236782827827478294782907825478270782587829878278782867826278266","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Nights&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Nights","link":"https:\/\/mattwpbs.com\/?cat=236"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":293,"url":"https:\/\/mattwpbs.com\/?p=293","url_meta":{"origin":1177,"position":2},"title":"iPlayer: few days of recommendations","author":"MattWPBS","date":"August 10, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Been busy, so it's been a few days since I posted one of these, but there have been some great programmes on recently. Thursday 7th August 15:00: Open Country - WWII Secrets of The Peak District Good programme about what happened in the North during WWII. Some interesting stories. Matt\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;iPlayer Recommendations&quot;","block_context":{"text":"iPlayer Recommendations","link":"https:\/\/mattwpbs.com\/?cat=54"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/media.livenation.co.uk\/fido\/\/publishing\/news\/i\/m\/c\/Radio4-new-logo-with-frequency.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":718,"url":"https:\/\/mattwpbs.com\/?p=718","url_meta":{"origin":1177,"position":3},"title":"Science Museum Lates &#8211; quick try of a Sony RX100","author":"MattWPBS","date":"August 30, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Went up to Science Museum Lates last night. I didn't want to take my full camera or a bag with me, but I didn't want to just use my phone camera either. Borrowed a Sony RX100\u00a0from work, as I've wanted to have a try of one after reading this review\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Various&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Various","link":"https:\/\/mattwpbs.com\/?cat=324"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":415,"url":"https:\/\/mattwpbs.com\/?p=415","url_meta":{"origin":1177,"position":4},"title":"Punk &#8216;n&#8217; Bowl at Bloomsbury Lanes in London","author":"MattWPBS","date":"December 30, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Punk 'n' Bowl at Bloomsbury Lanes in London. Pictures of stuff, people and bands. Regimes, Cold Ones, Bangers, The Shitty Limits, The Arteries. 642536427764329643696437764425 People and stuff. 6424164245642496425364257642616426564269 Regimes 64273642776428164285642896429364216 Cold Ones 64221642256422964233643256432964333643376434164345 Bangers 64349643536435764361643656436964373 The Shitty Limits 64377643816438564389643936439764321644816448564489 The Arteries 644936449764501644256442964433644376444164445644496445364457644616446564469644736447764541645456452964533 Mr Happy. 64537","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Bands&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Bands","link":"https:\/\/mattwpbs.com\/?cat=22"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":672,"url":"https:\/\/mattwpbs.com\/?p=672","url_meta":{"origin":1177,"position":5},"title":"MEGAFEST XXI at the Green Door Store in Brighton","author":"MattWPBS","date":"August 31, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"MEGAFEST XXI, featuring Abandon Ship, Turn Cold, The Permanent, Amateur Video, Moat and Andy Devine and the Rough Sex. 27th August 2011. Photos, and then video of Abandon Ship when I tied my camera to a pipe. 808858094480992810398115781184 \u00a0 Andy Devine and the Rough Sex 80904808928088980885808958091380907809018091680898809108094780965809598095080938 \u00a0 Moat 8096280941809448095680953809778098680968 \u00a0\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Abandon Ship\"","block_context":{"text":"Abandon Ship","link":"https:\/\/mattwpbs.com\/?tag=abandon-ship"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mattwpbs.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1177","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mattwpbs.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mattwpbs.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mattwpbs.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mattwpbs.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1177"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mattwpbs.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1177\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1181,"href":"https:\/\/mattwpbs.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1177\/revisions\/1181"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mattwpbs.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1178"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mattwpbs.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mattwpbs.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mattwpbs.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}