It’s time for the roundtable contribution by The Unknown Movies, and the choice is a kind of an oddity for American-International Pictures. They took a subject that could have been fashioned into one of their countless exploitaiton movies, yet here they took things very seriously. The subject matter in Panic In Year Zero! is nuclear war, and the actions that the movie’s protagonists make as a result of that will teach you, dear reader, just what you should do if there is a nuclear war. Getting food, finding shelter, and protecting yourself… it’s all here.
Keith Bailey is the proprietor of The Unknown Movies Page.
#1 by Thomas on February 19th, 2009
Despite the fact that I live in one of the nations least likely to ever be attacked by anybody, every time I hear a jet going over I think to myself “Oh no! We’ve been invaded!”, and immediately start making plans on how to escape to the countryside. I blame it on Tomorrow When The War Began making the prospect of wholesale invasion sound so damned exciting.
I’ve been meaning to watch more post-apocalypse films, so I think I will add this to the list. Thank you for the review.
#2 by Blake on February 19th, 2009
I noticed that Keith turning his reviews into personal essays more than he used to. It’s an interesting way to look at the movie, almost like a mini-biography/review.
#3 by Dave Causey on February 20th, 2009
Another thing that post-nuclear war movies of the era forget-or simply didn’t know about-is the effects of EMP,Electro Magnetic Pulse,which will fry all but hardened military electronics. Try starting your SUV when the ROM chip and fuel injector circuits are slag.
Great review. I’ll have to track this one down.