Masterful Movie

Best movie ever!

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

A renegade USAF general, Lawrence Dell (Burt Lancaster) and his band (Paul Winfield , Burt Young , William Smith) , escape from a military prison and take over an ICBM silo near Montana . They have invaded Silo 3 and are prepared to launch nine nuclear missiles . Head saboteur General Lawrence threatens to provoke World War 3 unless the government and President of the United States (Charles Durning , though Paul Newman was offered the role , but turned it down) carry out their conditions , as they demand the followings : ¨Ten million dollars , Air Force One (it was only painted on one side) and you Mr President¨ as he must reveal details of a secret meeting and confess the Vietnam policies and crimes . Thrilling film about nuclear threatening that contains noisy action , suspense , intrigue , thrills and being pretty entertaining . One of the very few films made in the late 1970's to be shown with an intermission and an extended use of split screens functioning to a large degree in tightening the intrigue . The movie's weakest point is the television style and some ridiculous dialogues as when an enemy appears and Paul Winfield tells ¨Perhaps he might be a midget¨and Lancaster responds : ¨There are no midgets in the United States Air Force¨. Based on a novel by Walter Wager titled ¨Viper three¨ with interesting screenplay from Ronald M. Cohen and Edward Huebsch . The secret policy is closely based on the 1957 book "Nuclear Weapons and Foreign Policy" by Henry Kissinger, in which the future Secretary of State outlines a strategy committing the US to promoting regional conflicts to deter the Soviets' initiating full-scale war. Top-notch acting by Lancaster as a thinking madman who holds America to ransom by kidnapping atomic missiles . Burt Lancaster initially turned the script down when he was first approached about the project, but eventually agreed to do it after Robert Aldrich became attached to the picture. This is Burt Lancaster's fourth collaboration with director Robert Aldrich, after Apache (1954), Veracruz (1954) and Ulzana's raid (1972). Very good support cast such as Roscoe Lee Browne as James Forrest , Joseph Cotten as Secretary of State , Melvyn Douglas as Zachariah Guthrie , Richard Jaeckel as Capt. Stanford , William Marshall as Attorney General , Gerald S. O'Loughlin as Brig. Gen. O'Rourke , Richard Widmark as Gen. Martin and final film of Charles McGraw , Lionel Murton and Leif Erickson . Atmospheric cinematography by Robert Hauser , all of the scenes were shot with two cameras running . Thrilling and suspenseful musical score by the master Jerry Goldsmith . The motion picture was professionally directed by Robert Aldrich , he even turned down a large salary and a 10% profit stake in ¨A bridge too far¨1977) in order to make this film and he finished the film ten days ahead of schedule . Here Robert Aldrich gave a tense and brilliant direction . Aldrich began writing and directing for TV series in the early 1950s, and directed his first feature in 1953 (Big Leaguer ,1953). Soon thereafter he established his own production company and produced most of his own films, collaborating in the writing of many of them . Directed in a considerable plethora of genres but almost all of his films contained a subversive undertone . He was an expert on warlike (Dirty Dozen , The Angry Hills , Attack , Ten seconds to hell) and Western (The Frisko kid , Ulzana's raid, Apache , Veracruz , The last sunset) . Rating : acceptable and decent movie , it's a must see for Burt Lancaster fans .

Like it or not this film _IS_ flamingly left wing. To the point of fault. It's of the category of many late 70s-early 80s left-wing, revisionist-history fair like The China Syndrome or The Day After. The old-school movie studio system was finally torn down completely and the inmates got to run the asylum for awhile.That being said, this film is an OK little thriller. Lancaster delivers the goods (despite B-list costars like Burt Young) as does the rest of the veteran all-star cast. May entertain up to a young-adult audience of today. This is about all the 'reviewing' this movie deserves.The problem is the film looks, and is, ridiculously dated. And it has very lofty and (at the time) very sincere moral ambitions, but with hindsight it all just comes off as being, well, silly. The Vietnam War was a very complicated affair, but this film simply pigeonholes it as just another govt 'cover-up' ala Watergate. Many reviewers describe it as a "catharsis" for those who opposed the War, but that's an incredible insult to themselves. It's like comparing the TV series M*A*S*H to the real Korean conflict: Its overly simplistic, inaccurate, and at times, idiotic! What was once an ambitious, seemingly edgy political thriller comes off today as a cheesy TV-movie. Its overwrought and originally serious pathos now appears as nothing more than bad scenery-chewing.On a technical note, the film's mid-way climax where an ICBM launch is first initiated then aborted, is nonsense. There would be absolutely no way what-so-ever to abort a launch like that. The silo covers don't open slowly, they're shot open in less than a second by explosive means. And regardless of whether they're supposed to be liquid or solid-fueled ICBMs they're lifted out of the silos by their rocket motors, hence they can't be stopped. It's a key moment of the film that's also a complete fabrication.If you want some lightweight fare, watch it for what it's worth. But don't debate its lofty ambitions, you just embarrass yourself.

I 'm going to counterbalance the previous two reviews. The only reason it's considered "absurdist left-wing" fodder, is that the two reviewers still didn't understand the hatred of that war – of course being divided into this left wing-right wing B.S. wedge that the 2 term administration has firmly slammed into the American Consciousness. The original reviewer doesn't realize that several Vietnam Vets overran the Pentagon, went to Washington D.C. and literally threw their medals. This was a film, that was a catharsis for many overwhelming numbers of PEOPLE THAT ACTUALLY FOUGHT THE WAR experienced.The movie is a cat and mouse thriller with Burt Lancaster demanding attention from the White House by controlling a missle silo/bunker complex. As a former Air Force General with high security clearance, he knows how to complete the mission. The film is a study on why a decorated General threatens to start WW III.On the opposite side of the fence lies the President, played by Charles Durning whose aim is to stop him. The supporting actors are outstanding on all accounts, Richard Widmark, Paul Winfield, Burt Young, Melvin Douglas, to name a few. The actors making up the presidents cabinet are outstanding. The cabinet/advisors must decide- is the General a mad man or can he pull off his threat of missle launch. What is his agenda? The ending is a shocking, uncompromising statement on what happens in a political chess match. The military adviser tells the president, the buck stops here.... you are responsible, even for past transgressions from a previous presidency. I like the fact that a military person says " our way of life can survive the truth."

This is one of the few films I saw in its original release in the theater where the audience actually applauded at the end. Burt Lancaster and Richard Widmark were excellent, and the cast of actors is incredible. The film uses an innovative split screen effect throughout. The viewer sees what is transpiring in two, three and even four places simultaneously. This heightens the suspense, as we see approaching threats that the characters cannot. Lancaster's Dell character is superb. He basically dominates the entire film, if one can believe how he got stuck in prison in the first place. The end shocked most in the theater, but one can see it coming and understand that it could really happen, under the circumstances. Another governmental cover-up.I'm not sure if it is a spoiler, so I checked the box, just in case.