Anonymous wrote:I let the credits roll after watching and there were eery explosion sounds.

In that last scene with evacuees entering Raven Rock, there were two large chem trails streaking across the sky.

I hated the ending. We’re supposed to believe that there is high drama in the choice between the President pushing the Big Red Button at T-2 minutes before impact vs. T+2 minutes after impact. Obviously you wait and see if there is an impact at that point. One nuke in Chicago would have zero impact on our second strike capability.

I let the credits roll after watching and there were eery explosion sounds.

The last time I saw a film with that kind of ending was in France, a French film (no longer remember the title). The final scene cut to text: "Sans fin."

Gee, thanks. A giant cop-out. I need resolution.

Anonymous wrote:I read that the 60% success rate is fact. It literally is a coin toss.

When it has 60% success rate, you need to shoot more than 2. I thought that was dumb. Also the officer who carried the nuclear football, dont they use wrist chain?? I thought it was okay. Young Deputy NSA actor was not believable

Anonymous wrote:I work in this field and was pretty underwhelmed. There are a lot of experts oohing and awwing about how realistic some of the scenes were - that's great. But retelling the same developments from multiple perspectives got old and the lack of a clearly defined outcome was frustrating. Also, GMAFB at the premise that a single missile, payload unknown, would have forced a do-or-die decision within 20ish minutes on whether and how the USG responds.

I did at first think the idea we’d retaliate without a known aggressor absurd, BUT then I remembered the argument that we needed to ‘project strength after an attack’ is the same one that was used to justify randomly invading Iraq after 9/11 so I guess it’s not so absurd after all .. I do agree they made the ‘minutes to decide’ factor for purely dramatic effect

The more I thought about it, the more I liked the ending. Yes, as PP said, the movie was about the process. Showing the impact/result would only distract from the film's purpose.

More than that, though, I think my take away was that there is no option that would avoid catastrophe. For that reason, I found it actually a bit comforting-- Doesn't matter that Trump and Hegseth are morons, since even a competent and wise president probably couldn't save us.

I work in this field and was pretty underwhelmed. There are a lot of experts oohing and awwing about how realistic some of the scenes were - that's great. But retelling the same developments from multiple perspectives got old and the lack of a clearly defined outcome was frustrating. Also, GMAFB at the premise that a single missile, payload unknown, would have forced a do-or-die decision within 20ish minutes on whether and how the USG responds.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It was very well edited. The young staff gave me pause, lol. And the lollygagging when there were literally minutes to do anything. Like launch more kill vehicles!

The end was unsatisfying.

The best moments were the dad on the phone with DD...that smile.

Jared Harris's face is incredible. So much emotion in microexpressions!

He's one of my favorite actors. There's something about him that just elicits such strong empathy toward his characters. Loved him in Chernobyl and The Terror.

Wow I too thought this movie was so well done. I’m now interested in watching Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty.

I was ok with the ending and agree with pp that the minute to minute process was the point.

Anyone else surprised/not surprised that the President’s nuclear decision options were kept in a three ring binder with the paper protectors - probably some highlighting and post-it notes in that binder.

I guess if there’s a massive cyber attack, the three ring binder is critical.

Anonymous wrote:The multiple viewpoints of the same event were well done.

It was satisfyingly technical, which I love.

But there was no end! And I get that this is a dissection of people's reactions before the actual outcome, so the outcome is in itself not the goal of the story, but still! Very frustrating!

The emphasis was on the decision PROCESS. The human element. How messy it is, with so much incomplete information.

They wanted us to see and consider that.

So we can change what makes us uncomfortable, while there is still time.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I liked it too. I’m hoping that some dcumers with more knowledge about this stuff can speak to it. Also Idris for President.

He has my vote!

I know you don't mean this, but he's not American.

Yeah - everyone knows this. I am in favor of a constitutional amendment allowing him to be President.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I liked it too. I’m hoping that some dcumers with more knowledge about this stuff can speak to it. Also Idris for President.

He has my vote!

I know you don't mean this, but he's not American.

Yeah - everyone knows this. I am in favor of a constitutional amendment allowing him to be President.

Anonymous wrote:We watched it this weekend. Super frustrated with the ending. The rest of it seems totally plausible.

I think the ending is intentionally ambiguous and leaves it up to the viewer to decide. It would be too easy to show a bomb going off.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It was very well edited. The young staff gave me pause, lol. And the lollygagging when there were literally minutes to do anything. Like launch more kill vehicles!

The end was unsatisfying.

The best moments were the dad on the phone with DD...that smile.

Spoilers






IMO the ending suggests Chicago was indeed hit. Anna Clarke is seen with her son going to Raven Rock, which is an hour from Gettysburg. She wouldn't have made it there in time from Gettysburg before it detonated.

Yes, I noticed this as well. Was this perhaps after the detonation?

They showed the FEMA woman getting to Raven Rock as well but she wouldn't have been able to get there from DC in 18 minutes, right? I assumed all the people they showed were getting there after the detonation (assuming there was a detonation).