Movie Review: POGO staffers take a break to Countdown to Zero
Last Friday, Ingrid, Peter, and I got to attend one of the first showings of Countdown to Zero, a documentary about the dangers of nuclear weapons in the post-Cold War era. The film uses interviews with experts on nuclear weapons and proliferation, street polls with citizens, and terrifying imagery and anecdotes to send a strong and controversial message: the only way to ensure safety from nuclear weapons is to wipe them off the face of the earth.
The movie functioned like an excellent piece of propaganda. A good portion of the movie was filled with clips of nuclear explosions, deaths, and widespread destruction put together in such a way as to scare the audience into believing the film’s message. Even with the drama, however, the film made some great points about the dangers and risks associated with nuclear weapons, particularly those from terrorists and other non-governmental groups or individuals that can easily get hold of the materials used to make bombs. One expert told a story about how someone literally walked through a gaping hole around a fence in a nuclear complex in Russia, broke into a toolshed, and stole several grams of uranium. Another talked about how nuclear weapons being transported in planes sometimes come loose and fall out, posing huge dangers to the unsuspecting people below it. This has happened several times, including once over South Carolina.
While I enjoyed the movie overall, my one problem with it was that it was very one-sided. It did a good job of emphasizing how dangerous nuclear weapons were; however, it would have been nice to hear an expert or two discussing the balance-of-power politics and other forces that make international cooperation on issues such as disarmament difficult. It also surprised me that, given the emphasis on how easy it was to steal Uranium, the film didn’t talk more about specific security problems at the labs and how to remedy them, as POGO has in its work on Los Alamos and other nuclear sites
After the movie, I had the chance to have a chat with Ingrid and Peter, who were able to give a lot more interesting background and depth to fill out the things I learned in the movie. To hear what they had to say, check out POGO’s latest podcast.
— Rick D’Amato
