42 years ago, my sister and her friend dragged me off to see Dawn of the Dead. We went in a few minutes late. The violence was already in full swing. I understand why they didn't like it, but I was surprised that they thought it was "too scary" rather than just disgusting or repulsive or not to their liking. They wanted to leave and didn't ask me. We walked out and went to The China Syndrome next door.
It was 1979, before video took over. Michael Douglas plays a TV news cameraman filming in 16mm. He uses a CP16 "self-blimped" camera ($500 on eBay).
The camera must have run without making a sound because Douglas is able to film the nuclear power plant control room without anyone noticing. There to do a puff piece, he and Jane Fonda watch Jack Lemmon, Wilford Brimley and others barely avert a nuclear meltdown.
Soon, the power company's private security is after them trying to keep them quiet.
One thing that stood out to me is how well a Chevy Vega held up in a serious accident. Japanese cars were death traps back then and the early Volkswagen Rabbit Jane Fonda drove couldn't have been much better. The Vega got a bad rap. Jack Lemmon later evades company goons in a BMW 2002.
There were some shots of the power plant that were clearly matte paintings.
The incident portrayed in the movie where a stuck needle on a gauge caused engineers to misread water levels actually happened in a nuclear power plant near Chicago. And the film was released twelve days before the nuclear accident at Three Mile Island which some people thought was more than a coincidence.
A serious thriller that went overboard at the end.
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