MovieChat Forums > Twilight's Last Gleaming (1977) Discussion > Good movie, but problems

Good movie, but problems

posted 12 years ago by kallsop-2
4 replies | jump to latest

This is a good movie, based on issues resulting from Viet Nam, and the things that involved the US against the USSR during the Cold War. This movie gave the idea that soldiers that fought in Nam became disinfranchised with the military enviroment of the the 70's. It is one of many movies during the '70s that questioned not only the US Military, but the US its self. While the takeover is rather impossible, it is the sentiment of the people of the US, that there needs to be a change in policy. As for the takeover, and the sites filmed, the early locations were Atlas Missile sites, and this is noted by the blast doors, as for the comment in the movie that they have control of 9 (nine) Titan Missiles, there was never a single site that controlled nine Titan missile sites. There was only one site that controlled one Titan missile, and there were only three states that had Titans, Arizona, Kansas, and Arkansas.

1 Baker 11, in pursuit of 1973 yellow Mustang license number 614 Henry Sam Ocean

[–] irishtom99 12 years ago

the story was written several years before,which made it dated..by the late 70s,it was already common knowledge that the fix was in..papers,including the pentagon papers from ellsburg,revealed that big business ,the military,and intelligence were prolonging the war for reasons that had nothing to do with national security..release of notes from such meetings would not cause a storming of the bastille..
but the rather casual taking of an atomic missle silo(4 men with guns?) was quite a stretch,as was the president moving about without secret service men everywhere..having "snipers" use automatic weapons instead of single shots indicates that the president was SUPPOSED to be murdered,and soldiers killing the commander in chief is VERY cynical..
in the early 60s,there were some great military/political conspiracy films,such as the manchurian candidate and seven days in may,that were much more believable..with that said;what a cast !!!

[–] kallsop-2 12 years ago

Never doubted the behind the scenes manipulations in DC about Viet Nam, and the fact that it was not a "winnable" war. I grew up in that era, born in 1963. And as you mentioned about other films like The Manchurian Candidate, Seven Days in May, there are other movies that shaped my thoughts on the issue that include, The Missiles of October, Fail Safe, as well as The Conversation, Three Days of The Condor, and of course, All The Presidents Men, which really sticks in my mind, as I was stuck at home with chicken pox, and the only thing on TV was the Watergate Hearings. I guess that with movies like these, and how they reflect the time that I grew up in, and I remeber seeing Cronkite's "We cannot win this war" statement on TV, have influenced my later life, in the fact that I researching things now as to what really was going on.

I find it interesting that in the last few years, movies like Charley Wilsons War, Syriana, The Kingdom, have come out, and shed some light, yes most is fictional but Charley Wilson, was very close to what happened during the Reagan era, Iran/Contra, Afghanistan, Oliver North.

As for this movie, yes the cast is great, and I enjoy for this movie the cinematography, and the split screen segments are good for showing both sides of thoses moments, it gives it a more realistic setting for a real-time event.

Not a perfect movie, but it gives an insight to the era.

1 Baker 11, in pursuit of 1973 yellow Mustang license number 614 Henry Sam Ocean

[–] 3rdrowleft 12 years ago

The President was supposed to be murdered The secret meetings were going to be kept secret.

But throughout it all, my motto was "Dignity! Always dignity!".

[–] rsb342013 11 years ago

Dude, it's not a documentary.