Cathardincu Surprisingly incoherent and boring

Lucia Ayala It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Sarita Rafferty There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Cody One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

oscarsmith-37540 The China syndrome starts with a bang- Jane Fonda and Michael Douglas are at a nuclear power plant when something goes wrong and they manage to capture it on camera. What follows is an investigation into the cover ups that ensues to make sure there is no panic. All the actors are very good here- Douglas and Fonda as the determined young reporters, Jack lemmon as the shift supervisor who unfortunately gets the blame. The pacing is great and the opening scene with the meltdown are genuinely terrifying.

mike48128 It could still happen today. Still relevant with today's aging nuclear plants and terrorism threats. Terrific award-winning casting of Jack Lemmon, Michael Douglas and Jane Fonda, as the TV news reporter who wants to do "real news" stories. Low-key and believable in every way. Plant equipment breaks down. Stuck analog "needles" have happened before in real power plants. Almost a meltdown occurs as cooling water levels drop too low and the control rods start to fail. The plant tries a cover-up to no avail. It is all filmed by Douglas (the news cameraman) who almost loses his life over the footage! Also,a nuclear plant in Midland, Michigan had faked weld x-rays, just like in this movie. It was converted into a gas-fired power plant, as minor leaks in non-radioactive water lines are o.k. As everyone knows, in a "China Syndrome", the atomic core melts completely and burns thru "all the way to China." It's a figure of speech, of course! Released about 12 days within the time-frame of the real 3-Mile-Island disaster and not unlike Chernobyl and that new disaster in Japan. None of these 3 places will be safe areas in our lifetime. A great "little" movie with no "monsters" or other such nonsense!

SnoopyStyle Kimberly Wells (Jane Fonda) is a local L.A. TV reporter who does puff pieces. She and cameraman Richard Adams (Michael Douglas) are sent to do a simple report on the Ventawa Nuclear Power Plant run by California Gas and Electric. While filming in the control room, they witness a near meltdown. Manager Jack Godell (Jack Lemmon) saves the day. Richard is able to film the accident but the report is shelved under pressure. The accident is covered up under an investigation. Jack does his own digging. The plant gets a clean bill of health and is started up again. He's still a true believer until he discovers some more things wrong. Meanwhile Richard has stolen the film and has shown it to some experts.This is a great 70s disaster thriller except the big disaster doesn't actually happen. Jack Lemmon is terrific. Fonda and Douglas are fine as nosy media. Actually Fonda is not as aggressive as the stereotype would suggest. It's very much in Lemmon where the humanity lays. The pacing is actually quite compelling considering most of it is just investigations. It's also insanely timely coming out just before the Three Mile Island accident.

Mr-Fusion "The China Syndrome" makes for a potboiler of a story, and the fact that a similar incident happened just after the film's release gives it a frightening authenticity. Granted, there probably weren't any hit men in the real-life Pennsylvania tragedy, but this is nonetheless heady stuff. The movie unfolds at a leisurely pace, but the mounting tension always keeps things moving. And it's grounded by some good performances (chiefly Jack Lemmon, although Jane Fonda has a handle on the human- interest-turned-investigative reporter). Michael Douglas is also no slouch, what with his full-on Kenny Loggins vibe.It really stung when a key character was killed, but it didn't detract from my enjoyment of the film. "The China Syndrome" is a remarkably tense movie and takes us back to a time when the news media weren't useless. Great movie. And those silent credits are unbelievably haunting!8/10