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Men In Black 3

It’s not a sequel that needed to be made, but thanks to the charm of its leads and a tone that harks back to the wit and humour of the original, it’s a pretty enjoyable trip.

Bel Ami

The excellent female support cast saves this patchy effort, which is let down by its leading man and a flat screenplay.

The Dictator

A disappointing, often repulsive and mean-spirited mess of a film with seemingly only one real criterion on its agenda: to shock and offend.

The Woman In Black

Packed with atmosphere, this old-fashioned but deftly told ghost story delivers ample chills and thrills.

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Countdown To Zero (Film)

by Emmet O’Cuana | February 08, 2011 15:39 | Edited February 08, 2011 15:42

This skilfully compiled documentary presents a balanced but compelling voice in what is becoming an urgent discussion.

Inspired by the success of An Inconvenient Truth, writer/director Lucy Walker (Waste Land) has tackled yet another subject of global importance with Countdown to Zero - the threat posed by the proliferation of nuclear weapons.

 

Walker assembles an impressive list of interviews with former heads of state and scientists to discuss the possibility of a nuclear incident facing the world today. Archive footage of military bombardment, explosions caused by human error, as well as conventional terrorist attacks is utilised to give urgent force to the documentary's argument - that nuclear disarmament is essential for the survival of the human race.

 

Countdown to Zero identifies the risk of a terrorist incident as coming from three separate sources - the theft of a functioning bomb, the purchase of a bomb on the black market, or the construction of a bomb. One of the most chilling statements made is that, were a terrorist group to acquire a fully functional bomb, it would be easier to smuggle the weapon through a US port than a so-called ‘dirty bomb'.

 

Throughout the documentary, Walker cuts to a series of satellite images of cities across the world, with a halo overlay showing the radius of a nuclear explosion. It is made clear that this is an issue of global concern and only through a united approach can the world avoid a future nuclear arms race between multiple nations, as well as more destructive acts of terrorism.

 

The film does not rely purely on scaremongering, with solutions offered to facilitate disarmament. Countdown to Zero gives a necessary breakdown of the dangers, while at the same time remaining admirably non-partisan politically. This is an informed and impassioned discussion of the nuclear debate.