The Atomic Age of the 1950s and beyond was, and to some extent still is, a period fraught with fear and uncertainty. As nuclear technology advanced, so did the public's anxiety about its potential destructive power. These attitudes found expression in many movies from the time, from cautionary tales of nuclear war to pulpy sci-fi about radioactive monsters. Watching these films now can provide an intriguing glimpse into the mindset of another time while also shedding light on the nuclear tensions of the present day.
10 'Them!' (1954)
Directed by Gordon Douglas
Image via Warner Bros.
"When Man entered the atomic age, he opened a door into a new world." This sci-fi creature feature was one of the very first movies to depict monsters that had been mutated by nuclear radiation andthe pioneering "big bug" movie. In this case, the creatures are ants that become gigantic and destructive, laying waste to New Mexico while the army desperately tries to contain them. Overall, this is a silly sci-fi B-movie, complete with dodgy special effects, but solid for its time.
Director Gordon Douglas heightens the suspense by presenting the movie in a quasi-documentary format, which proves to be quite effective. The film's brisk pacing—clocking in at a concise 94 minutes—helps to keep the audience engaged. In short,Them! was ahead of the curve in terms of taking real-life atomic anxieties and transforming them into genre entertainment.Here, the true threat is found in the nuclear tests in the desert that spawned the killer ants to begin with.
9 'The War Game' (1966)
Directed by Peter Watkins
"I believe in a system of necessary law and order. And I still believe in the war of the just." The War Game is a pseudo-documentary that depicts the aftermath of a nuclear strike in the United Kingdom. Presented in a realistic, newsreel style, the film simulates a scenario where the Soviet Union launches nuclear missiles in response to tensions over Berlin. The devastation is depicted with stark, unflinching realism, showing how the blast annihilates cities, incinerates civilians, and plunges the survivors into chaos.
Worse than the nuclear fallout itself is the pandemonium that follows. Emergency services are quickly overwhelmed by the sheer number of casualties, while the survivors must contend with looting and widespread radiation sickness. The War Game's realism is in service to a political message, with the filmmakers criticizing governments and leaders with eager nuclear trigger fingers. The War Game was banned by the BBC for some time because it was too disturbing, and it retains much of its power today.
"I don't care about the rest of the world." Another path-breaking '50s sci-fi film, The Day the Earth Stood Still introduces viewers to the alien Klaatu (Michael Rennie), who arrives on Earth accompanied by his powerful robot, Gort (Lock Martin), to deliver a critical message to humanity. Klaatu's mission is to warn the people of Earth that their aggressive tendencies and development of nuclear weapons pose a threat not only to themselves but to other civilizations in the galaxy.
Upon landing in Washington, D.C., Klaatu is met with hostility from everyone except a young widow (Patricia Neal) and her son (Billy Gray), who help him understand the potential for human kindness and reason. There are Biblical allusions aplenty here, with Klaatu's travails and unheeded warnings closely mirroring the story of Jesus. In particular, The Day the Earth Stood Still stands out by portraying the alien as the moral, rational one, whereas humanity is the destructive force.
"Lot's wife was turned into a pillar of salt. Whoever opens this box will be turned into brimstone and ashes." Kiss Me Deadly is a gritty noir detective movie that weaves a tale of intrigue and danger against a backdrop of nuclear paranoia. It's about Mike Hammer (Ralph Meeker), a private investigator who finds himself embroiled in a bizarre case of kidnapping, torturing, and murder. His investigation leads him to a mysterious suitcase that seems to contain a deadly radioactive substance rumored to be linked to a powerful nuclear weapon.
Kiss Me Deadly is a fantastic melding of noir tropes and realistic science fiction, told with an abundance of style. In this regard, Kiss Me Deadly has been described as a forerunner to the French New Wave. Thematically, the movie critiques the morality of its era, painting a damning portrait of American society in the '50s. Interesting bit of trivia: Kiss Me Deadly's central, glowing suitcase inspired the famous MacGuffin from Pulp Fiction.
"It wouldn't be my fault if it was an order." Ladybug Ladybug follows a group of schoolchildren sent home after a nuclear attack warning alarm goes off. As the students make their way home, panic and confusion set in, fueled by the teachers' uncertainty and society's fears. The film poignantly explores how these young minds grapple with the possibility of nuclear annihilation, portraying the children's conversations and actions as a reflection of the adults' anxieties surrounding the Cold War.
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poignantly explores how these young minds grapple with the possibility of nuclear annihilation.
Director Frank Perry takes a minimalist approach, focusing on the emotional responses of the children rather than on the spectacle of destruction. This restraint gives the movie a more subtle and poignant feel, which hits differently than, say, The War Game. The drama takes place on a localized rather than international level. For example, a key scene involves the characters deciding on who is and is not allowed inside a bomb shelter. Ladybug Ladybug verges on melodrama at times, but its comment about governments using fear as a means of control is timeless and urgent.
