COUNTDOWN TO ZERO (USA 2010) ***
Directed by Lucy Walker

The threat of nuclear weapons, the danger to all humanity and how all this can be stopped is the topic of the scary documentary COUNTDOWN TO ZERO.

The filmmakers make their case by going down firstly, to the masses and asking the public in various countries from China to the U.S. what they think or fear of the nuclear threat.  The consensus is the same – everyone is aware, scared but feel they are unable to do a thing to change the current state of affairs.  Using archive footage and talking heads, director Walker assembles their case of hoe so many times in the past, an accident could have happened to ignite a nuclear missile.  Walker keeps the information moving fast and furious.  But quite a bit of the material is technical, and the film wavers in terms of audience interest.  Too much information and too much to swallow!

The most interesting part of COUNTDOWN TO ZERO is the start when the film traces the different ways terrorists can attain a nuclear weapon – and one way being to build it.  The film goes on to chart how radioactive uranium and other materials can be stolen and badly guarded they are.  Get it from Russia, as the voiceover goes, rather playfully.  The research on the many cases where such material is stolen and almost sold is mind boggling.

In the end, Walker flashes a number the audience can text do to say or make their stand.  A small gesture, perhaps but at least it is a start.  COUNTDOWN TO ZERO is educational in the amount of information it provides and the amount of research it has put in regarding the nuclear threat.