The Cold War in Science Fiction Films

Y200 Politics and Film

February 1, 2011

The Cold War in Science Fiction

The Fifties: General dread and anxiety superpower rivalry nuclear arms race

The Sixties: Dr. Strangelove and James Bond

The Seventies: Star Wars and the Terminator

The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)

The earth needs aliens to save it from internal divisions

When the space ship lands, the people of Washington assume it is a Soviet attack

The movie gives a big plug for the UN

Them! (1954)

Giant ants created by mutations caused by exposure to nuclear radiation

Epitomizes the U.S. public’s ignorance about but also concern over nuclear weapons

Kiss Me Deadly (1955)

Mickey Spillane novel with Mike Hammer as macho hero

Girl (Cloris Leachman) steals box with nuclear materials in it

Film ends with nuclear “fire”

The Blob (1958)

Monster is a big red blob from outer space

Blob consumes everything in its path and grows as it eats

Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (1958)

Woman grows to 50 feet after being accidentally exposed to nuclear radiation

She uses her unusual size to take vengeance upon those who have mistreated her

On the Beach (1959)

Gregory Peck is the captain of a submarine that survives a nuclear attack

Despite a love affair in Australia with Ava Gardner, Peck goes back to San Francisco to see if there are any survivors

Dr. No (1962)

First in the James Bond series

Sets the mold for future glamorous spy movies

No direct discussion of Cold War issues

Bond is amoral but not mercenary

Dr. Strangelove (1963)

Soviets set up a “doomsday machine” without telling the US

Crazed general launches attack to prevent corruption of U.S. “bodily fluids”

Both sides unable to prevent disastrous outcome

The Final Scenes

Slim Pickens as Major T.J. “King” Kong riding the warheaddown to its Soviet target.

Star Wars (1977)

Space operas takes the place of horse operas

The evil “Empire” as metaphor for the Soviet Union

Rise of the “brat pack” of directors

WarGames (1983)

First movie dealing with video game culture and hacking

Boy hacks NORAD military gaming computer with nearly disastrous consequences

Terminator (1984)

Begins in postnuclear war future

Terminator robot goes back to the past to kill child who will grow up to fight the robot armies of the future

Boy’s mother successfully protects her son from robot

ConclusionsHollywood films reflect general underlying fears

and anxieties and (with the notable exception of Dr. Strangelove) follow rather than lead public beliefs and myths

The films of the 1960s and 1970s reinforced the “neo-imperialist” zeitgeist in the US

The films of the 1980s reflected a general pessimism about the ability to control the Cold War and the nuclear arms race