The War Game (1965)

Director:

Peter Watkins

Writer:

Peter Watkins (writer)

Release Date:

7 February 1967 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary | Drama | Sci-Fi | War

Tagline:

BBC TV's film about a nuclear attack on Britain directed by Peter Watkins

Plot:

The War Game is a fictional, worst-case-scenario docu-drama about nuclear war and its aftermath in and around a typical English city...

Plot Keywords:

Nuclear Attack | Nuclear War | Riot | Radiation | Radioactive

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 4 wins

Cast

Michael Aspel	...	Commentator
Peter Graham	...	Commentator
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Kathy Staff	...	Interviewee (uncredited)
Peter Watkins	...	Documentist (uncredited)

Directed by
Peter Watkins

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Peter Watkins		writer

Produced by
Peter Watkins	....	producer

Cinematography by
Peter Bartlett
Peter Suschitzky

Film Editing by
Michael Bradsell

Costume Design by
Vanessa Clarke

Makeup Department
Lilias Munro	....	makeup artist

Sound Department
Lou Hanks	....	sound
Stan Morcom	....	sound (as Stanley Morcom)
Derek Williams	....	sound

Other crew
Tony Cornell	....	design
Anne Davey	....	design
Peter Norton	....	production assistant
Derek Ware	....	action sequences

Production Companies

• British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Distributors

• Kamras Film Agency (1968) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Project X Distribution (2006) (Canada) (DVD)
• Project X Distribution (2006) (USA) (DVD)

Also Known As:

After the Bomb (UK) (working title)

Runtime:

48 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:X (original rating) | France:-12 | UK:12 (2002) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Canterbury, Kent, England, UK

Company:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Trivia:

After it had won an Oscar for Documentary Feature, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences changed their rules regarding eligibility for this category.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 50 Greatest Documentaries (2005) (TV)

Please see this film!!!

The War Game is one of the most amazing films I have ever seen. It's a pseudo-documentary made in 1965, about the possible effects of a nuclear attack on Great Britain. The director's premise is that Britain (and indeed the world) is hopelessly unprepared for such a thing. Some classic scenes: befuddled Brits receiving civil defence booklets. Blank stares greeting the interviewer when he asks Brits on the street about radioactive fallout. The footage is all made to look horribly real. Some of it looks a little hokey - the use of a shaky camera to simulate a desperate ground battle stands out - but there are also very convincing scenes of firestorms raging out of control, sucking the oxygen out of the air for blocks around. Also, incredible scenes of radiation burn victims, food riots, police polishing off the near dead, etc... The killer part is at the end - an interview with some young blast victims will haunt you for a long time.

"Do you know what Strontium-90 is, and what it does to the human body???"