Coming to DVD next Tuesday, November 23: COUNTDOWN TO ZERO
Lucy Walker’s second of two docs premiering at this year’s Sundance had a limited theatrical release in the middle of the summer via Magnolia.
Less artful than Walker’s previous films (like WASTE LAND), COUNTDOWN TO ZERO nonetheless succeeds in drawing much-needed attention to an issue with global significance – the possibility of nuclear disaster. Investigating the present-day status of nuclear weapons, for the most part removed from the public consciousness once the USSR fell, Walker lets those in the know remind us exactly what’s at stake were something to go wrong – an accident or a use of the weapons during even a limited range war. Balancing this wake up call, and preventing it from becoming just an exercise in scaring the viewer, is the message that something can be done by world governments to make the chance of a nuclear armageddon much more unlikely. Sobering, and worth a look.
what (not) to doc 