Our class material has covered films showing response to the effects of nuclear weapons attacks.  There are also fiction and non-fiction films on the traumatic lives of military personnel handling nuclear submarines and weapons.   Though presented as entertainment, these movies visually relay the seriousness of the potential for protection and utter destruction by these vessels and weapons. 

(Courtesy of Scenic Reflections)

 

The film, "K19, The Widowmaker" is based on the true story of a Russian nuclear submarine disabled in American waters with a leaking nuclear reactor.  In real life, this vessel had so many problems it was nicknamed “Hiroshima”.
 

 The film, “Crimson Tide” is fiction, and one of my favorite military films.  This critically acclaimed movie shows the complex checks and balances required to launch a nuclear missile from a U.S. Navy submarine.  In this film the commander and the executive officer disagree over the decision to launch a nuclear missile when the orders transmission is interrupted.  To hesitate launching could show weakness, but to launch by mistake could cause a world war.  The film enactment is tense, and takes on a life of its own.  It shows the danger of a commander brave enough to launch the weapon, but lacking the wisdom to use diplomatic restraint.  Attached are four clips courtesy of YouTube.com that are well worth watching.  They show the crew’s mission, the disagreement of the commander and the executive officer, the complete orders transmission, and the overall dilemma of launching nuclear weapons from a submarine.

 

For the sake of the continued existence of mankind, the use of nuclear weapons must be kept in the hands of wise and calm heads, who understand the burden of launching weapons of mass destruction.  There is nothing wise about playing chicken with a nuclear bomb.