Rating: 
Summary: a thought-provoking film
Review: The epigraph at the beginning of the book, "On the Beach" is part of a poem from T.S. Eliot: "this is how the world ends; not with a bang, but a whimper." I read the book first, then watched the movie, and would recommend both to everyone. The movie is a fair portrayal of the book, and the cast is outstanding. Fred Astaire is a real surprise in this, his first dramatic performance. Ava Gardner is beautiful and believable as the drunk, but in denail, Moira. My favorite characters are Tony Perkins and actress who plays his wife. The scene in which Perkins explains to his wife how to use the suicide tablets sent chills up and down my spine. Two things really stand out for me in this movie: The first being the use of "Waltzing Matilda." At times it's played with all the fanfare of a national anthem; at other times, it sounds funereal. The use of "Waltzing Matilda" reaches its climax during a scene in the movie when Moira takes Captain Towers trout fishing, mistakenly thinking they could get away to the mountains for some private time outdoors before the nuclear cloud arrives in Australia and pretty much eliminates humankind. Instead of peace and tranquility, they find drunken revelers...and throughout this revelery, they're singing "Waltzing Matilda." It's funny at first...then increasingly annoying...until one last tenor sings the final verse solo. I don't think I've ever seen a finer scene is a film. The impact of that verse, the way it's tenderly sung, and the shared look between Ava Gardner and Gregory Peck---I will never be able to listen to "Waltzing Matilda" again without tears in my eyes. The second thing is although the subject matter and the tone of the movie are serious, there are a few amusing moments, which for me, make the movie even more realistic. On the Beach is a classic...and anyone who loves film, and worries about the future of our children...should watch and ponder...could this really happen? The answer is a terrifying "yes".
Rating:
Summary: Perfectly Acted, Unforgettable
Review: An all-time classic, "On the Beach," is based on a 1957 novel by Nevil Shute, and remains as powerful and as mesmerizing on DVD today as it was when it played in movie theaters across the country more than 40 years ago. The story, which unfolds gradually and hauntingly through the interaction between the characters, depicts our world following a nuclear war in the northern hemisphere. Radiation fallout is spreading across the globe. Those who remain alive must migrate to Australia ahead of the radiation. Once there, they must confront the reality that it is only a matter of time before they, too, will become infected and die. This movie is amazing because it focuses on relationships and self-discoveries, not on cheap special effects. Radiation death is dramatized by showing empty urban streets, not grotesque corpses. The heart and soul of this film provides its audience with intimate snapshots of how a variety of people cope with their fate, and the fate of the planet. The stirring performances by this acclaimed cast are breathtakingly understated, avoiding any hint of melodrama. A delicate rendition of Waltzing Matilda, an Australian national song, is the perfect musical accompaniment to this fabulous film that somehow manages to depict mankind at its ugly, destructive worst as well as at its uplifting and noble best. Utterly unforgettable, it stirs the viewers' humanity to ensure creation survives!
Rating:
Summary: Still A Good Movie
Review: This movie is now a bit dated but it remains one of my favorites.Some of the scenes in the movie, including the segment where the US submarine Sawfish visits a vacant and dead US west coast to investigate a Morse code signal, are among the finest scenes ever shot in a movie. The movie involves the Captain (Gregory Peck) and crew of the US submarine Sawfish that finds itself in southern waters near Australia after a nuclear war has wiped out the northern hemisphere. Apparently the radiation levels were high enough to kill everyone in the upper half of the globe quickly. Now the winds are driving the radiation into the southern part of the globe but there are a number of months left to live before the radiation reaches Australia. The movie is about Captain Dwight Towers (Gregory Peck) who seems unable or unwilling to accept that his wife and family back in the US are dead, along with Ava Gardner - his female companion in the movie - and locals played by Fred Astaire an amateur race car buff, and Anthony Perkins a member of the Australian navy. It chronicles their months together until the end comes leaving us with vacant scenes of downtown Melbourne, Australia. A very powerful movie. Jack in Toronto
Rating:
Summary: Great Movie, however depressing it may be
Review: On the Beach is much like the classic From Here to Eternity. Different story, however how an apocalyptic event is unfolding and how it effects these peoples lives is very similar. Peck is outstanding, Gardner a terrific supporter, Perkins in his second-best performance, all the acting is fabulous. Story is a little out there, however is quite frightening considering we have the power to make this film come true. Peck is a submarine commander who has just landed ashore on the beautiful coast of Australia where the world's last survivors have been dreadfully awaiting the deadly radiation cloud caused by the war. He sees the radiation hasn't arrived yet so he and his crew emerge from the ocean and visit the town. Perkins is the Australian naval officer assigned to meet up with him and inform him of their condition. Gardner is the beautiful, constantly drunk woman who he quickly gains a loving relationship with. Jillian (i think thats his name) is her older ex-boyfriend whose dream of succeeding at the races is fulfilled in one of the most breath-taking racing scenes ever filmed. Depressing, however powerful message to the world about the awesome power the nuclear weapons have and what we can destroy by our own hands.
Rating:
Summary: a thought-provoking film
Review: The epigraph at the beginning of the book, "On the Beach" is part of a poem from T.S. Eliot: "this is how the world ends; not with a bang, but a whimper." I read the book first, then watched the movie, and would recommend both to everyone. The movie is a fair portrayal of the book, and the cast is outstanding. Fred Astaire is a real surprise in this, his first dramatic performance. Ava Gardner is beautiful and believable as the drunk, but in denail, Moira. My favorite characters are Tony Perkins and actress who plays his wife. The scene in which Perkins explains to his wife how to use the suicide tablets sent chills up and down my spine. Two things really stand out for me in this movie: The first being the use of "Waltzing Matilda." At times it's played with all the fanfare of a national anthem; at other times, it sounds funereal. The use of "Waltzing Matilda" reaches its climax during a scene in the movie when Moira takes Captain Towers trout fishing, mistakenly thinking they could get away to the mountains for some private time outdoors before the nuclear cloud arrives in Australia and pretty much eliminates humankind. Instead of peace and tranquility, they find drunken revelers...and throughout this revelery, they're singing "Waltzing Matilda." It's funny at first...then increasingly annoying...until one last tenor sings the final verse solo. I don't think I've ever seen a finer scene is a film. The impact of that verse, the way it's tenderly sung, and the shared look between Ava Gardner and Gregory Peck---I will never be able to listen to "Waltzing Matilda" again without tears in my eyes. The second thing is although the subject matter and the tone of the movie are serious, there are a few amusing moments, which for me, make the movie even more realistic. On the Beach is a classic...and anyone who loves film, and worries about the future of our children...should watch and ponder...could this really happen? The answer is a terrifying "yes".
Rating:
Summary: A masterful production on how "it really ends"
Review: To me, the magnificance of the Nevil Shute "On the Beach" novel, and this movie, is that it is an honest, believeable account of the end of the world as seen by the remaining soon-to-die but maybe not survivors. There are no heroics, there are no hysterics, there are no scenes of war: people try to cope, adapt, get along, and sometimes have hope in their own way -- often with humor -- but with the stark reality that they are all most likely to die because of man's weapons of self-destruction. Throughout, you're engaged and captivated with the believeable story lines and have to keep reminding yourself that the war is over -- and EVERYBODY lost, until the final scenes, when the effects of the nuclear radiation clouds finally reach Australia. The movie's synopsis is available elsewhere on Amazon and is essentially accurate, so I won't bother. The cast is incredibly believeable. You'll find you'll establish a rapport with every character, no matter how small. And Fred Astair as the egg-head scientist is outstanding in this, his first dramatic role (and as a kid, I thought he had already died when I first saw the movie). But a remarkable performance that re-ignited his career :-) Just as an aside, I do think the book and movie had a material effect of presenting the consequences of what was in store if we went to nuclear war during the Cuban Missile Crisis. I read the book as a 12-year-old when it was available at the Dallas Public Library. I didn't know there was a movie until several years later. The book was published in 1958; the movie came out in 1959 -- the "On the Beach" stage was set for the future, 1964. I was a bag boy at a local Kroger's grocery store during the Cuban missile crisis. We were TOTALLY sold out and the shelves were cleared of canned goods, bottled water, batteries, candles, -- you name it -- for stockpiling because of the panic and fear of immediate total nuclear war. I've heard several accounts that the message presented in "On the Beach" had a highly positive effect to motivate our representatives in government to find a peaceful solution. I hope politicans everywhere around the world will watch it today. George in Texas
Rating: 
Summary: A Film of the Heart and Mind
