On the Beach (1959)
Runtime: 2 hrs 19 mins
Synopsis: After the entire Northern Hemisphere is destroyed by a nuclear war, a group of survivors in Australia prepare for their own inevitable demise. As a deadly cloud of radiation creeps toward the continent, some survivors cling to hopes that life as they know it has continued somewhere, hopes... After the entire Northern Hemisphere is destroyed by a nuclear war, a group of survivors in Australia prepare for their own inevitable demise. As a deadly cloud of radiation creeps toward the continent, some survivors cling to hopes that life as they know it has continued somewhere, hopes that are fed by the discovery of a mysterious, erratic radio signal emanating from San Diego. Others, such as Astaire's sardonic, race-car driving physicist and Gardner's world-weary, tippling party girl, throw their energies into squeezing the last drops from their lives. A grim, unflinching clarion call for sanity that inches along at a maddeningly deliberate and suspenseful pace. Based on the novel by Nevil Shute. Academy Award Nominations: 2, Best Editing (Frederic Knudtson) and Best Score (Ernest Gold). [More]
Genre: Dramas
Starring: Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Fred Astaire, Anthony Perkins, Donna Anderson
Screenwriter: John Paxton, Jim Barrett
Producer: Stanley Kramer
Composer: Ernest Gold
DVD Info
Release:
Feb 29, 2000
DVD Features:
- Region 1
- Keep Case
- Widescreen
- Theatrical Trailer
- Collectible Booklet
Buy It On DVD
Reviews
Gloomy doomsday film that is more talky, melodramatic and numbing than imaginative.
While heartbreaking and touching, it's hard to imagine that riots aren't rampant and that martial law isn't required, but hey, it's a movie, and quite a good -- if overlong -- one, at that.
Fine photography, but the script is a typically numbing affair, and the cast, aside from Peck and Meillon, seem totally out of their depth.
O cenário apocalíptico continua assustador, mas o tom inadequadamente leve de algumas cenas e a péssima trilha sonora (indicada ao Oscar!) comprometem o resultado final.
The great merit of this picture, aside from its entertaining qualities, is the fact that it carries a passionate conviction that man is worth saving, after all.

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