Val Guest directs this gritty film about the effects of what might happen after nuclear testing. Apparently some bombs were exploded at the pole(I think) and it shifted the Earth's axis and some areas of the world that were cold in general become much hotter. In many ways if has some compatibility with what happens(oppositely) in The Day After Tomorrow. Anyway Guest is a very competent director and manages to convey some startling realism as England becomes the hot spot - temperatures rising to epic heights, water having to be rationed, and no end in sight except becoming cinders and ashes. We are in the company of two newsmen and a woman who becomes romantically involved with one that works in the government service as a secretary. Edward Judd plays the leading man - a bit too "angry" from Britain's Angry young man tradition. Judd does overact but is saved by the earthy acting of his friend/newspaper mentor Leo McKern and Janet Munro as the attractive woman Judd falls for. McKern is the conscience of the film - it is through his eyes we see much of what is going on and it is with his heart and mind that we are carried into the impending doom of the situation. This is a rather good film. Scientifically it seems plausible and does never try to go for the cheap special effect or easy storyline. The film has almost a documentary feel about it which greatly adds to its credibility. The film gave me pause as one might ponder what effects man's playing with the world will eventually wrought. Change will not be slow but rather abrupt - the end result of something that had been going on for some time. The Day the Earth Caught Fire is a fine science fiction film in the British tradition of the Quatermass series, and it has solid performances, lively, innovative direction, and some philosophical points to make as well.
Review of The Day the Earth Caught Fire
