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Reader riposte: political violence on film

Reader riposte: political violence on film
Published 22 Mar 2013 

Alex Burns responds to Sam Roggeveen's post on political violence in film:

My list — apart from the films mentioned, and a bit broader than political violence — would include:

  • The original mini-series version of Edge of Darkness for its study of the nuclear state, Special Operations, and ecological activism.
  • The War Game, WarGames, Threads and The Day After as illustrative examples of nuclear war panics.
  • United Red Army about 'old' terrorism.
  • Arlington Road and Fight Club about the Clinton Administration climate, post-Oklahoma City bombing.
  • Paradise Now on suicide bombing.

[fold]

  • The Killing Room for MKUltra conspiracy theorists.
  • JFK for the JFK conspiracy theorists.
  • Das Boot and The Hunt For Red October about combat decision-making, deception and surprise in Clausewitz's "fog of war".
  • Red Cliff for its evocation of the Chinese Seven Military Classics and stratagem warfare.
  • Twelve Angry Men about cognitive biases, evidence, groupthink, and small group decision-making.
  • Primer for new technology development.
  • Waco: The Rules of Engagement for crisis decision-making and civil-military coordination (a documentary on the Branch Davidians and BATF/FBI siege).
  • The Baque Ball: Skin Against Stone documentary on the Basque separatist movement.
  • A and A2 documentaries about Aum Shinrikyo.

What I would miss:

  • The Net — a confused documentary about Ted Kaczynski and the Internet.


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