I saw this film on MST3K, which is going to probably be the only way to find some enjoyment out of a U.S. propaganda movie from the old Cold War days. I am rather sure that even if you lived during that time though you would find little enjoyment out of this film which basically uses scare tactics to ramp up the Soviet threat to the United States. Throw in a pointless spy who infiltrates Russia and a couple of other padding devices and you still barely have enough present to call it a movie.
The story has the Russians launching Sputnik and the U.S. in a panic! The United States sends in a top spy to infiltrate Russia and try to find out just how close they are to launching an attack on the United States. He falls in love with his contact in what amounts to a pointless padding plot point and fails miserably in destroying the Russian missile as he is a bit too worried about his own safety...should of made that thing go off sooner you idiot. We go back to the U.S. for a couple of really pointless plot points before the missile attack is imminent!
It made for a good MST3K episode in spots; however, it was not one of the funnier episodes. It had moments where the film lagged a bit too much and there was just not enough fodder for the guys to jump on. The acting was stale and the plot slow so it did not have a lot going on which does not help the guys' riffing. It is not a bad episode either as there are area where they are giving enough material to shine!
So this film is not really all that good...it is serious to the point of being droll and annoying. It is not like you cannot have fun with the subject, look at Stanly Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove. It goes by at a snail's pace and the only way this film seems to be even watchable is with the MST3K gang. If they wanted to make a propaganda piece ditch most of the plot and just show New York getting hit, as generating fear is what this thing was all about. Instead they generated boredom which probably put everyone to sleep before the bomb even hit...
The story has the Russians launching Sputnik and the U.S. in a panic! The United States sends in a top spy to infiltrate Russia and try to find out just how close they are to launching an attack on the United States. He falls in love with his contact in what amounts to a pointless padding plot point and fails miserably in destroying the Russian missile as he is a bit too worried about his own safety...should of made that thing go off sooner you idiot. We go back to the U.S. for a couple of really pointless plot points before the missile attack is imminent!
It made for a good MST3K episode in spots; however, it was not one of the funnier episodes. It had moments where the film lagged a bit too much and there was just not enough fodder for the guys to jump on. The acting was stale and the plot slow so it did not have a lot going on which does not help the guys' riffing. It is not a bad episode either as there are area where they are giving enough material to shine!
So this film is not really all that good...it is serious to the point of being droll and annoying. It is not like you cannot have fun with the subject, look at Stanly Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove. It goes by at a snail's pace and the only way this film seems to be even watchable is with the MST3K gang. If they wanted to make a propaganda piece ditch most of the plot and just show New York getting hit, as generating fear is what this thing was all about. Instead they generated boredom which probably put everyone to sleep before the bomb even hit...