Directed by Jayne Loader, Kevin Rafferty, and Pierce Rafferty
"When not close enough to be killed, the atomic bomb is one of the most beautiful sights in the world." The Atomic Cafe is a fantastic documentary that compiles archival footage to illustrate the absurdity and horror of America's nuclear obsession during the Cold War. Specifically, the film uses government propaganda films, newsreels, and educational videos from the 1940s and 1950s to depict the surreal ways in which the U.S. government attempted to normalize the threat of nuclear war.
The filmmakers assemble their films from a truly impressive wealth of source material. They also deserve kudos for eschewing voice-over and instead allowing the visuals to do the talking. Even without narration, the film's ironic and satirical tone bleeds through, resulting in a unique movie that is both funny and unsettling. For example, the clips of safety drills encouraging people to take cover under desks during a nuclear strike are thoroughly absurd. The Atomic Cafe is a masterpiece, one of the best documents of a surreal period in history.
"The connections that make society strong also make it vulnerable." Threads is similar to The War Game in that it also depicts a nuclear strike on the United Kingdom, this time in color and through superior visual effects. The film begins with rising tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union, escalating into a full-blown nuclear exchange. When the bombs hit Sheffield, a northern English city, the impact was devastating.
The immediate aftermath shows fires, chaos, and widespread death, but Threads doesn't stop there. It continues to depict the long-term consequences — radioactive fallout, nuclear winter, societal collapse, and the breakdown of law and order. Threads pulls no punches, showing devastated streets littered with smoldering corpses. Watching the film, one is brought face-to-face with the realities of what a nuclear exchange would really mean: there will be no winners in an atomic war. Threads is thus a nightmare made real, a chilling cautionary tale and a war movie viewers will only want to watch once.
"We've got 32 targets on track and 10 impacting points." Yet another entry in the "depiction of nuclear Armageddon" subgenre, The Day After is a TV movie that shows a nuclear attack upon the United States, centering on several characters in small-town Kansas. The initial scenes show their everyday lives, creating a sense of normalcy that is brutally shattered when the bombs fall. The explosion scenes are harrowing, with blinding flashes of light, deafening noise, and massive destruction.
The Day After
's apocalyptic vision clearly resonated, as more than 100 million people watched it during its initial broadcast.
As with Threads, The Day After makes it clear that no one would get out of such a situation unscathed. Its apocalyptic vision clearly resonated, as more than 100 million people watched it during its initial broadcast. The film had a global impact, affecting attitudes among the public and policymakers. For example, The Day After supposedly influencedRonald Reagan's decision to sign a treaty with the Soviet Union, reducing both countries' nuclear stockpiles.
"We human beings are weak creatures." Them! might have been the first movie about irradiated monsters, beating out Godzilla by several months, but the latter had the bigger impact, reshaping creature features forever and almost single-handedly establishing the kaiju genre. The film introduces the legendary and enduring Godzilla, a gigantic, prehistoric creature awakened and mutated by nuclear testing in the Pacific. As Godzilla makes his way to Tokyo, he leaves a trail of destruction, symbolizing the uncontrollable power of nuclear weapons.
Godzilla is also more notable than its American counterparts because it was made by Japan, the only country for whom the effects of an atomic bomb are not theoretical. The visuals look very dated now, of course, but Godzilla is still impressive in its fusion of genre entertainment and a sharp social message. The power of this recipe is undimmed today, with last year's Godzilla Minus One drawing big audiences all over the world.
1 'Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb' (1964)
Directed by Stanley Kubrick
Image via Columbia Pictures
"Deterrence is the art of producing in the mind of the enemy the fear to attack." When it comes to the best films about atomic age anxiety, none can top Stanley Kubrick's acerbic black comedy. Dr. Strangelove sets its satirical sights on nuclear warfare and Cold War politics, mocking everyone ruthlessly. The plot unfolds in three main locations: the War Room, where political and military leaders scramble to prevent a nuclear catastrophe; a U.S. Air Force base under siege; and a B-52 bomber en route to deliver its deadly payload.
The themes are sophisticated, but Dr. Strangelove fundamentally works because it's so funny. The hilarious and iconic Peter Sellers, in particular, turns in bravura comedic performances across multiple roles, from the President of the United States to the titular scientist. In one hilarious slip-up, Strangelove responds to the President with, "Ja, mein Fuhrer!" Overall, Dr. Strangelove is a spectacular takedown of its era's sacred cows, cutting its targets down to size in a way that has arguably never been surpassed on film.
Image Via Warner Bros
Image via Warner Bros. 
Image via 20th Century Studios 
Image via United Artists 
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Image Via Toho 
Image via Columbia Pictures 
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