Sabotage is suspected at a Minnesota nuclear power plant, and a struggle ensues involving government response by the book (Ralph Waite), and logic prevailing (William Devane). Also thickening the plot is a massive computer, political implications of a meltdown, and personal tragedy. Ethical questions abound, and someone has to make the life and death decisions. "Red Alert" is really a unique viewing experience. It has decent character development, an exciting story, and will make you think, even if it is only about an impending disaster, and it's implications for everyone concerned. This is truly an involving and entertaining film. - MERK
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merklekranz21 August 2010
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sol12183 February 2011***SPOILERS*** Much better they you would have expected disaster movie about a nuclear reactor about to blow sky high and take the state of Minnesota along with it! Much like the "China Syndrome" the made for TV movie "Red Alert" in fact predates both the "China Syndrome" and the "Three Mile Island" disaster that took place almost simultaneously in March of 1979. In fact the very phrase "China Syndrome" was first coined in the film "Red Alert" not in the movie it was named after!
It's when indications at the main nerve center of the Birchfield nuclear plant detects that something was seriously wrong with it's nuclear reactor that all exits out of the place were immediately sealed sealing the fate of the 14 workers still trapped inside it. Calling the plant's head investigator and chief of security Frank Brolen & Carl Wyche, William Devane & Michael Brandon, to check the place out it's reported by Brolan that there's proof that there was no leakage of any radiation in the now sealed tight as a drum nuclear plant. This statement by Brolen goes against the report received by the plants super computer Proeus which in the mind of the plants manager Cammandor Henry "By the BooK" Stone, Ralph Waite, is totally incomprehensible! Stone is so sure that Proeus can never be wrong that he's willing to sacrifice the 14 men trapped in the plant without as much as a second thought!
Brolen does find out that there was a possible attempt to sabotage the reactor when one of the engineers who works there Howard Ives', Jim Seldon, wife Marie, Lois Fleck, was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in the Ives home! There also surfaced a audio tape by Ives himself stating that he has nothing to live for with his 22 year old daughter Margie, an anti-nuclear activist, killed running from the police and falling to her death off a five story building after she was discovered by the police and FBI making bombs together with her anti-nuclear friends in San Francisco. This put Ives wife Marie into such a deep state of depression that lead to her suicide.
***SPOILER*** Going into the "Belly of the Beast" against orders from his boss Commandor Stone Brolen finds out that the explosives that Ives planted in it were not doing the job in destroying the reactor. They in fact tricked Proeus into setting off a chain reaction that would do the job that the explosives couldn't! Blow the Birchfield Nuclear Reactor apart and radiate everything within a 250 miles radius around it! The biggest and most difficult job that both Brolan & Wyche have on their hands is not only to shut down the reactor but convince their boss Commandor Stone that it's his beloved and infallible computer Promeus, not anyone or anything else, that's about to set it off!
Better in many ways then even the far more popular and star studded "China Syndrome" in not being so over technical in the films dialog thus making it easier for those of us without a degree in nuclear physics to follow and understand it. There's also in the movie the busty, size 36 double D, and sexy Adrienne Barbeau as Carl Wyche, that lucky stiff, wife Judy. The news of the Birchfield Plant about to explode was so shocking to Wyche, which it should have been, that he canceled spending the evening making out with his sexy wife Judy, dressed in a super low cut nightgown, to instead risk his life by racing to the plant in trying to prevent it from going up in flames in a nuclear holocaust! -
johnrowland1818 June 2019A busted water pipe sends steam into the containment room of a nuclear reactor. That in turn sets of a series of events that makes the central computer observing the status of all the country's reactors,believe that the entire system may be at the mercy of saboteurs and so shuts down all access to the plant.
Brolin and Weisch are tasked with trying to discover whether this is an accident or sabotage from within.
Brilliant performances from the leads in William Devane as Frank Brolin and Michael Brandon as Carl Weisch. Ralph Wait as the 'By the book' Commander Henry Stone are the main characters but it has to be said an excellent support cast fulfill their roles well. -
Billiam-47 April 2022Above-average TV disaster film works within the confinements of the genre and is fairly suspenseful, but it's remarkable for its warning of a nuclear meltdown nearly a decade before the Chernobyl disaster.
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A team of investigators is asked to get to the bottom of an ongoing emergency in a nuclear plant. Fourteen people have already died and it's up to the investigators to prevent further loss of life, possibly on a catastrophic scale. Meanwhile matters are not helped along by the presence of a crisis manager who insists on doing everything by the book...
So "Red Alert" is a thriller, and a pretty suspenseful one too. Many of the images are striking, such as the little blips representing the desperate flight and death of unfortunate employees. For computers and for certain computer-like minds, the demise of human beings is just a factual element to be tracked and shown on a screen... The ending of the movie contains a nicely ironical joke.
Still, I've got to admit that the plot didn't seem all that intelligible to me : I found it difficult to separate the actual root cause of the problem from competing hypotheses or complicating factors. But that might be me, since I know very little about the functioning of nuclear plants. Anyway, the main themes of the movie are clear enough, such as a warning against Mankind's overreliance on computers, especially when it comes to executing safety protocols or running emergency plans.
