# Cold War Movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 3, 2004, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-war-movies/232321 "2004-03-03T15:55:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-war-movies/232321/21 "2004-03-04T12:08:45Z")
If we’d like to blow up the world: _Threads The Day After_ The Emmy Award winning miniseries: _Amerika_ Ok, _Amerika_ didn’t win an Emmy. It would still be nice to see it again as a relic of that era. ---
**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:** [March 4, 2004, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-war-movies/232321/22 "2004-03-04T12:21:15Z")
I bring you my very own cold war movie thread, [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=214881). ---
**Author:** ![3Much](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/4af34b/32.png) [@3Much](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3Much)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-war-movies/232321/23 "2004-03-04T12:31:16Z")
> [@](#): > > One Two Three (Pepsi plus communists from Godlike Billly Wilder, pretty damn funny) One of my favorites as well, but it was Coke, not Pepsi. **Miracle** , the new movie with Kurt Russell plays on all those old Cold War feelings pretty well, so I’ll throw that one into the mix. ---
**Author:** ![widdershins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f0a364/32.png) [@widdershins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/widdershins)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2004, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-war-movies/232321/24 "2004-03-04T22:10:55Z")
_Twilight’s Last Gleaming_ - late 70s thriller about a renegade general (Burt Lancaster) who tries to blackmail the US government into releasing secret Vietnam War documents by taking over a nuclear missile silo, knowing that launching the the missile will provoke war with Russia. A decent movie at best, but the use of splitscreen and rapid edits during part of the film is noteworthy. _Gorky Park_ - more of a murder mystery with a Cold War backdrop in Soviet-era Moscow. Was considered unique when first released. _The President’s Analyst_ - starring James Coburn, but a smarter, funnier film than the two Derrick Flint films. Spies, psychoanalysis, rock ‘n’ roll hippies, Reagan Democrats (before the term existed), paranoia, race relations, and the telephone company. Hard to dislike a film that includes a line like, “Ha! I was right! They’re all spies and I’m not crazy!” _Winter Kills_ - an underrated gem of a dark comedy playing of the theories surrounding the Kennedy Assassination. I’ve begun to refer to it a a conspiracy theorist wet dream. Based on a novel by _Manchurian Candidate_ author William Condon. _Executive Action_ - kind of the precursor of _JFK_ made in 1973 by famous Hollywood lefties Burt Lancaster, Robert Ryan, and Will Geer. _Big Jim McLain_ - HUAC agents John Wayne and James Arness beating up commies in Hawaii. _The Green Berets_ - the John Wayne “masterpiece” of flagwaving jingoism, screwed up geography, and extreme violence all with a G-rating when first released. What the hell were they thinking? _Our Man in Havana_ - a subtle comedy based on the Graham Greene novel. the British miniseries adaption John Le Carre’s _A Perfect Spy_. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2004, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-war-movies/232321/25 "2004-03-06T04:54:36Z")
Try these: _The Day the Earth Caught Fire_ (not to be confused with the Day the Earth Stood Still) and _Panic in Year Zero_. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Long\_Road](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5a626/32.png) [@The\_Long\_Road](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Long_Road)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2004, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-war-movies/232321/26 "2004-03-06T06:28:03Z")
Miracle Mile ---
**Author:** ![widdershins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f0a364/32.png) [@widdershins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/widdershins)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2004, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-war-movies/232321/27 "2004-03-06T15:54:56Z")
I caught _Panic in the Year Zero_ on AMC one morning about a month ago. I was surprised how effective it was despite the low budget, stiff characterization of the female characters, and being very dated. Even Frankie Avalon managed to hold his own as an actor in this one. A pleasant little surprise of a film. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2004, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-war-movies/232321/28 "2004-03-06T16:59:03Z")
I can’t believe no one has mentioned **Rocky IV**!! ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2004, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-war-movies/232321/29 "2004-03-06T17:09:00Z")
Also: **Rambo III** - Stallone goes to Afghanistan and fights alongside the noble (ahem) Mujahadeen against the Russians. **Moscow on the Hudson** - Robin Williams as a defecting saxophonist. **Stripes** - We inadvertently invade Czeckoslovakia! **The Unbearable Lightness of Being** - The Prague Spring from the inside. **Volunteers** - Tom Hanks, Cold War hijinks in SE Asia. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2004, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-war-movies/232321/30 "2004-03-06T17:12:48Z")
Oh yeah, and as for science fiction, **War of the Worlds** definitely has a Cold War vibe. Well-meaning peaceniks get _blasted_!!! Gird your loins, and prepare for battle! ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2004, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-war-movies/232321/31 "2004-03-06T17:28:05Z")
**2010** ---
**Author:** ![Patr100](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@Patr100](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patr100)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2004, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-war-movies/232321/32 "2004-03-06T17:36:43Z")
On Sci fi the one that came to my mind was Colossus: The Forbin Project. ---
**Author:** ![detop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@detop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/detop)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2004, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-war-movies/232321/33 "2004-03-06T18:50:03Z")
> [@spoke-](#): > > Also: > > **Rambo III** - Stallone goes to Afghanistan and fights alongside the noble (ahem) Mujahadeen against the Russians. Which reminded me of another movie set in Afghanistan : **The Beast** , the story of a tank crew and of the Mujahadeen who attacks it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-war-movies/232321.md?page=1)