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Generally favorable reviews - based on 26 Critics What's this?

User Score

Generally favorable reviews- based on 15 Ratings

  • Summary: Countdown to Zero traces the history of the atomic bomb from its origins to the present state of global affairs: nine nations possessing nuclear weapons capabilities with others racing to join them, with the world held in a delicate balance that could be shattered by an act of terrorism, failed diplomacy, or a simple accident. Written and directed by acclaimed documentarian Lucy Walker, the film features an array of important international statesmen, including President Jimmy Carter, Mikhail Gorbachev, Pervez Musharraf and Tony Blair. It makes a compelling case for worldwide nuclear disarmament, an issue more topical than ever with the Obama administration working to revive this goal today. (Magnolia Pictures) Expand
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 20 out of 26
  2. Negative: 0 out of 26
  1. Countdown to Zero makes old terrors radioactively new again.
  2. Walker integrates stranger-on-the-street testimony to further her general vibe of ignorance, thus pinpointing the true target of an agitated doc--our own blithe apathy.
  3. There are suggestions to help us sleep more easily, but the point is to wake us up.
  4. Reviewed by: David Hughes
    Jun 20, 2011
    60
    Walker was Oscar nominated for Waste Land this year, and while this occasionally unfocused doc doesn't hit those heights, it's still a valuable and scary film that should be seen.

See all 26 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 7
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 7
  3. Negative: 2 out of 7
  1. 10
    This was a documentary deals with the danger of atomic weapons, I would highly recommend it might not be a documentary worth of ten but at least it does a good job at proving its point, which is as long as we have atomic weapons, sooner or later, for one reason or another one is going to detonate. And in the world we live in more and more nations are seeking them, and the more nation have it the bigger are the chances of being used, and if one uses them they start a chain reaction and before you know it is MAD (mutually assured destruction) Expand
  2. This movie will shock you. It becomes evident after seeing it that it is really only a matter of time before the wrong people get their hands on fissile material. I really don't understand the negative reviews because the movie doesn't try to prove anything. It just shows how much uranium/ plutonium is out there and reviews well documented occurrences which it's nearly fallen into the wrong hands. Expand
  3. The film makers don't try to disguise their disarmament agenda behind this picture, nor should they. It's eye-opening and upsetting but the mood is often positive and encouraging, as though this is still a threat but it's a threat that we're gradually moving away from through diligence and knowledge. Recommended viewing for everyone! Expand
  4. The people in this movie should be arrested for delivering this movie. Much of this movie is a lie if you ask me, nothing wrong will go with our nukes, I mean come on, do they really want us to follow along for attention like An Inconvenient Truth and Food Inc.? Expand

See all 7 User Reviews

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