Another theme consists of the difficulty of keeping secrets with regard to some great threat. In the movie, the looming threat of a large-scale disaster is supposed to be kept under wraps but things work out differently : husbands warn their wives and fathers warn their families. Thanks to the magic of the telephone panic spreads until half of the city shows up at the airport, begging for a chance to escape. In case you, dear reader, believe in "compare and contrast" you may want to take a look at "Miracle Mile", another movie that deals with panic and flight in the face of (possible) apocalypse. But beware, "Miracle Mile" is even more chilling and terrifying than "Red Alert". -
dgrahamwatson12 September 2006Not a bad movie at all, although it's a typical TV movie made for the 1970's, it's still entertaining to watch because it highlights all of the paranoia that gripped the US at the time. Government conspiracy theorists, terrorism, environmental concern over nuclear power, those terrified at the prospect of computers taking over our lives and lastly all those under 30 (don't trust anybody over the age of 30) will find this trip down memory lane quite nostalgic. It's sort of the PARALLAX VIEW (1974), THE CHINA SYNDROME (1979), the 1970 shocker THE FORBIN PROJECT and 'TWILIGHTS LAST GLEAMING (1977) all rolled into one. However today, in the light of a renewed fear of terrorism I would have thought that this movie would aroused greater attention.
After an explosion at a Minnesota nuclear power plant the computer at the main control center in Colorado (cheezeley named PROTEUS, nowadays it would probably be called BLUEBERRY or something) decides to go into emergency mode and seals of the reactor to the outside world. Unfortunately, twelve men working near the reactor are unable to escape and perish due to the toxic gas being released. The rest of the plant workers (all under the age of 30) are horrified at the lack of compassion showed by central command and insist that the environment is free from radiation.
However, central control run by the straight-back company man Henry Stone has other ideas. Stone(played brilliantly by normally goody-goody actor of the Walton fame Ralph Waite) insists that what the computer says goes, and that the problem has to be solved "by the book". Unfortunately, the local trouble shooting team that is on hand is led by the craggy-faced Frank Brolin (William Devine) who is despised by Stone.
The sparring between these two is entertaining and only exposes why the two men loath one another. Brolin does not take Stone seriously and also publicly mocks him in front of the other younger workers. Brolin, is a practical think on your feet man who is respected by the plant workers, this is in sharp contrast to Stone who is despised by his subordinates because he is a pompous control freak who would not tie his shoe laces unless the computer ordered him to! Brolin, by deductive reasoning concludes that the computer has probably malfunctioned and despite Stones protestations decides to take matters into his own hands . Brolin enters the reactor and is shocked to discover that he only has a few minutes to avert a major nuclear catastrophe. After a while the younger members of central command who have sat back and let Stone and colossus make one wrong decision after another conclude that the only way they can help Brolin is also take matters into there own hands. They finally pluck up enough courage to ignore his orders and assist in helping Brolin Save the day.
Adrienne Barbeau and Michael Brandon are also in support, so overall it's a pretty good cast. Not as heavy hitting as the later CHINA SYNDROME, never the less it's overlooked and deserves better treatment. A DVD release is overdue for a movie that really brought to peoples attention the possible hazards of terrorism combined with the problem of Nuclear power and computers! -
This gripping and harrowing 70's made-for-TV disaster thriller tells the frightfully plausible story of a near total meltdown at a Minnesota nuclear power plant that's caused by a sudden explosion. Trying to avert a major catastrophe are cynical veteran investigator Frank Brolen (a top-notch performance by the always excellent William Devane) and his young eager beaver partner Carl Wyche (winningly played by Michael Brandon). Standing in Brolen's way is strict ramrod by-the-book nuke plant manager Henry Stone (a splendidly hateful Ralph Waite). Tautly directed by William Hale, with a smart, complex and provocative script by Sandor Stern and admirably complex characters, this supremely chilling and convincing picture provides plenty of nerve-wracking tension as its absorbing and scarily believable story unfolds. Popping up in sturdy supporting roles are Jim Siedow as Howard Ives, the embittered and disillusioned mad bomber who's responsible for the dire situation; Adrienne Barbeau as Wyche's wife Judy, and M. Emmet Walsh as the excitable Sheriff Sweeney. An engrossing, intelligent and overall impressive nail-biter that's well worth checking out.
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garyldibert24 February 2007Red Alert was filmed in 1977 with William Devane play the role of Frank Brolen, Michael Brandon plays the role of Carl Wyche, and Adrienne Barbeau plays the role of Judy Wyche. In a small town in Minnesota sits a nuclear power plant that goes into meltdown follow by a sudden explosion. Enters Frank Brolen and Carl Wyche who must figure out what started the meltdown. Enters Henry Stone who's the plant manager and he's the by the book type. When employees start to die Stone orders the plant in lock down mode. Wyche calls his wife Judy and tells her to get out of town and fast. Brolen and Stone get into an argument over the lock down which leads to Wyche going in any way. Things start to get worst and it's up to Brolen to get in to not only **** his Partner but the other workers. I bought this movie because of Adr8ienne Barbeau and I was disappointed. She didn't have a big part and for that reason I'm giving this movie 5 weasel stars.
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wkozak22123 April 2015I used to watch this on late night TV. Then I taped it to have it in my library. Then, came the china syndrome. A very bloated, big budget bore. Lemmon overacts through out the film. Douglas is reduced to carrying a camera around. The only upside is Fonda in a sweater. Red Alert has two good actors to spearhead the film, Devane and Waite. The premise of the film is realistic. It reminds me sadly of Chernobyl where an accident rapidly becomes a nightmare in a short period of time. If you get the chance watch Red Alert judge for yourself. I always hold this in mind. Sometimes less is more. This movie proves that point. It tells the story very well within a limited amount of time.