MovieChat Forums > Panic in Year Zero! (1962) Discussion > One of the best of its kind

One of the best of its kind

posted 18 years ago by Soujurn
17 replies | jump to latest

I first saw this on a late late show in the early 1980's. Even with 5 minutes worth of commercials every ten minutes, I hung in and watched it to the end.
The cool jazz score being one of the things that kept me watching.
There was a lot of thought and logic put into this movie. Seeking out a cave in a remote area made sense. Also, the aspect of watching normal decent people descend to animalism is well portrayed too.
The ending is a little abrupt. I think they ran out of money.
It is a lot of fun to watch Ray Milland as I am a big fan of his acting.
Also seeing Jean Hagen who you may remember from Singing In The Rain.
And it is fun to see Frankie Avalon in something other than a surfing/beach picture.

"Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government."
-Dennis

[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] lrcdmnhd72 18 years ago

This movie can give you an idea of what can happen when the survival of civilization is threatened. People losing control when their own survival is at stake. This kind of mob mentality can also be generated by certain kinds of sports, e.g., basketball, football, baseball, just to mention a few.

[–] artanis65 17 years ago

Definitely a very good film. Its pace never slows, it never insults you with its intelligence, and it's surprisingly realistic for a movie made in the early 1960's. It's a good thing for the rather autocratic dad Ray Milland plays in the movie that teenagers hadn't started to rebel in 1962. This would have been a very different movie if it had been made just a few years later.

[–] qouth_the_raven 17 years ago

I agree. Balances the philosophy of survival with the practicalities nicely. Not a film for feminists though. A remake would be interesting but inevitably cheesy which this wasn't.

[–] Death_to_Pan_and_Scan 17 years ago

I was worried near the start when Ray calls people scattering from LA and driving both sides of the road 'fools and idiots' whilst I was thinking to myself "you're driving TOWARDS a mushroom cloud and you're calling other people idiots?". Luckily, it got better and the characters got a lot smarter. The one part that did seem a bit surprising was to see the law abiding citizen torch a stop sign across lanes of traffic for his own sake, thereby catching at least one car of some innocent people on fire in the process. I thought the film was quite good overall, especially for a B grade AIP 'atomic age' movie.

[–] donofthedial 17 years ago

This film was so far ahead of it's time that it can only be appreciated in retropsect.

It is one of the very first survivalist films of the modern era. Milland does all he has to do to keep himself and his family safe and alive until "civilization returns".

Pulling a gun on the sotre owner who is now gouging for food and gas - totally believeable.

Starting a fire across the lanes of the highwway so he can get his car and trailer across - totally what someone would do in such a circumstance.

When he and his son, IIRC, go and kill the teen thugs who raped his daughter - way to go, Ray!

His whining wife qould have gotten them all killed with her boo-hoo attitude of passive acceptance.

Way fine film,somewhat dated, yes, but still quite an eye-opener.

And directed by Ray Milland, too.

[–] gary_overman 17 years ago

<I was worried near the start when Ray calls people scattering from LA and driving both sides of the road 'fools and idiots' whilst I was thinking to myself "you're driving TOWARDS a mushroom cloud and you're calling other people idiots?". Luckily, it got better and the characters got a lot smarter. The one part that did seem a bit surprising was to see the law abiding citizen torch a stop sign across lanes of traffic for his own sake, thereby catching at least one car of some innocent people on fire in the process. I thought the film was quite good overall, especially for a B grade AIP 'atomic age' movie.>

Harry Baldwin was thinking none too clearly when he yielded to his wife and started back. However, to his credit, he soon regains his common sense, and decides to resume their trip, realizing that not to do so would put his family in grave jeopardy. After this, his good sense remains with him and he is able to stick to his guns and makes some pretty darn rational (and tough) decisions.

[–] schoduck 17 years ago

<It is a lot of fun to watch Ray Milland as I am a big fan of his acting.
Also seeing Jean Hagen who you may remember from Singing In The Rain.
And it is fun to see Frankie Avalon in something other than a surfing/beach picture.>

Let's not leave out Joan Freeman, Richard Bakalyan (plays a cool pycho), and the ever authoritative Willis Bouchey as the doctor!

