The Missiles of October (1974)

Without becoming didactic, The Missiles of October does an outstanding job of presenting many points of view on the Cuban missile crisis. The film humanizes Kennedy's near impossible task of avoiding war without compromising national security. The earnestness of this 1974 made-for-television dramatization may briefly remind one of social studies class--indeed it is at times difficult to maintain consciousness while the extensive cast of characters is being introduced at the opening. Not to worry, though--soon the power plays begin and The Missiles of October becomes completely gripping. Actual news footage is spliced in with the action, nicely serving as exposition and driving home just how very close the world came to nuclear war. A crew of excellent character actors flesh out the story and reveal the psychological games behind the language of diplomacy. William Devane takes on the difficult task of playing John F. Kennedy. While he doesn't quite capture Kennedy's charisma, he does occupy the role comfortably and effectively conveys the president's deep worry and determination to avoid war. Martin Sheen plays an engaging Robert Kennedy and Michael Lerner, oddly enough, manages to make Pierre Salinger absolutely fascinating. --Ali Davis Amazon.com

A Movie Everyone Should See

I lived through the Missiles of October. It is still amazing and truly frightening to see how close we came to nuclear war. No Senator, Congressional Rep, candidate for President, or informed voter should miss this film. I'd seen it on TV, then bought the video. The DVD makes the scenes even more immediate. All the acting is superb. Want to know why we need a President who can THINK? This is why. October 19, 2007

THE ULTIMATE WMDS

THE MISSILES OF OCTOBER is a tense, tight, made for TV, docudrama about the Cuban missile crisis. It is a Golden Laurel award-winning film based on all historical evidence about those 13 days in October, 1962. Many of us have forgotten or never knew the crisis 45 years ago that brought us to the edge of nuclear war and possible extinction of life as we know it. Unbeknown to America and with full denial from Russia, the USSR had begun to build a nuclear missile arsenal in Cuba that was capable of destroying all of America and most of South America and it was 90 miles from our shores. When a U-2 spy plane discovered the project from 14 miles above the earth, it precipitated perhaps one of the greatest confrontations in world history. The two superpowers, the two nations capable of annihilating one another were face to face. Not that these weapons weren't already the greatest concern of the world already, but why was Russia putting these clearly 'offensive weapons' only 90 miles from the U.S. What were they up to? JFK and his administration had 10 days to figure it out and react before the missiles would be fully installed. The film is about those 13 days in October when the U.S. and Russia played the ultimate nuclear chess game. The film is mostly about the American side but also shows a very interesting side of the Russians during this time as it bounces back and forth between the two leaders. The tension was unimaginable as this was no theoretical discussion about war, this was nuclear war on our doorstep. It makes the discussion of WMD's in Iraq look like a elementary discussion. In reality, this might be a great film for all our leaders to watch before going to war. Kennedy had to face Kruschev as well as his own military machine, who wanted to take out the nuclear weapons with military force. Kennedy, for all his personal flaws, really seemed to grasp the dangers of war and what responding militarily could do to the world. He chose, instead, to use our military might as the bargaining chip for peace. Kruschev, also, had to battle his 'comrades' who were eager to take on the U.S. and he showed great courage in standing up to them and negotiating with the U.S. This is a well done film about a historical moment in our history that could have changed the course of world history overnight. As one reviewer said, this proves that history does not have to be boring. Should be required viewing for everyone under 50 as a reminder that we can deal with the most difficult of all situations and not have to go to war, even though it could have ended up with two nations destroying each other. [...] October 13, 2007

A classic confrontation between Kennedy and Kruschauve

This docudrama shows the Kennedy Adminstration at its very best. William Devene makes a very believable President John F. Kennedy who handles the pressure of dealing with the threat of Soviet Nuclear Missiles a mere 90 miles from our shores. This film is very nicely restored and is complete and uncut. It also showed how President Kennedy and his brother Robert Kennedy dealt with the pressures of whether or not to evade Cuba. A young Martin Sheen proves what a good actor he was back then bringing the passion of Robert Kennedy into the proceedings. I remember having to watch this film when I was in high school and its nice now that school children of today can now watched a restored digital print of this classic docudrama. October 6, 2007

Cuban Missile Crisis History Lesson in 155 Minutes

First, here's some technical information. "The Missiles of October" is a 1974 or '74 ABC-TV/Viacom television movie running at 155 minutes, probably a miniseries, shot on videotape in NTSC. The DVD version is an NTSC version. The picture quality of the DVD is extremely good considering the age and means of the production.

