The China Syndrome (1979) 7.4
A reporter finds what appears to be a cover-up of safety hazards at a nuclear power plant. Director:James Bridges |
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The China Syndrome (1979) 7.4
A reporter finds what appears to be a cover-up of safety hazards at a nuclear power plant. Director:James Bridges |
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| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Jane Fonda | ... | ||
| Jack Lemmon | ... | ||
| Michael Douglas | ... | ||
| Scott Brady | ... | ||
| James Hampton | ... | ||
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Peter Donat | ... | |
| Wilford Brimley | ... | ||
| Richard Herd | ... | ||
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Daniel Valdez | ... | |
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Stan Bohrman | ... | |
| James Karen | ... | ||
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Michael Alaimo | ... | |
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Donald Hotton | ... | |
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Khalilah Ali | ... | |
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Paul Larson | ... | |
While doing a series of reports on alternative energy sources, an opportunistic reporter Kimberly Wells witnesses an accident at a nuclear power plant. Wells is determined to publicise the incident but soon finds herself entangled in a sinister conspiracy to keep the full impact of the incident a secret. Written by Dave Jenkins <david.jenkins@smallworld.co.uk>
Intelligent, nail-biting drama came out of nowhere in 1979 and soon was on the cover of every newspaper in America (when life imitated the film). A nuclear power plant employee in Southern California is threatened by superiors when he decides to go public with the real story behind an accident at the plant. Ostensibly a stuck valve problem, a TV news-crew's film shows that it was an accident verging on disastrous proportions--and worse, that safety conditions are being scrubbed to save millions of dollars, a cover-up that endangers everyone's lives. The movie occasionally gets too technical (especially in the second-half) and could use more human interplay, however the performances by Jack Lemmon, Jane Fonda (as a puff-piece news-woman in the right place at the right time), and Michael Douglas (as a freelance cameraman) are superb. The throwaway bits involving nuclear protesters is both entirely accurate and bitterly satirical, and the news-biz (with its corporate structure and vapid yes-men) is vividly captured. ***1/2 from ****