On the Beach - Tow Jockey Five Second Review

A nuclear war has destroyed the Northern Hemisphere. The residents of Melbourne Australia wait for the creeping cloud of radiation that will kill them all to arrive. The movie reflects the fear of the age in which is was made, 1959, but the movie retains its power and relevance because it is about how people deal with catastrophic disaster more than the disaster itself. Some give in to debauchery, some live in denial, some go crazy, and some wait for the end with acceptance. The tone of the movie is one of melancholy rather than rage, regret at lost opportunity rather than anger at folly. Stanley Kramer, the director, is at the top of his game here.

Netflix Status: DVD only