Search - On the Beach on DVD

Kendra M. (KendraM) from NASHVILLE, TN
Reviewed on 1/13/2008...

I read Nevil Shute's book several years ago and thought it amazing. Recently, when culling some books from my bookshelves, I re-read it once again one afternoon. When I read the book the first time, I didn't even know of this classic film. However, I had learned of it since I reading the book the last time, so I ordered this film and, based on others' reviews, the film with Armand Assante and Rachel Ward.

First of all, Gregory Peck and Anthony Perkins were WONDERFUL. Peck had the appeal he had in To Kill A Mockingbird-- strong, sensitive, smart-- all of those good qualities. I've never seen Anthony Perkins like this before. I remember I saw him in one little unmemorable movie (besides Psycho) years ago and liked him, but he was just perfect here. Truly likeable and empathetic and believable. So much so, that I asked my husband why he thought Perkins was typecast after Psycho since he was so talented and appealing. He thought Perkins may have gotten too swishy afterwards and lost his audience appeal (not an indictment or criticism, just a commentary on the times).

The woman who played Perkins wife was also good, as was Ava Gardner. But, herein lies my criticism. I didn't think Ava Gardner was quite as believable as the rest of the cast in her role, although she was definitely adequate. And, I think her role might be the most difficult of all-- she must be a bit brash, bold, regretful, lonely, yet still appealing. Moira is a woman nearing middle age and yearning for a bit of love and comfort before imminent death. I thought Gardner's performance was alright, but I also thought it lacked some depth. Whenever on screen, I found myself studying her performance and critiquing it rather than losing myself in the film.

The story is truly staggering. Taking place in Australia, the citizens are the last known society waiting for imminent death by radioactive fallout which is slowly moving across the earth. Everyone else is dead and they, too, will be dead soon. This film is about how this small group of people spend their last months.

Shute's book is not perfectly written. I remember he calls the baby "it" so many times it was a bit disturbing. Parents don't refer to the baby as "it" too many times after he or she is born! However, certain characters and the story itself are so memorable, despite the book's flaws, that it is a must-read.

The movie, although good and completely recommended, has lost something in the move from book to film. There were certain elements of the book that should have remained in the movie-- not major things, but little details which stayed with the reader long after the book was over. One is how Captain Towers dealt with the memory of his family (who was in America when the bombs hit) and how Capt. Towers spoke of September (the estimated date of radioactive fallout arrival).

Also lost here was how the people dealt with the illnesses of their friends and families and how they planned to deal with their own impending illnesses. Perkins and Anderson dealt with it, since that was the major story line for them in the book. However, while suicide pills were a major factor in the book, it was less so here. And, there is something about a government handing out suicide pills to its citizens that is so awful, and watching the people making their decisions, that I thought it should have been given more focus.

The ending is true to the book, for the most part. The changes made here didn't have to be made and I wonder why the screenwriter or director decided to make them. They are minor changes, but important. I don't want to include a spoiler, but the ending of this film was less emotional than the ending of the book-- and my opinion is based on a certain action that was omitted rather than any performances.

I wound up watching both this movie and the remake of it within the same two weeks. Honestly, the newer remake was better with the exception of Armand Assante's performance (which was OKAY, but not of Peck's caliber.). Both are worth seeing. If you can take two stories about Armageddon, order both these films.

3 of 3 member(s) found this review helpful.

A thought-provoking film

01/25/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"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"."

The ultimate Cold War film

Alejandra Vernon | Long Beach, California | 06/21/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is the film that for me captures the terror I felt as a child, growing up at the height of the Cold War; it is bleak and intense, with scenes that are forever etched in my mind. It's one of the great films of that era ("Seven Days in May" and "Fail Safe" are others) that I can watch repeatedly, and their power and impact are never diminished.
Based on Nevil Shute's best seller, and brilliantly directed by Stanley Kramer, the use of sound effects combined with Ernest Gold's Oscar nominated score is very effective. Sometimes the simplest noise set against complete silence is ominous, and gives the feeling of the desolation of empty cities.
As time runs out, people try to avoid the "morbid discussion" of what awaits them, and some make the most of those precious days, weeks and months, like the elderly scientist Julian (in an exceptional performance by Fred Astaire), who completes his dream of being a race car driver.Both strong and tender, Gregory Peck is fabulous as Dwight Towers, the commander of a submarine, who has trouble accepting that he is alive, while his family are victims of the "monstrous war". The woman who falls in love with him is Ava Gardner, who has spent far too much time being consoled by a bottle of brandy. The plot is filled out by Anthony Perkins and Donna Anderson, a young couple facing the fact that their baby has no future.
In the late 50s and early 60s, the scenario in this film was all too real; we face other dangers now, but there was something truly chilling about those Cold War years, and this film vividly brings back the memory of them. Total running time is 134 minutes."

On The Beach...revisited

Alejandra Vernon | 06/05/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I first saw " Onthe Beach" (OTB) after reading the Nevile Shute novel. I remember Pauline Kael saying in one of her more vitupritive reviews, "will anyone in the future remember On the Beach as anything but a bad movie". I was confused. Perhaps my response at the time had been the sentimental attachment of a high-schooler (after all, that "Waltzing Matida" theme can get to you). But now, Pauline, I can answer yer question. OTB is really not about the end of the world...but rather about the end of each of our worlds. "Fail Safe", "Dr Strangelove", etc...these are the movies about the end of the world. But this film is just about the end of one life...A few lives. And how we watch these finalities played out is like a chess game. Sure,there are moments spiced with Kramer's understandable ham-fisted "MESSAGE" about Nuclear War...but also we experience the slight, breathless moments when we know something forever is lost. I liked it a lot then... I like it now, too. Less for its attacks on radioactive death...more, for its reflections of how we may face our own "end". Remember, this film came out at at time when most American films were glamorizing pillow talks and chariot races and west side stories. These films, as well as the exquisite foreign films of the time also hold up...on their own levels. But there is a poignancy, perhaps not then intended, with all the lead actors either dead or retired that gives a new message to the quote from which the novel and film arose: "Here by the Sea, by the tumult river, here on the beach......sorry, misquoted, but intent on making a point. Looking forward to other comments. I believe the quote ends with the phrase, "Life ends not with a bang, but a whimper"."