"There are 10 kinds of people, some understand binary and some don't!"

[–] layton59 15 years ago

QUOTE

Also seeing Jean Hagen (the wife) who you may remember from Singing In The Rain.

Yeah, I thought Jean Hagen looked familiar. She played the shrill talking actress in SITR. Her character was so mean to Debbie Reynolds' character in that movie. Great piece of acting on her part in SITR.

************************************************
Ye Olde Sig Line:

Liberals kill with ABORTION.
Conservatives kill with the DEATH PENALTY.
I kill with THOSE and WORDS.

[–] gwill37 13 years ago

A good movie to watch on a lazy saturday afternoon.

we can't please everyone so i suggest we all stop trying

[–] RichN36 13 years ago

Just finished reading the book "One Second After" by Dr. William Forstchen. Reminded me of this movie a lot. Recomend it.

This sonic transducer is I suppose some kind of audio-vibratory-physio-molecular transport device

[–] FranLovesBetteD 13 years ago

This motion picture is just superb! I saw it last night for the very first time and absolutely loved it. I just purchased it because I'm a huge Ray Milland/Jean Hagen fan, but ended up enjoying everything else in it, as well. This is one tough-realistic movie for it's time, and should be much more taken into account. I didn't know Mr. Milland was a director too, but I must say he certainly was a very impressive one. I admire him even more so now.

I ignore whether this movie was a pioneer of this genre, but I'm pretty sure Wes Craven's "The Hills Have Eyes" was at least a little bit inspired by it.

Animal crackers in my soup
Monkeys and rabbits loop the loop

[–] gary_overman 13 years ago

<I ignore whether this movie was a pioneer of this genre, but I'm pretty sure Wes Craven's "The Hills Have Eyes" was at least a little bit inspired by it.>

I thought that THHE was inspired more by the Sawney Bean case in Scotland in the early 1600's. Some don't believe it ever took place. In a nutshell, the story was that people in a remote coastal district were disapppearing in large numbers over a period of several years, and it developed that Sawney Bean, his wife, children, and grandchildren (many of the latter were produced by incest) living by themselves with very little or no contact with outside society, were killing the people and eating them. Finally someone escaped from their clutches and told the authorities about the clan, and all of them, even the children, were eventually captured and executed in what modern sensibilities would call a very brutal fashion.
This is the story in a nutshell. You can do the old google fu if you are interested in finding out more.

And FWIW, I agreee that Panic was a darned good film.

[–] FranLovesBetteD 13 years ago

Thank you very much for the information. I must confess I've never heard about the Sawney Bean case, but it sounds like a very interesting one. I'm going to look it up on Google right now.

Animal crackers in my soup
Monkeys and rabbits loop the loop

[–] jac91604 13 years ago

This was a very good film.

Trying to watch "2012" now and it is pretty much garbage.

Over the top, computer generated special effects, and characters you don't get to really know or care about.

"Panic" showed a realistic side of what could happen.

But the dummies of today prefer special effects every 30 seconds.

[–] FranLovesBetteD 13 years ago

Totally agreed. "Panic" provokes great thrill and tension without modern special effects or a big budget; it's purely made of acting talent and a terrific development of the story.

Animal crackers in my soup
Monkeys and rabbits loop the loop

[–] franzkabuki 12 years ago

Since most of "its kind" tended to be some ridiculous cheapo B- or C movies, that´s probably true. But it´s just mediocre though - the first half´s pretty exciting and kinda promising, but once they become cave dwellers, it runs out of steam completely, becoming dull and predictable. The acting´s uniformly poor by anyone besides Milland and the dialogue they´re given to spout, is flat, bland and always literal minded; it´s not very convincing in its attempts to try and examine the post-nuke psychological ins and outs and what-have-yous. Add to that the jarring, silly score as well as a typically uninspired actor´s direction and it isn´t more than a piece of forgettable afternoon amusement. 6/10 almost feels too generous.

As for the best post-apocalypse films, The War Game & The Quiet Earth are strong contendas. The Omega Man was better than this one, too.

"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan