Cold war films

The "Cold War" lasted 45 or 46 years, depending upon which theory you accept about when it started. The Cold War was the consummate staring contest. The Eastern Block, led by Russia, kept one finger on the button that would destroy the West, while the West (that's us) kept its finger on the button that would destroy the East. The Cold War world was filled with espionage, spying, and counterspying — and a whole lot of what can only be called misinformation and unreasonable fear. Hollywood had a bottomless pit of movie material. And there were hundreds of movies made with the Cold War as the backdrop — some pretty good ones, too.

There were many really good Cold War films, but I'll pick just three of the ones that I consider the best here because of a lack of space.

"Fail Safe": "Fail Safe" was released in 1964 and starred Henry Fonda as the president of the United States who was trying hard to avert all-out nuclear war that was just about to start because of accidents and miscommunication. A group of bombers on a routine patrol receives a coded message that tells them to bomb Moscow. This was scary stuff in the Cold War years.

"Seven Days in May": "Seven Days in May" was also released in 1964. (1964 was apparently a great year for Cold War movies because "Dr. Strangelove" was released the same year.) Unlike other Cold War movies, "Seven Days in May" didn't deal with nuclear war or the threat of nuclear war. Instead, it centered around the idea of a military takeover of the government.

"The Hunt for Red October": America and Russia come to the very brink of World War III in "The Hunt for Red October." It's an "edge-of-the-chair" movie that is still one of the most popular rental films ever.