The Free Talk Live BBS
Free Talk Live => General => Topic started by: fatcat on August 15, 2009, 08:27:51 PM
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Skip past the grating Bowie title tune, and you'll find a charming, and unsettling animation based on the book of the same name (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_the_Wind_Blows_(graphic_novel))
From the Youtube description.
With the help of government-issued pamphlets, an elderly British couple build a shelter and prepare for an imminent nuclear attack. A classic little cartoon of hugely disturbing proportions.
The characters are both pitiful and endearing, with the slavish "must do the correct thing because its in a pamphlet" attitude, coupled with an optimistic stiff upper lip, and a naive expectation that this nuclear war business won't be so bad.
I expect some of the cultural references might slip past the Americans here, but hopefully the underlying quality will shine through.
[youtube=425,350]6EbsrJuAoQo[/youtube]
Part 1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EbsrJuAoQo)
[youtube=425,350]5cOpBGM-0Nc[/youtube]
Part 2 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cOpBGM-0Nc&feature=related)
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[youtube=425,350]PtVEblvYzk4[/youtube]
Part 3 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtVEblvYzk4&feature=related)
[youtube=425,350]e1PFEVayxxA[/youtube]
Part 4 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1PFEVayxxA&feature=related)
[youtube=425,350]6cDox-suQaM[/youtube]
Part 5 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cDox-suQaM&feature=related)
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[youtube=425,350]drJDwJ0VN4U[/youtube]
Part 6 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drJDwJ0VN4U&feature=related)
[youtube=425,350]j8OcC_VfTfY[/youtube]
Part 7 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8OcC_VfTfY&feature=related)
[youtube=425,350]qDVFzpAjGb8[/youtube]
Part 8 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDVFzpAjGb8&feature=related)
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Aside from like maybe two tunes, pretty sure that Roger Waters (of Pink Floyd) wrote the rest of the soundtrack to this.
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So after watching the suffering in part 4 until the end, people should still build the shelter? ...
Here's another you might like-
[youtube=425,350]NOUtZOqgSG8[/youtube]
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Aside from like maybe two tunes, pretty sure that Roger Waters (of Pink Floyd) wrote the rest of the soundtrack to this.
Credited @ 8:48 of part 8
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They need to make a revised addition where it is muslim terrorists with dirty bombs.
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I believe I saw that animation as part of the 1990 Sick and Twisted Animation Festival. That same film introduced Bevis and Butthead in their animated short, Frog Baseball. The Sick and Twisted Animation Festival is still going strong so more similar animations will be produced and shown.
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So after watching the suffering in part 4 until the end, people should still build the shelter? ...
Well I think the whole point of the film is to show how woefully inadequate any sort of government response would be, with highly disingenuous advice given on how to survive a nuclear attack, not to mention conflicting advice in the various government pamphlets, who's main purpose is to provide false hope so people don't panic.
Having said that the scene where they go out into the garden and drink rainwater would have undoubtedly exposed them to massive doses of radiation.
It is terribly sad to see this old couple obliviously succumbing to what is quite clearly severe radiation poisoning, shrugging it off as "nervous exhaustion".
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The one thing I thought was odd was that the pamphlets suggested such a stupid construction over advising people to take cover in a basement or cellar if they had one. But I suppose the point was simply to avoid panic prior to any bombing. It was also interesting to see how the couple romanticized war as a fond memory. They didn't have a real idea of how utterly destructive and virtually unsurvivable a blast would be in certain areas. Probably another government construct to keep people at home and avoid a panic rush away from any targeted areas.
I have heard that the current nuclear weapons of the world could destroy the earth several times over. But that would assume all were released. I wonder though who has any nuclear arms targeting countries in the southern hemisphere. Would Argentina or New Zeland for example be safe from direct bombing. But end up dying anyway due to fall out or changes in the climate if a large enough exchange went on in the northern hemisphere?
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I think the most important part of this video is when they walk into their backyard and look around at all the destruction and say "I wonder who is winning?"
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tl;dw
any buttons getting pushed yet?
I have to agree to a point that, "When the Wind Blows," is a bit long. The intro song is over 3 minuets long. Then there are several song montages that don't add to the story progression much. I also noticed that the rat scene was cut out. I watched it because I am something of an animation geek.
Another great animation. "A Soldier's Tale," by R.O. Blechman. A simple story of a soldier attempting to return home. He encounters a stranger on his way. The stranger turns out to be the devil who has offered to purchase the soldiers prized violin. The violin is actually the soldier's soul. It is based on Stravinsky's piece written in 1918 about the aftermath of the Bolshevik revolution. Some people interpret the devil as representing capitalism. But others seem to think that the film is saying Russian lost it's soul. And still others see it as anti-war. If anyone is interested you might find it as a torrent.
VJing another animator took the sound track of the intro to produce this short. But you really have to only be interested in the animation tech it isn't the story.
[youtube=425,350]7jhOIDmtCcs[/youtube]
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Here is a very short animation. Explains why nuclear defense is a huge waste of money.
[youtube=425,350]67KAsQkIzsY[/youtube]
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So after watching the suffering in part 4 until the end, people should still build the shelter? ...
Well I think the whole point of the film is to show how woefully inadequate any sort of government response would be, with highly disingenuous advice given on how to survive a nuclear attack, not to mention conflicting advice in the various government pamphlets, who's main purpose is to provide false hope so people don't panic.
Having said that the scene where they go out into the garden and drink rainwater would have undoubtedly exposed them to massive doses of radiation.
It is terribly sad to see this old couple obliviously succumbing to what is quite clearly severe radiation poisoning, shrugging it off as "nervous exhaustion".
painfully annoying to get thru....
the point of the cartoon is that STUPID PEOPLE DIE...
(fuck, the diet of sausages (bangers, eh?) & chips woulda killed 'em anyway
americans would (&do) build elaborate underground shelters, NOT 2 doors leaning up against the wall...
the cartoon people were overly gullible & lacking in the qualities that survivors would want to have in their ''camp''. they needed to die.
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http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2023790698427111488 (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2023790698427111488)
A classic movie called threads.
So far as I watch I think section 6 demonstrates why people like war so much. It was the same with world war 1. Everyone thought it would be over by Christmas, there would be dashing charges on horseback into waiting cannons, and that all in all if you survived people would respect you for it.
Perhaps instead whenever someone claims to have fought in WWII, Korea, or especially Vietnam, we should instead say, "You reap what you sow, why didn't you go against it!" Or Better, "You know what a hero is right? Someone who gets people killed."
The one thing I thought was odd was that the pamphlets suggested such a stupid construction over advising people to take cover in a basement or cellar if they had one. But I suppose the point was simply to avoid panic prior to any bombing. It was also interesting to see how the couple romanticized war as a fond memory. They didn't have a real idea of how utterly destructive and virtually unsurvivable a blast would be in certain areas. Probably another government construct to keep people at home and avoid a panic rush away from any targeted areas.
I have heard that the current nuclear weapons of the world could destroy the earth several times over. But that would assume all were released. I wonder though who has any nuclear arms targeting countries in the southern hemisphere. Would Argentina or New Zeland for example be safe from direct bombing. But end up dying anyway due to fall out or changes in the climate if a large enough exchange went on in the northern hemisphere?
Yes I interpret the entire point of the movie, in addition to showing the 'bright' side of war that brings people to war, was to show people what the shelters actually were. They were make shift mausoleums. Everyone was to build a box that would protect their bodies from the blast, if they survived that was good, if they got sick then they were to stay in the 'shelter' for two weeks, die, and be packaged in next to their ID and Birth certificate (Gravemarker). The paper sacks was the device the author used to show this, the couple packaged themselves.
From what I have heard nuclear winter would set in. There would be so much dust kicked into the air that the sunlight would be reduced significantly. All plant life would stay in seed or winter dormant form for about 4 years. The other effect of this dust is that it would be radioactive. Radioactive dust would kill animals that had high metabolisms quickly. Mammals, birds, possibly every living creature.
What I would be interested in knowing is if both sides knew this. The idea of blowing up a single bomb is one thing when you can leave the area, it's quite another to vaporize a land mass the size of Russia or the United States. Even if only one side launched an attack the 'winners' would stave to death. If both realized this, then the entire cold war was nothing but saber rattling of the deadliest variety. Unless they were entertaining Dr. Strangelove at their meetings, they would realize that launching nukes would be a redundant counter-strike. Hence, Mutually Assured Destruction.
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Duck and Cover
Who's stupid fucking idea was this?
[youtube=425,350]<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/C0K_LZDXp0I&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/C0K_LZDXp0I&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>[/youtube]
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at least its not call the cops and panic while you wait for them to show up
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Here is a very short animation. Explains why nuclear defense is a huge waste of money.
[youtube=425,350]67KAsQkIzsY[/youtube]
The idea of missile defense is not to stop every signal warhead, or even to protect population centers. Instead, it is to convince a would-be attacker that any first-strike against the US's missiles might not take out enough to prevent a counter-attack.
Also, the goal of the various civil defense programs of the Fifties and Sixties wasn't so much to save Americans as it was to bluff the Soviets into fearing that many Americans could survived their attack. These programs were largely hatched in the early days of the Cold War, before both sides had huge numbers of nukes. By the mid Sixties, any attack would probably result in total destruction for both sides. But, ten years before that, it's probably that only a few bombs would have actually reached their targets. Millions would have died, but there would not have been the total destruction possible later.
By the late Seventies, US planners realized that it was possible for one side to actually win a nuclear war, without destroying the world. IF a first strike using non-nuclear weapons could take out enough of the enemy's missiles, the side launching the attack could dictate terms. The US was able to locate all Soviet fix land based and submarine based launch platforms. What it could not get a fix on were the Soviet mobile missile launchers. This was part of the reason for Stealth technology. Stealth aircraft could sneak into enemy territory and locate those launchers without being detected. Then, in one fell swoop, the entire Soviet missile arsenal could be knocked out using conventional means, possibly with a few nuclear strikes in the ocean against Russian subs.
Because it is so hard to destroy, the US really liked Russia's mobile missile system, and sought to build something similar here. The MX missile was supposed to be mobile, but that part of the program got killed. The replacement plan was the missile shield.
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Here is a very short animation. Explains why nuclear defense is a huge waste of money.
[youtube=425,350]67KAsQkIzsY[/youtube]
we shoulda listened to
ron raygun & built star wars