# Cold War movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 2, 2003, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-war-movies/205089 "2003-10-02T09:45:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![green\_bladder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@green\_bladder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/green_bladder)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-war-movies/205089/1 "2003-10-02T09:45:21Z")
Besides the brilliant _Dr. Strangelove_, can anyone recommend a good movie focused around the Cold War? ---
**Author:** ![Herge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@Herge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Herge)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-war-movies/205089/2 "2003-10-02T10:41:16Z")
Well, The Majestic was set in the early fifties and the plot revolves around the communist which hunts of the time. It stars Jim Cary as a film writer who is accused of peddling communist ideology in his scripts, so they blacklist him. Its quite a good film aswell. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-war-movies/205089/3 "2003-10-02T11:01:42Z")
_Gorky Park_. In fact, any John LeCarré adaptations. ---
**Author:** ![Cerri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3bc359/32.png) [@Cerri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cerri)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-war-movies/205089/4 "2003-10-02T11:30:00Z")
I always liked White Nights, with Mikhail Baryshnikov, Gregory Hines and Isabella Rossellini’s American film debut. ---
**Author:** ![slortar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@slortar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slortar)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-war-movies/205089/5 "2003-10-02T12:25:37Z")
_The Manchurian_ is a favorite of mine. Very tense little movie. You’ll never look at Angela Lansbury the same way again. Frightening woman. ---
**Author:** ![slortar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@slortar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slortar)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-war-movies/205089/6 "2003-10-02T12:28:21Z")
Erg. _The Manchurian Candidate_, I mean. Damn these capitalist running dog fingers of mine… ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-war-movies/205089/7 "2003-10-02T12:33:37Z")
_Gotcha_ with Anthony Edwards. Oh, wait, you said _good_ movie… ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-war-movies/205089/8 "2003-10-02T13:44:11Z")
As **jjimm** noted, any of the LeCarre adaptations, but especially _The Spy Who Came in From the Cold_, with Richard Burton and Claire Bloom. Burton is remarkable as a burnt-out agent. _The Ipcress File_. A terrific adaptation of Len Deighton’s novel, with Michael Caine’s as a spot-on Harry Palmer. _Fail-Safe_. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-war-movies/205089/9 "2003-10-02T14:47:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Labdad \* > _Fail-Safe_. \*\* My absolute favorite. ---
**Author:** ![green\_bladder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@green\_bladder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/green_bladder)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-war-movies/205089/10 "2003-10-02T15:14:10Z")
Thanks for the suggestions. The plot outline for _Fail-safe_ in particular looks really good, and it seems familiar to me… perhaps I watched it as a kid. **slortar** - a search on imdb reveals that another version of _The Manchurian Candidate_ is in production at the moment. What about _Thirteen Days_? Anyone recommend watching this? ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-war-movies/205089/11 "2003-10-02T15:32:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by green\_bladder \* > \*\*What about _Thirteen Days_? Anyone recommend watching this? \*\* Blech. I heard the working title was _Kevin Costner saves the World_. ---
**Author:** ![Kaspar\_Hauser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b3f665/32.png) [@Kaspar\_Hauser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaspar_Hauser)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-war-movies/205089/12 "2003-10-02T15:36:19Z")
_Thirteen Days_ was pretty good. The guys who played the Kennedy brothers made the movie. If you can get past Kevin Costner’s atrocious Diamond Joe Quimby accent, it’s worth seeing. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-war-movies/205089/13 "2003-10-02T16:26:17Z")
There’s also the criminally overlooked _The Bedford Incident_, which came out at the same time as _Fail-Safe_. It’s a somewhat more realistic portrayal of how we could have come to war in that era. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-war-movies/205089/14 "2003-10-02T16:37:21Z")
_Thirteen Days_ is superb. And let’s not forget _War Games!_ How about a nice game of chess? No, I’d like to play global thermonuclear war, please. ---
**Author:** ![Skip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@Skip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skip)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-war-movies/205089/15 "2003-10-02T16:46:14Z")
Would _Wargames_ count? ---
**Author:** ![herman\_and\_bill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f1d935/32.png) [@herman\_and\_bill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/herman_and_bill)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-war-movies/205089/16 "2003-10-02T16:57:42Z")
“Ice Station Zebra” is one of mine ---
**Author:** ![slortar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@slortar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slortar)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-war-movies/205089/17 "2003-10-02T18:41:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by green\_bladder \* > \*\* > > **slortar** - a search on imdb reveals that another version of _The Manchurian Candidate_ is in production at the moment. > > \*\* Interesting. At least it’s not Michael Bay or something. I’m not sure what they can gain by remaking it, because the movie holds up pretty well as it is…oh, right…it’s in b&w. For some reason people can’t handle that these days… ☹ ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-war-movies/205089/18 "2003-10-02T20:06:40Z")
What? Nobody’s mentioned \* Red Dawn \* yet? That was one of my all-time favorite movies when it came out… I think I was 14 or 15 at the time. Not terribly realistic, but fun anyway! ---
**Author:** ![andymurph64](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e57/32.png) [@andymurph64](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andymurph64)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-war-movies/205089/19 "2003-10-02T20:30:50Z")
13 days in May? An old B&W movie about a general planning a military coup. I thought that was pretty good. How about the one where an American destroyer and a Soviet sub dance around each other. The American captain was determined to expose the soviet sub for its entering restricted water and a ?military reporter? questions his actions. Wish I could remember names. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-war-movies/205089/20 "2003-10-02T20:32:56Z")
What about _Red Dawn?_ The one with the band of high-school students fighting the invading Soviets who’ve taken over the United States? No, wait, you said **good** movie, never mind. 😃 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-war-movies/205089.md?page=2)