Boring

Awesome Movie

Absolutely Brilliant!

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

This review is in response to the faulty information that swirls around this short civil defense/propaganda film, particularly the notion of "its stupid we would all die and the government was just trying to fool people". While I wont try to argue the clear propaganda goals of the film, the question of survivability is a different matter.A simple timeline should do the trick: 1949- The Soviet Union detonates its first atomic bomb.1952- The film "Duck and Cover" was first shown early in the year, but was produced in 1951.1952- November 1st, almost a year after the film was released, the first H-Bomb was detonated by the USA at a test grounds in the Pacific. If you do not know the difference between an A-Bomb and an H-bomb there are many sources on the internet, lets just say its a big difference.1953- The USSR detonated its own H-bomb.1955- The USA had a total of about 350 H-Bombs (small H-bombs, if you can call an H-bomb small), that would be delivered by airplane. The USSR was behind but catching up fast.1957- The first ICBM's were developed by the USSR and the USA.1959- ICBM's began to populate the arsenals of the Cold War powers."Duck and Cover" was aimed at a possible war using a relatively small number of A-Bombs that would have been delivered by airplane. In such an attack the information given was correct and could have saved lives. There were many instances of people surviving the attacks on Nagasaki and Hiroshima at basically ground zero. Again its the difference between an A-bomb and an H-bomb, in 1952 atomic war did not mean instant or even prolonged death. When H-Bombs and ICBM's started to amass in the arsenals of the superpowers these films started to disappear.

I've got a friend who once, during a temporary moment of stupidity, remarked that "when a bomb goes off, the best place to be is next to it." Yes, an atomic bomb. His comment remains the worst piece of survival advice I have ever received. Now meet the runner-up! 'Duck and Cover (1952)' is a fascinating window into American society in the midst of the Cold War: when nuclear holocaust seemed, not just a possibility, but an inevitability. The narrator (Robert Middleton), in his no- nonsense fatherly way, introduces a rosy-cheeked cub scout with the words "Tony knows the bomb can explode any time of the year, day or night." I can't imagine living under such a monumental national threat. Air-raid drills draw an immediate response, the camera lingering dramatically on the discarded baseballs and skipping ropes.'Duck and Cover' explains, in childish terms, the actions one should perform in the instance of a nuclear attack. Number one on the agenda is the titular "duck and cover"; that is, throwing yourself to the ground - preferably against a wall, beneath a desk, or under the wheel of a moving tractor - and covering your head and neck. The inanity of this premise was memorably lampooned in the early 'South Park' episode "Volcano," in which citizens duck and cover in the path of an approaching lava flow, to little avail. All things considered, it's not terrible advice. In such a position, you're certainly less likely to catch flying shards of glass or other debris. It all depends on your proximity to ground zero: if the atomic bomb lands on your school, for example, ducking and covering is not likely to improve your survival chances. In 2004, 'Duck and Cover' was added to the National Film Registry, and for good reason. It captures the insanity of an earlier era, when civilisation nearly destroyed itself.

It's already taken me more time to read other member reviews of this Fifties era Civil Defense short than it did to watch the film itself. I don't recall ever seeing it as a kid in parochial school during the Fifties, but there's something oddly familiar about Bert the Turtle. Just can't put my finger on it.Back in the day, we used to do those duck and cover drills quite regularly, and I also remember helping put away boxes of canned goods that all the students brought in as a stockpile in case we ever came under attack. I used to think to myself that if it ever happened, I'd rather make a break for it across the baseball field from school to my house where I'd be with my family. Think about it, those planes would be pretty high up there; surely I could make it in a dead run under a minute. I even timed it a few times, I knew I could make it.Seriously, I remember all of that. Now I wonder how an eight or nine year old kid grows up with that kind of paranoia, seeing as how the picture suggests repeatedly that danger exists EVERY DAY, ALL THE TIME, EVERY DAY, ALL THE TIME. I imagine it's how kids today must feel while being constantly bombarded by the idea that global warming is going to annihilate civilization as we know it. Drive less, buy smaller cars, go green, buy in to the propaganda that the government is going to save your butt because you're too dumb to figure things out for yourself. Then there's the threat of nuclear terrorist states getting an atomic bomb themselves. Maybe it's time to start doing those duck and cover drills with the air conditioning on.

African-Americans are not discriminated against, mom doesn't want to work, she wants to bake in the kitchen all day until she can attend to father when he gets home from work, there is no pain or suffering in the world and: Yes! You too can survive a nuclear blast just by following the instructions to "Duck and Cover"! This short little film is an incredibly insightful look into life in America in the 1950s (without setting out to do that, of course). Problems didn't exist because the government said they didn't exist. What is incredible in the 21st Century is that, for the most part, Americans really believed this. Maybe the 1950s were a product of those that survived the horrors of World War II. Maybe they invented the "perfect" 1950s to hide the pain from what they experienced in the Pacific and in Europe during WW II. In any case, if you want a short encapsulated view of the surreal life in America in the 1950s, watch this little gem. This should be required viewing for any course about life in post-WW II America.