On the Beach (2000) (TV)

Calificación de los usuarios:

6.9/10   

Director:

Russell Mulcahy

Escritores (WGA):

Nevil Shute (novel)
John Paxton (1959 screenplay)

Fecha de Lanzamiento:

28 mayo 2000 (USA)

Género:

Drama | Ciencia-Ficción

Plot:

Well, the world has finally managed to blow itself up. Only Australia has been spared from nuclear destruction...

Plot Keywords:

Australia | Breeze | Remake | Nuclear War | Fictional War

Premios:

Nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Another 7 wins & 5 nominations

Comentarios de los usuarios:

Excellent, but probably the most depressing movie I've ever seen!

Reparto

Armand Assante	...	Cmdr. Dwight Towers
Rachel Ward	...	Moira Davidson
Bryan Brown	...	Dr. Julian Osborne
Jacqueline McKenzie	...	Mary Davidson Holmes
Grant Bowler	...	Lt. Peter Holmes
Allison Webber	...	Jenny Holmes
Tieghan Webber	...	Jenny Holmes
Steve Bastoni	...	First Officer Neil Hirsch
David Ross Paterson	...	Chief Wawrzeniak (as David Paterson)
Kevin Copeland	...	Sonarman Bobby Swain
Todd MacDonald	...	Radioman Giles
Joe Petruzzi	...	Lt. Tony Garcia
Craig Beamer	...	Crewman Reid
Jonathan Oldham	...	Crewman Parsons
Trent Huen	...	Crewman Samuel Huynh

También conocida como:

En la playa (Spain) [es]

Duración:

195 min | 60 min (3 episodes)

País:

Australia | USA

Idioma:

Inglés

Color:

Color

Relación de Aspecto:

1.85 : 1

Clasificación:

Australia:MA

Locaciones de Filmación:

Flinders Street, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Compañía:

Coote Hayes Productions

Trivialidades:

The Los Angeles class submarine in this movie uses a "caterpillar" (silent) drive as was used by the Soviet submarine Red October in The Hunt for Red October (1990).

Errores:

Continuidad: When the Sub crew first arrive in Melbourne there's a building that has a hole in it and is burning inside, but later on in the movie at the train station you can see the same building in the background without a scratch on it.

Citas:

Cmdr. Dwight Towers: I carried warheads on my boat. That is correct. I was damn proud of it too. I served my country the best way I know how. And the only question I ask myself these days and I'm asking it every single millisecond now whatever the hell's left of what I've got...

Conexiones de Película:

Remake of On the Beach (1959)

Banda de Sonido:

In the Mood

Excellent, but probably the most depressing movie I've ever seen!

Nightmares are very personal things. Probably because I was in the military at a time when nuclear war seemed more probable than it does now I occasionally had nightmares involving nuclear weapons - the end of all things I hold dear. Regardless of what that says about me, it is a problem that has not been resolved with the end of the Cold War.

I had read some negative reviews about Showtime's remake of the classic picture, so I wasn't sure it was worth watching. That was a mistake as large as the one that frames "On the Beach." This version far surpasses the original in presentation, depth of character, and, of course, effects.

Quite simply, "On the Beach" is the story of the crew of the last surviving American submarine, an Australian Naval officer, and that officer's wife and friends. A nuclear holocaust has created a cloud of radioactive dust that destroyed all life in the Northern hemisphere and is gradually making its way south. Worse, the Australian survivors have a good idea of when the radioactivity will arrive and kill them. When it does, humanity, and presumably most other life, will vanish from the planet. We may as well not have existed.

I've felt up until now that the 1959 classic with Gregory Peck and Ava Gardner was the most depressing film ever made. However, director Russell Mulcahy and an excellent cast including Armande Assante, Rachel Ward, and Grant Bowler make the 1959 version seem stilted and pale by comparison. This remake - perhaps reinterpretation is a better word - gives the characters a depth that now seems missing in the original film. Commander Towers displays an increasing disorientation as the film progresses. Moira has more to her character than that of a lush. And Lt. Holmes is clearly not happy about the time spent away from his wife who, in this version, better illuminates her increasing disconnection from the real world.

Still, I find one thing missing from both films. Dylan Thomas exhorted us not to go gently into that good night. Yet Australians and Americans - at least those in Alaska - seem to have no trouble taking suicide pills (with injections for pets and children - seems like it should have been the other way around.) There is a great ethical issue in taking the pills and injections that is not explored in either version, and yet what deserves more ethical and moral debate than whether it is human, in the best sense of the term, to slip silently and uncomplainingly from life? Aside from the insanity of humanity eliminating all higher life on the planet, this lack of exploration of ethical issues is the point that most bothered me about "On the Beach."

I've not read the book so I can't comment on which picture is closer to it. I will say that I think the ending of the newer version seemed at odds with Towers' character - perhaps it was merely a fantasy of Moira while she was dying, or perhaps a critical scene was deleted for timing. I hope it was not just the tendency of modern film makers to sweeten the ending! The earlier movie is much more consistent with Dwight Power's character.

So. This is a movie well worth three hours of your life. Aside from occasional histrionics from Julian Osborne in both versions, it presents people going about their lives as best they can. You are left to decide the meaning behind it, as we always are as individuals. There are no simple answers here, and even the questions the movie raises aren't simple.

The movie will leave you depressed. That shows you're thinking. Perhaps there's no solution to the conundrum of stellar forces, chemicals, and biologics available as weapons. Some serious thinkers have postulated that the reason we don't receive any radio signals from others in the galaxy is that civilizations reach a certain level, and then, when they have learned to unleash powers far above what evolution trained them to comprehend, destroy themselves.

It's a serious thought and a serious movie. I recommend it highly. A solid 9+ from me.