The China Syndrome

The problem with The China Syndrome is mainly the utter cowardice of the screenwriters, because we could be discussing all sorts of issues within the framework of atomic paranoia, such as nuclear waste storage or why John's newborn baby has his neighbor's eyes, yet the script winds it all around a certifiable evil and a negligent corporation, which in expertly B-movie fashion attempts to bury any suspicions that their nuclear power plant (really, it's so cute compared to, say, Temelín) was built by amateur Boy Scout campers. So it's important not to go looking under the semi-scientific title for a shocking study like Threads was, but really just a good thriller with commendable asides about the level of the media. (11/02/2012)

I can't give a higher rating simply for the reason that I work in the industry and I am bothered by the nonsense that appears in the film. Not that there couldn't be an accident at a nuclear power plant, after all, we know one from Slovakia, but the filmmakers in general didn't really bother with the realities in the nuclear power plant and it all seems unbelievable for someone who knows and understands. However, the film perfectly captures the concerns in society that have led to the decline in the industry in the last 30 years. The film is worth seeing primarily because of Jack Lemmon's acting and Jane Fonda's charms. Overall impression: 40%. (11/08/2007)

Even though you find out the authors’ opinion on nuclear energy pretty soon on, this is more than just a cheesy protest movie. Quite to the contrary, it uses paranoia and conspiracy quite sensitively according to the motto “the more minimalistic, the more intense". Most of the movie looks (I repeat: “looks" not “is"; from a technical point of view in fact it isn’t and doesn’t pretend to be) so true to life (and in the end more disturbing because of it) that if there was a caption saying “based on true events" many would jump at the bait; and they couldn’t be blamed for that. (08/04/2014)