CheerupSilver Very Cool!!!

Micah Lloyd Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

Mathster The movie runs out of plot and jokes well before the end of a two-hour running time, long for a light comedy.

Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Edgar Allan Pooh . . . just as foretold by this flick that MGM (aka, "the Voice of America's Fat Cats") distributed decades ago. "Harry Baldwin" is a prototypical U.S. Fat Cat when he begins his murderous crime spree (featuring most of the other major felonies) during PANIC IN THE YEAR ZERO! As Harry progresses from armed robbery to assault and battery, continuing with blockade running, he teaches his two teen kids that MGM people should behave as if they're rulers of an Empire of One. Other folks exist only to be robbed if they have stuff you want, or murdered if they're in your way. Harry drives this point home by torching a busy interstate highway evacuation route, burning countless families to death in their cars, simply because the chicken Harry wishes to cross the road. Harry seems to have a thing about roadside mayhem, as he's soon instructing his son about bridge demolition. It's not long until Harry graduates to gunning down youths one by one, rather than simply burning anonymous families alive in their vehicles. The Trouble With Harry is that he seems to have no future. Harry tends to be in a constant state of PANIC IN THE YEAR ZERO! However, Harry's spiritual brother ran for U.S. President in 2016, and WON! Now we're all being entertained by seeing the whole USA being run as if it were an Empire for One!

gavin6942 A family of four leaves Los Angeles for a camping trip just before a nuclear bomb destroys the city. As lawlessness prevails, the father (Ray Milland) must fight to keep his family alive.There is something terribly disjointed about this film. The main cast (including Milland and Frankie Avalon) are great, but they are thrown in a world that does not know whether to worry or not. Right outside the city limits, people seem unable to comprehend that the loss of Los Angeles is bad, and no one panics. Yet, the farther out they get (where civilization is still intact), gangs of hoodlums and hooligans are kidnapping women... what? Les Baxter's score is actually a hindrance to the theme, because he provided nothing but upbeat jazzy riffs. As the world is facing nuclear war, Baxter is ready to party. This is no doubt one of the reasons the film is considered "campy". (In some ways, the music acts as a precursor to the beach party films Avalon would be doing within a couple years.) The lack of blood or even smoke from gunshots was sort of odd, because people would get hit with shotguns and just fall over. At one point, Milland even comments that Avalon has "lost a lot of blood" when the audience sees nothing -- not even torn clothes. There is something quaint and nostalgic about this, but also not very believable.The stand-out role was played by Joan Freeman as Marilyn Hayes, who was traumatized by the murder of her family and being kidnapped by hooligans. For 1962, this is something of a dark role. Not that her acting is incredible, but compared to everyone else...Paul Corupe finds the film to be important in a historical context. He believes the film "was the first to show that the survivors of a nuclear attack may not be as fortunate as you might think." He says that in contrast to bigger films like "On the Beach" (1959), this one "was among the first to play up the potential violence of the situation." Whether this is true or not I cannot say for sure, but assuming Corupe is right, the film deserves to be re-evaluated and possibly forgiven for its campy shortcomings.

NutzieFagin Panic in the Year Zero was probably one of the first nuke movies that I remember seeing on those late late late shows as a kid. It was probably made during The Cold War era when people had to consider the possibility of a Nuclear Attack. In a way, it kind of served as a teaching tool on surviving the Bomb....that is if you were lucky to escape to a Nuclear Free Zone for a fighting chance.Which is what happened. The story begins with the Baldwin Family setting out at dawn to the mountains of Northern California for a fishing / camping trip. (N CA. was probably considered a nuclear free zone at the time) There light hearted mood drastically changes as they witness a mushroom cloud rising over L.A. The family is snapped back in reality by their father Harry Baldwin who now faces the challenge of how his family will survive. He tells his wife and kids to stock up on the non perishable foods (no eggs, no milk--use dry ingredients and definitely get yourself a hand gun or a rifle!) He starts to see people change to fighting for survival and the Law of the Jungle reins supreme. His plan is to hide out in the mountains and isolate his family from danger---which does not work.Rape is a prevalent in this film, which kind of surprised me because the time it was made. Some 1950 movie censors did not like showing this to the kiddies themselves. You will not see graphic images but you will get the drift in some scenes.The ending of the film somewhat falls flat possibly from the dialogue. The family desperately searching for safe harbor and their son needs medical help, finds a haven by running into the armed forces. The soldier who assists them says "There go 5 of them--one of the good ones". Oddly it seems a happy ending because the family has found safe haven at last---but what of the rest of the world and future?---Radition Sickness? Possibly eventually wiping out mankind? Well, we'll save that for another time and movie.The soundtrack is that most oddest thing and one everyone likely remembers from the movie. It has a low a torchy sax with a brass band playing a sort of tough guy / stripper music. I guess it was added to give the audience a survival type feel to it. It is also a film where you will see Frankie Avalon play a serious role and not prancing about in swim trucks and surfing and singing beach tunes. I would have liked to see more of him in serious roles.Panic in the Year Zero is a very quiet flick--you will not see any horrific radiation mutilations or bombing scenes. But you will get the same uneasiness of witnessing a nightmare scenario such as a nuclear holocaust. Not a bad try for Ray Milland as a director. So turn off the lights and grab the popcorn and see it for the heck of it!

SimonJack By itself, "Panic in Year Zero," is a very good movie. The cast has some prominent actors and stars of the past, all of whom give top performances. The film has a solid plot and script, and excellent cinematography and direction (by Ray Milland himself). The black and white film helps build a sense of angst, uncertainty and concern for the characters. But what sets this film apart as somewhat exceptional, and thus worthy of being in a film library, is the time and culture that it covers. After more than a decade into the 21st century, today it's hard to find much social consciousness, awareness or memory of that time of the Cold War that so influenced life for most of four decades. Especially in the U.S., but also around the world. This film was set at the height of the Cold War. From the late 1940s through the 50s and into the 60s, the U.S. and Soviet Union may have been the closest to getting into an all-out nuclear war. The threat of widespread global destruction was very real -- much more real than how some today refer to it as a paranoia of the past. To those pundits of paranoia, I would just point to the Cuban missile crisis of 1963."Panic in Year Zero" does more than tell a story and show what might happen from a nuclear disaster. It shows the dark side of human nature and how many people revert to barbarism in times of chaos when rule and order are absent. It focuses on one family and one man's drive to save his family from the brutality and chaos that would follow nuclear blasts. It shows his struggle to keep a sense of right and morality, and to be able to judge right from wrong in such a time of upheaval. And it shows his drive to keep right and morality ever before his family members. We see the emotional and spiritual struggle of this one man as he and his family cope with the challenges to survive, and as he tries to protect them from harm and evil inherent in societal upheaval. This film has considerable historical and social value for this portrayal and study alone. And it should be seen as no less relevant in the 21st century -- where we yet have nuclear threats from other nations. But it should be a warning as well about what might happen without nuclear war, in a world where social drives are blurring the lines of morality, freedom, and human rights, and where the resulting amorality, hedonism and relativism are fast obliterating basic rights and morals of human nature and democracy.A single flag in the film stands as a warning to society for all time. A news report heard on the radio early in the film says that leaders around the world have agreed that because of the global reach of the nuclear devastation, "this year will henceforth be known in history as Year Zero." World War I, World War II, and all other wars, conquests and disasters of the past were always set in the time they occurred in history – in the modern calendar – the Gregorian calendar. But, mankind has reached such a state that the power and forces of man himself are so great that he can now rule and determine time in the universe. Clearly, God is removed from society and humanity itself. So, the ego of man will triumph in guiding society into a future without boundaries, morals and restraints in which it could not long survive. Did the producers, writers and director intend this film to go much beyond a story of survival and emotional and moral struggle in the face of threats to survival? Who knows? But it should be clear to anyone who thinks about this film while watching it, that here is a morality play unfolding that has much deeper meaning and messages than of the immediate situation the film covers. Nuclear war isn't the greatest threat to the survival of humanity today. It's man's own ego. Without moral guidelines, without protection of basic human rights, without respect for human life, and in a godless society, anarchy is sure to reign. Without basic human rights and respect for life, civility crumbles. It's happened in every such case in world history. Can we, will we get the message for today? I highly recommend "Panic in Year Zero" as a movie for all to see. And to show to children and teen grandchildren.