HERE'S MY AMAZON DISCLAIMER: Regarding other reviews here, it's hard to argue against any statement that this movie "idolizes JFK," because it's based on RFK's book about their actions regarding the Cuban Missile Crisis. Therefore, in assuming his perspective, saying the film is idolizing JFK is unethical, as we should be lucky that he wrote the book in the first place. I mean, calling it "idolizing" basically throws away the fact of its biographical existence of a specific moment of history. Everything is first-hand information with his own person, JFK, being the central character. Therefore, it's going to take his side, as who else's would it assume? This is not idolization, but dramatic biography! Docu-drama. Does one who accuses this movie of idolization also accuse it of depicting events that did not happen as according to its author? If not, then I submit the criticism of idolization has nothing to do with anything. I mean, one could call it biased, and be right, as it would have to be, since it is FFK's story and not someone else's! I'm not sure what "idolizing" means. But, onto my review:

I'm not sure about some of the information about what written material this movie was based on, but immediate informal research concludes that this movie was based partly on Robert F. Kennedy's book "Thirteen Days" about the Cuban Missile Crisis. If you remember this name somehow, it's probably due to the book's remake into a movie in 2000 (premiered in 1999) with the same title by director Roger Donaldson, with Kevin Costner in a co-starring role.

The name is a reference to a book entitled "The Guns of August," a book about the Great War (a.k.a. WWI) addressing problems of the combination of the "real politik" paradigm, the German words for realism--a study of politics from the linking of the world through self-interest and armed conflict--with the virtue of the paradigm of idealism. Since the Cuban Missile Crisis occurred in October, the movie's name, "The Missiles of October," is a comment on the former to denote the potential seriousness of the incidents in this crisis which were mainly in the drama of JFK's decisions to avert nuclear war against the communistic U.S.S.R.

The movie has an exceptional cast, and a large one, with actors with long and noticeable careers in cinema long before 1973, even in the days of black-and-white. Otherwise, Soviet Premier Khrushchev is played by Howard DaSilva, who had memorably co-starred in the film version of the stage musical "1776" playing Ben Franklin, the delegate and inventor; in Joseph Losey's film "M"; and, in "The Great Gatsby" with Robert Redford. Also, John Kennedy's brother Robert is played by Martin Sheen, and he had went on to star in "Apocalypse Now" and several other films.

The thirteen days of the Cuban Missile Crisis has since become a subject of study, and this film should be recommended to anyone studying this moment of history, because it is a very literary translation, playing out with the drama being solely located in the scripts themselves: both the screenplay script and the actual international relations scripts from which this movie seems to borrow so much.

In comparison between this 1974 television movie to the 2000 film version, the t.v. movie is very talky, but still manages quite well to pull off the drama which is mostly in the script. The film version has the same dramatic themes obviously, but they are much more well-funded with expensive shots of military crafts both air and sea, an even larger cast, and never-before-seen footage of real nuclear explosions, this time in beautifully full color film rather than the black-and-white stock for the videotaped t.v. movie. The theatrical film version lacks the character of the Soviet Premier, and so it seems much less "talky" than the t.v. version. The t.v. version had already made JFK as the central figure only to tell the story in dramatic sequence rather than in defense of him since it is based on JFK's book, so his characterization is like a lion, as this method is the best way to tell the story that is virtually his anyway. If it had not done this with his perspective, it would've decreased the suspense. The television movie deserves a lot of credit for being able to maintain that suspense through the excellent cast and script, much of which is taken from historic speeches. Ultimately, the t.v. movie is about how JFK had de-pressurized the system, where the film version does this much more in such a way as to imprint an image of JFK in memory.

In result of the historical events as they are portrayed in the t.v. movie, the JFK character mentions his own lack of air support in the Bay of Pigs invasion. It connects the Soviet Premier's placement of missiles in Cuba as a partial belief of the impotence of a U.S. president that is younger than his first son. Nevertheless, with JFK responding by cutting off Cuba from the Soviets, the Americans and the Soviets begin towing the line, in addition to the nuclear threat, as JFK is not only aware of the nuclear missiles the Soviets have placed in Cuba, but is threatening to attack on the moment those missiles become operational. Finally, after military maneuvers and the sole casualty of an American spy plane, the two leaders finally defuse the situation on agreement, in-turn avoiding nuclear war. September 28, 2007

The Missiles of October

Interspersed with newsreel footage to heighten its gripping realism, Page's riveting and groundbreaking made-for-TV docudrama reaches for "you-are-there" verisimilitude in its depiction of the thirteen days in October 1962 when JFK agonized over whether to go to war with Russia, a time when the world came close to nuclear annihilation. Well-scripted and directed with nail-biting intensity by Page, "Missiles" boasts tremendous performances by Devane, Sheen, and Howard Da Silva as Premier Khrushchev. See it before (or in spite of) the more Hollywood-ized Kevin Costner vehicle, "Thirteen Days." July 5, 2007

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