For those who remember duck-and-cover drills and students hiding under their school desks, the realities of nuclear annihilation were an ever-present danger during the Cold War. By the 1980s, there was a Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD) for any nation with nuclear capabilities. This concept of Mutual Assured Destruction was a deterrent to nuclear conflict because those launching an attack knew they would be retaliated against.
Nuclear Nightmares, as the title clearly suggests, examines the nuclear capabilities of Western nations and includes visits to military installations and interviews with relevant military officers and policy experts. What one sees are military professionals ready to take the necessary actions based on the orders of the elected officials to launch nuclear weapons at other nations if provoked into an attack. Peter Ustinov (host) takes viewers through a number of scenarios of nuclear destruction focusing on the power conflicts during this period.
While the world has changed considerably from the one highlighted in Nuclear Nightmares, there continues to be a fear of the nuclear threat of those hostile to the Western world and has moved beyond national capabilities and now includes terrorist groups. While the 40-year-old footage clearly shows its age, the value of this film is as a historical document about the nuclear capabilities of the Western world.
This period piece offers a new generation an understanding of the world during the Cold War; however, younger viewers may have issues fully engaging with the content because of the age of the footage and the different scenarios discussed without the necessary historical context. This documentary would enhance any collection that supports the advanced study of the Cold War, history, international relations, and nuclear war but given the age of the footage, is only an optional purchase based on demand in these subject areas. Optional. Aud: H, C, P.