Review: Without going deeply into the details of the film, described well elsewhere, I would like to say it is well done in the sense of representing a possible future reality in a down to earth way and, at the same time creating both personal and humanity oriented dilemmas. It is a film worth seeing and, feeling. After the film, I walked out onto the porch and stared off into the distance with an ache in my heart. It is worth mentioning something about the review written by Eric J. Paddon. He writes '...the reason why there never was another ground war horror...was "because" of the atomic bomb'. This is militaristic-thinking (or non thinking) To make such a claim borders on idiocy. It may be his point of view but it is not, by any means certain; rather, it is highly debatable. I would like to mention that the author of the book, Nevil Shute was an aeronautical engineer and served in both World Wars as a Royal Navy commander. Mr. Paddon also writes that the dooms day scenario was proved wrong. Sadly, this is not at all the case. We still have a long way to go before we can make such a claim. There are still 'a hell of a lot of hellish arms, capable of transforming our world into hell' out there. We need to worry about that! In fact, his implication seems to be the bad guy isn't around any longer, and that in itself is dangerous. The idea that '"we" have won and it's all over', is an attitude of smugness which appears partly to be what this film may be warning us against. This is no time in our history to fall asleep at the wheel. An arms race is, well, an arms race, and races are not run alone. It is also a macabre sort of dance and, as the saying goes: it takes two to tango...
Rating:
Summary: ON THE BEACH
Review: This is one of the all time classics in every respect. Some consider the message anti-war. It's not really. Instead, Shute's making a statement of the human condition. While we may feel like spectators as the cloud of radioactive air relentlessly closes in on Australia, we're not really. Our demise is just as certain and relentless as the characters in on the beach. There is still time for us, but it grows shorter daily. That's the Shute's message and it's a powerful context with which to guage and direct our daily activities. Great soundtrack too. Never colorize this one.
Rating:
Summary: Food for thought
Review: Another sharp and perceptive gem from Stanley Kramer. This A- Grade movie featuring an all start cast yet shot in gritty black and white still packs a powerful punch . It makes an extremely persuasive anti war statement specifically in regard to the irreversible and utterly pointless outcome of a nuclear holocaust. For me , the standout moments of the film are those which involve Fred Astaire's participation in the world's final "Death Race". Knowing that they only have hours to live, each driver simply goes flat out with most of them choosing to self destruct at high speed rather than subject themselves to the unknown tortures of death by radioactive poisoning . "On the Beach" is one of my all time favourite movies. Alot of critics didn't like it because they couldn't handle the unsettling possibilities which it presented. No doubt some of them felt a responsibility to articulate what they thought was GOING TO BE the public's abhorence of the whole thing. Remember that this was the 1950s. People were trying hard to forget the second world war which had only come to end a mere 14 years earlier .The last thing they wanted to consider was the disturbing thought that those five horrendous years might have achieved nothing of any lasting consequence and that it could all happen again. To my mind , this is one of the most eloquent and thought provoking films ever made. Kramer was clearly making a plea for disarmament just as JFK was to do a few years later . This would not have been a popular concept at the time. Certainly prvides food for thought.
Rating:
Summary: Still a powerful film
Review: Some people have said this film is dated, but remember, during the Cold War years of the 50's and 60's and even afterwards the specter of a possible nuclear conflagration between the U.S. and the Soviet Union was a very real possibility. Although there were think tanks like Hermann Kahn's Hudson Institute trying to figure out what would happen if the bombs actually fell someday, no-one really knew how bad the aftermath would be, and whether the north would be completely destroyed or not, and if so, whether the southern hemisphere would actually survive or not. Whether the reality would have played out as depicted in the film, however, isn't that important now. What is important is that Kramer produced a well-acted and well-done film, weaving the stories of the different characters together into a powerful film about how the world might have ended. Peck turns in a classy performance as usual, but everyone is really excellent; Astaire, Gardner, and Perkins all turn in fine performances. Overall, still a fine film even after almost 45 years. Big Steve says rent it and don't Bogart the popcorn.
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