But will today's audience get it?

Rating: Null/10 (17 January 2001)

I was 8 years old when the Missle Crisis prevailed over the nation. The mood of immediate adults and what was on the tube influenced even now my impressions of the time(s). This film, in my opinion, captured that mood/attitude/state. Frankly, I am surprised that the film didn't leave the circuit one week after hitting it. The majority of persons in the showing I saw were my age or older- and I'd be willing to bet that, while each and every one of them are aware this was a actual occurrence under the administration of the last leader to sit in the White House, the primary reason for seeing the film was for a reminder of just that- when the nation had leadership and that same nation relied carte blanche on that guidance.
The bulk of the dialog in this film is based on actual transcripts, and it serves well to pace the film. Costner may be THE big name and he does as a good a job as he ever has, but truth be known- his character in the real events had virtually no input or involvement. Here the screenwriter and director take an Oliver Stone approach and effectively combine a lot of other "players" words [which is not at all bad filmmaking if done respectfully) and have them being spoken by Costner. No matter- the essence of the events are here, the immediacy and frailty of the players is very apparent and the certainty of just how close we came to the brink will, unless you are simply numb, gather you into the "action". I am sure there will be viewers, asking the same thing I disgustingly heard when viewing "Apollo 13" for the first time- "Did this really happen?" I admit severe bias about JFK and his times- but I can only say that seeing this film for the younger set could allow them to understand greatness of mere humans. And it could be a manual for studying how to deal with the next instance of human threats to the entire planet.