At the dawn of the twenty-fourth of February 2022, Moscow time, Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared through a televised speech addressed to the Russian people, announcing the start of a comprehensive military invasion against Ukraine on the pretext of preserving Russian national security, after a political crisis that lasted for several months between the two neighbors, and military build-ups. A huge Russian border on the border exceeded one hundred and fifty thousand soldiers.
This particular moment, the direct military clash between Russia and the West, has always been present in books of all kinds, and certainly on cinema screens with different plots, all of which warn of the consequences of the outbreak of a third world war between members of the nuclear club that may cause the complete annihilation of humanity.
Here we review some films that revolve around the imagined war between Russia and the West, which seems to have become closer to reality than ever before.
"Munich: The Brink of War"... How to ignite a world war?
Since its release on "Netflix" at the beginning of this year, analysts consider it one of the most films that shed light on the "recipe for igniting a global war" in every place and time.
The movie "Munich: Edge of War" is a British drama film starring George MacKay and Jeremy Irons, and falls under several categories that include politics, war, and mystery within a medium-speed dramatic framework in the sequence of events.
The film highlights Europe in 1938, when signs of a world war were looming in the air.
Nazi leader Adolf Hitler shows off his huge military forces, threatening major political and military changes to the continent, while British Prime Minister Chamberlain studies Hitler's moves closely.
At this time, Hitler was threatening to use military force to invade the "Sudet" region in the state of Czechoslovakia, claiming that this region contains a German majority, and that the Germans are being mistreated by the government of Czechoslovakia.
The Allies found themselves in a very difficult situation: would they start a war against Germany for Czechoslovakia and secure their interests, or would they reach a compromise with Hitler by ceding this territory and avoiding war?
This was what happened at the Munich Conference, when the prime ministers of Britain, France, and Italy went to Hitler and made an agreement that is remembered in history as one of the worst agreements in international relations, in which they allowed Hitler to voluntarily annex the Sudetenland to avoid war, with a vow that this would be his last territorial claim. .
Which, of course, did not happen. After Hitler took control of the Sudetenland and voluntarily met his demands, the following year 1939 witnessed the outbreak of World War II with the invasion of Poland by German forces.
Over the past months, the model of the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia and the Munich conference have always been invoked in commenting on the current Russian-Ukrainian crisis, during which the Russian president has repeatedly invoked the “suffering” of the Russian minority in eastern Ukraine and its persecution and liquidation by the neo-Nazis, as he describes them.
Finally, Russia officially recognized the independence of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions in eastern Ukraine, which NATO considered a preparatory step for a complete invasion of Ukraine, which in fact happened, exactly as Hitler did in World War II.
"Ghost Protocol" .. How to prevent a world war?
The fourth part of the famous spy and thriller series "Mission Impossible" is considered one of the most popular and successful parts of the series.
The movie "Ghost Protocol" was produced in 2011, and it stars the famous American star Tom Cruise, who is facing this time one of the most dangerous tasks that have ever passed him, which is the necessity of preventing the outbreak of an all-out nuclear war between Russia and the United States.
The film's events are very exciting, playing on a theme that has flourished a lot during the past decades, which is: What if a lunatic who is not affiliated with any party, neither America nor Russia, succeeds in owning nuclear tools through which he attacks one of the two parties, and attaches the accusation of attack to the other?
Then, it would not take several hours to start an all-out nuclear war between the two highly motivated nations, both possessing nuclear weapons sufficient to exterminate life on the entire planet.
This madman is embodied by Kurt Hendricks, the Swedish nuclear scientist who seeks to steal high-risk nuclear secrets from the Kremlin in Moscow, and seeks to control an Indian satellite and nuclear codes in Dubai, until he begins to implement his quest by detonating a nuclear missile that ignites a nuclear war between America and Russia, but Ethan Hunt Tom Cruise can miraculously stop the mission at the last minute with the missile already in flight.
The film, which achieved huge revenues close to the ceiling of 700 million dollars, and witnessed the filming of a group of the most exciting and famous movie scenes in the world of action films, is considered one of the most films that raised the alarm about the possibility of a nuclear war at any time caused by groups of unaccountable anarchists on the which direction.
Thirteen Days... The world is on the brink of war
In October 1962, the whole world stood on the brink of a world war, when US air surveillance images revealed that the Soviet Union had installed medium-range ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads in the State of Cuba on the borders of the United States, with an imminent threat of a nuclear strike.
The newly elected young American president, John F. Kennedy, found himself in a violent dilemma: either to retreat from the Soviet Union, or to launch a counterattack would mean the outbreak of a nuclear world war without a doubt.
The movie "13 Days" is considered one of the best Hollywood films that accurately embodied the events of this historical crisis with a high level of excitement and suspense.
The film sheds light on thirteen difficult days experienced by the whole world, specifically the US administration, which dealt with the situation with great caution, as it considered any step taken by the Americans would be followed by a violent Soviet response, either by the invasion of Berlin in Europe, or the direct response with a missile war against American lands.
