Countdown to Zero (2010)
Average Rating: 6.7/10
Reviews Counted: 85
Fresh: 69 | Rotten: 16
No consensus yet.
Average Rating: 7.1/10
Critic Reviews: 26
Fresh: 22 | Rotten: 4
No consensus yet.
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Average Rating: 3.7/5
User Ratings: 2,287
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Movie Info
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 Devil's Playground, Blindsight), the film features an array of important international statesmen,
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All Critics (88) | Top Critics (27) | Fresh (70) | Rotten (16) | DVD (2)
Comes loaded with a relatively big budget and a line-up of talking heads more powerful than a meeting of the Bilderberg Group.
Top CriticLike the ongoing threat itself, Countdown is simply numbing.
Countdown to Zero may not be the most fun you'll have in the movies this year, but it is absolutely mandatory viewing.
Made-up horror movies have nothing on Countdown to Zero.
The news is ugly. The film is often gorgeous and wields a cumulative power to humanize potential devastation.
A bluntly effective media campaign as opposed to a well-articulated documentary.
A whirlwind tour of human failure ...
Lucy Walker's chilling documentary serves as a reminder that the threat of a nuclear bomb going off somewhere in the world to devastating effect has not diminished just because it has slipped from the public consciousness.
Skilfully crafted and smoothly assembled...
An urgent wake-up call.
We've gone backwards rather than forwards. To watch a film such as this is to shudder all over again.
The film's most sobering fact: any world leader has a maximum of 10 seconds to decide to retaliate in the event of a nuclear attack.
The threat of nuclear disaster is clear and present according to this documentary. Yet its argument that Armageddon is right around the corner is as terrifying as milk.
The chilling and highly informative film shows how perilously close we are to nuclear catastrophe, either via terrorism, Dr Strangelove-style cock-up or simple accident.
Screamingly urgent and contemporary.
Countdown to Zero leaves you uneasy enough about the threat from nukes, but also amazed that to date, at least, no blunder has ended in annihilation.
This campaigning documentary offers a sobering warning that the possibility of nuclear destruction is still very much with us.
A worthy, important effort - but not a great one.
A 91-minute warning to give this generation something to worry about.
Audience Reviews for Countdown to Zero
Nate's Grade: B
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In a nutshell, the film argues that building a nuclear bomb is relatively easy, although it doesn`t tell us how to do that - for obvious reasons. What is needed is a lot of uranium or plutonium, a substance that is rather difficult to obtain. Investigating further, the film reveals that much uranium has nevertheless fallen into the wrong hands, and several nations have been able to obtain nuclear weapons, either by stealing them, finding missing nuclear warheads (yes, this has happened), or building them with obtained uranium. Frightening scenes emerge in a particular sequence that describes just what would happen if a nuclear bomb were to detonate in a major city. Not only that, several past instances are revealed where all out nuclear war was a minute`s decision away from occurring, many of these instances reminiscent of the Stanley Kubrick war film Dr. Strangelove.
Given the material that Countdown to Zero presents, this would have been a great 45 minute documentary that would have had me worried for the future, and anxious to make a difference. But the film is actually twice that length, and instead left me confused, wondering how much of the movie was made out of sheer concern for the survival of our species, and how much of it was incessant fear mongering.