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Countdown to Zero
Countdown to Zero Image
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Metascore
70 out of 100

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

User Score
6.5 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 11 Ratings

Your Score
10 out of 10
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  • 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

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 20 out of 26
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 26
  3. Negative: 0 out of 26
  1. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Owen Gleiberman
    91
    Countdown to Zero makes old terrors radioactively new again.
  2. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Kenneth Turan
    90
    Inspired in part by the success of "An Inconvenient Truth," the makers of Countdown to Zero are determined to mobilize public opinion to zero out the world's nuclear arsenal. We all should be rooting for their success, because failure would leave no one left to mourn our mistakes.
  3. Empire
    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

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 6
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 6
  3. Negative: 2 out of 6
  1. byzan
    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
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  2. shaunmed
    9
    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
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  3. Ransack
    0
    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
    • 0 of 3 users said yes

See all 6 User Reviews

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