The China Syndrome
by James Bridges
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Jack Lemmon, James Hampton, Jane Fonda, Michael Douglas, Scott BradyDirector: James Bridges
Producer: Michael Douglas
Writer: James Bridges
Producer: Bruce Gilbert
Producer: Jack Smith Jr.
Producer: James Nelson
Writer: Mike Gray
Writer: T.S. Cook
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); Portuguese (Subtitled); Georgian (Subtitled); Chinese (Subtitled); Thai (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; Spanish (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 122 minutes
DVD Release Date: 1999-05-25
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Sony Pictures
Movie Reviews of The China Syndrome
Movie Review: Whistleblower Meltdown in 'Syndrome'
Summary: 5 Stars
Kimberly Wells (Jane Fonda), soft news reporter and hot-head cameraman Richard (Michael Douglas, who also produced the film) are doing a PR piece at a local nuclear power plant. The company, California Gas & Electric, is worried about their image and reputation as they need funding for a new plant on Point Conception.
While the TV crew and CG&E's PR guy are in the observation room, there's a short earthquake which apparently creates an emergency and the chief engineer (Jack Lemmon) discovers that the gauge to the water level is wrong. There is nearly a nuclear melt-down due to lack of water, but the emergency is averted. Richard meantime secretly films the accident.
At the station, Kimberly and Richard argue to have the film shown. The TV station wants to suppress the news and CG&E pressures the station not to show it. Richard yells cover-up, and uses a few choice curse words in the process.
At a party, Kim is told about how she was not hired because of her journalistic abilities despite her wanting to do hard news. She backs down on pressuring the station to show the accident on film because she wants to keep her job. "Don't fight it, Kimberly, I like you doing the soft stuff."
Man!
The stereotype of a woman in news and that she's only there to be a performer with a pretty face is obvious. Even her cameraman gives her a swat on the butt as he passes by. Wow, that would not play well in 2010, that's for sure! Sexual harassment and women as second class citizens in the media is played down but obvious in the film.
Kimberley's pet Turtle is hilarious! He eats cabbage! And she has an answering machine the size of a tape deck, but I digress.
The next scenes of the nuclear plant and the chief engineer who is confronted with the fact of a cover-up and its danger is quite evident and interesting. They really grip the viewer with the seriousness of a corporation that puts profits and expansion over human lives. Fascinating stuff.
Only a few days later, Three Mile Island had a nuclear accident. That accident plus this film raised concerns about the dangers of nuclear power plants.
32 years later we're confronted with global warming, exacerbated by the proliferation of more coal-driven plants. Should we forget lessons learned and start building more nuclear power plants? Yeah, the film is a work of fiction, but clearly gives us pause to think.
Awards the film has won, per the New York Times:
Awards
Win
Best Actress - Jane Fonda - 1979 British Academy of Film and Television
Best Actor - Jack Lemmon - 1979 Cannes Film Festival
Best Actor - Jack Lemmon - 1979 British Academy of Film and Television
Nomination
Best Art Direction - Arthur Jeph Parker - 1979 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie
Best Screenplay - T.S. Cook - 1979 Hollywood Foreign Press Association
Other Films on Nuclear Power Plants:
A 21st Century View: Nuclear Energy in the 21st Century: World Nuclear University Press
Classic Nuclear Films: Classic Power Plants Films DVD: History of First US Electric, Coal Fired, & Nuclear Power Plants Films
Homer's View: The Simpsons Movie (Full Screen Edition)
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