The film also highlights a margin of political and military negotiations that allowed the Soviet Union to withdraw from Cuba in exchange for an American pledge not to invade the country, and to withdraw American missiles from Turkey, with negotiations to reduce the pace of the conflict between the two superpowers that reached its climax in that period and the whole world almost agreed pays for it.
The film achieved great success and a wide positive evaluation among critics, but the surprise is that it did not achieve the expected revenues from it.
Nevertheless, it remains one of the most suspenseful films that conveyed a highly turbulent political atmosphere, with a world war that could break out at any moment.
Dr. Strangelove... How did I learn not to worry and love the nuclear bomb?
In the sixties, the greatest concern experienced by the whole world was the outbreak of a sudden nuclear war between America and the Soviet Union, especially after the end of the Cuban missile crisis in 1962, which was about to turn into an all-out nuclear war between the two countries.
At this exact time, the movie "Dr. Strangelove" or "How did I learn to stop worrying and loving the bomb?", directed by the veteran American director Stanley Kubrick, which was considered one of the most films of that period that embodies nuclear horror.
The film is based on the novel "Red Alert" by Peter George, and tells about an American officer who gets mad, and sends an order to an American pilot to go immediately, without giving reasons, with a heavy bomber to Soviet territory and drop a nuclear bomb there to launch a preventive war to destroy the Soviet Union.
In this state of madness, quick meetings of military officials in America are taking place, trying to find a solution to get out of this crisis.
The film shows US officials as a bunch of poor talent, most of whom don't know what to say and speak lightly and uninformed, while showing Soviet officials that they are drunk most of the time and only interested in a violent reaction to any action the Americans take.
The film is a complete embodiment of the dark comedy that points to the fact that the world could be annihilated due to petty mistakes on the part of those directly responsible for the launch of nuclear weapons.
The film was nominated for four Oscars, and was considered one of the most important films of the twentieth century that warned of the outbreak of a nuclear war between the Soviet Union and the West due to the unjustified emotional outbursts of the leaders of these countries that could end life on Earth completely.
"The Killer Hunter"... Marauders in the Kremlin
One of the newly produced Hollywood films highlighting the possibility of an imminent global war between Russia and the West.
The movie "Hunter Killer" was produced in 2018, starring veteran stars Gerard Butler and Gary Oldman, and the film revolves around the moment the Russian president is overthrown by his psychopathic defense minister, who takes power in Russia and holds the legitimate president in a naval base in the far north Russia.
With the Russian Defense Minister assuming power, a clash between Russia and America begins, which escalates to the point of threatening a war between the two countries. American intelligence seeks to liberate the Russian president and return him to his position to confront the rogue generals of war in Moscow.
Here, the film presents a strange fictional tale of trying to free the Russian president who is the voice of reason and diplomacy, rather than confronting Russia's warlords who seek to ignite a third world war with the West.
The film tends to categorize excitement and adventure more than a political drama, but it is full of scenes that deal with the nature of the turbulent relationship between the West in general and Russia, and it perfectly plays on the theme of warning of the outbreak of a global war due to the fall of power in the hands of rogue people, which is the main message from The film achieved a good positive evaluation and good revenue.
Although the film is one of the few Hollywood films that show the modern side of the Russian army rather than presenting the usual stereotype of Russians that they are ignorant and ridiculous, the film was also not without the usual American clichés in the action scenes, when three American officers manage to kill a massive crowd. Of the Russian soldiers without a single scratch!
"Transformers" .. the struggle of the paranormal
Twelve films produced by Hollywood for the series "Transformers" (X Men), one of the most famous series of paranormal films in the world that embodies a group of heroes with supernatural abilities.
In the movie "Transformers: First Class", which was produced in 2011, and is considered one of the most successful films of this series and grossing over 350 million dollars, the events revolve around the Cold War period in which the great powers use the transformers to launch a third world war.
In 1963, Eric Lencher, a young man with superhuman telekinetic powers, embarks on a search for the Nazi doctor who killed his mother in front of his eyes, and hid his identity in that era to turn into a mad scientist seeking to ignite a third world war between the Soviet Union and America during the missile crisis. cuban.
Lincher reunites with a number of other Transformed Superheroes to stand up to the plans of the mad scientist, but differences arise between them and everyone fights while the spark of world war ignites and nuclear missiles are launched.
Although the film is classified under excitement and science fiction, it tells a margin of the comprehensive existential conflict between the two superpowers in the world at the time, which amounted to seeking to recruit all methods, people, tools and techniques in their struggle against each other, including the recruitment of superpowers. to participate in the conflict.
In the end, it seems that the famous quote attributed to the famous physicist Albert Einstein “I do not know what weapons will be in World War III, but I know for sure that World War IV will be with sticks and stones” has some merit, whether it is true attributing it to Einstein or not. The world is now teeming with nuclear weapons capable of ending life on the planet within hours, which makes us all wish that the scenarios of World War III remain confined to cinema screens only.
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Sources:
The films mentioned in the list are within the author's personal views, and all information in the report is derived from the descriptions of the films themselves.