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To me, this movie is perfection.

A Masterpiece!

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

This was when Hollywood still made hard-hitting dramas about important issues with big-time, serious actors. Stellar writing, outstanding dialogue, great acting! Too bad all we get nowadays is a bunch of corporate-approved crap. Where is the drama? Where is the critical commentary on current issues? Guess the current generation just wants their car chases and special effects. Too bad our population lost its balls after the 70's.

According to Wikipedia as I compose this review, the Three Mile Island accident happened 12 days after the release of this picture. I remember seeing it the Friday night it opened, and it blew me away. Over time, I think Apocalypse Now has become the better picture of 1979, but at that time, I thought it was the best film of 1979.The problem with this movie was that it became more of a political movie after TMI, rather than the thriller with which it was originally intended. It's of course impossible to view this movie without factoring in what occurred at TMI. You can't "un-ring the bell," as they say. I was lucky to watch it without the taint of TMI, but of course, not too many people can say that. Jack Lemmon has the performance of the movie. I'm a fan of Jane Fonda, but I didn't think she was plausible in the role of a TV reporter.

"The China Syndrome" truly is a landmark film. What helps the most in making it so successful is its "docu-drama" approach, giving it a sense of immediacy that you might not ordinarily get in a Hollywood production. For example, there is no music score on the soundtrack, manipulating us to feel a certain way at specific moments. The story (screenplay credited to Mike Gray, T.S. Cook, and director James Bridges) is compelling enough without additional accompaniment. Also, you also feel as if you're really learning something about the machinations of television news as well as the nuclear power industry. And the film turned out to be awfully prophetic: the real life notorious "Three Mile Island" incident occurred not long after.A small time news station is doing a series of stories on nuclear power, and while they are present at the Ventana power plant, an accident takes place. The powers that be are convinced that nothing serious has happened, but the truth of the matter is far different. There are problems with the plant that only surface after loyal plant executive Jack Godell (Jack Lemmon) is concerned enough to do his own sleuthing. Meanwhile, a TV reporter, Kimberly Wells (Jane Fonda), and a radical camera man, Richard Adams (Michael Douglas), realize that they're really on to something big.Bridges does an expert job at reeling in his viewers, and holding their attention for approximately two hours without injecting his film with unnecessary stylistics. The material is downright fascinating, which helps since Bridges goes for a careful, measured pace. There is action, to be sure, as powerful people do everything they can - like running others off the road, and calling in SWAT teams - to ensure that nothing hurts their business. But at least the ending leaves you with a feeling of hope, that it won't be so easy anymore to cover things up.The cast is impeccable right down the line: Fonda as the beauty who yearns to get out of fluff pieces and do more substantial news, Douglas as the pesky independent operator, and especially Lemmon. Lots of familiar faces supporting them, too: Scott Brady, James Hampton, Peter Donat, Richard Herd, James Karen, Donald Hotton, Lewis Arquette, Rita Taggart, et al. It's particularly nice to see Wilford Brimley, in his first substantial film role, as Godells' co- worker and friend.Definitely catch this one. It's a real gem.10 out of 10.

I just watched THE CHINA SYNDROME (1979) for the first time and now I want everyone who hasn't seen THE CHINA SYNDROME to watch THE CHINA SYNDROME so I can talk to them about THE CHINA SYNDROME.What a movie. Kept me interested throughout and on the edge of my seat for the thrilling final hour.THE CHINA SYNDROME has a lot of cool things going for it. It does a great job of pulling back the curtain on broadcast news, showing the last-minute preparations before going on air, the multiple camera feeds, the teleprompter, and really capturing the whole artifice of television news. Very interesting stuff.Then there's the major theme of ethics, with the big company sacrificing safety procedure (at a nuclear power plant, no less) in the interest of time and money. That's the thing that's frustrating to watch. After a near-miss at the nuclear plant, the suits in charge of the company rush through the investigation and sweep the story under the rug, concerned first and foremost with matters of business and public relations. When the control room supervisor (played brilliantly by Jack Lemmon) feels the need to be cautious and thoroughly examine the equipment before reactivating the generator, he is overruled by those in charge. Nuclear power plants have dangerous potential and Lemmon's character could not in good conscience let the generator run at full power until he was sure everything was okay. The powers that be didn't care and didn't listen to Lemmon's concerns. Grrrrr! How can (fictional) people BE like that?! Especially when the safety of a Pennsylvania-sized chunk of southern California is in your hands?Interestingly, there's a point early in the film where the news station refuses to air footage that was recorded surreptitiously at the nuclear plant, citing ethical responsibility. The news station plays by the rules, even at the expense of a scoop, while the power company cuts corners and falsifies documentation in order to keep things running smoothly.The film also has some great sequences of suspense and thrills. Conspiracies, henchmen, car chases, races against time, the forces of truth and corporate villainy battling it out. Lemmon's character confronts the man responsible for fudging the paperwork and finds his life in danger. He needs to give important testimony to make his opinions heard, but will he get the chance? Not if the men parked outside his house can help it.Then there's the feminist arc of Jane Fonda's character. From the very first scene the film makes it clear that Fonda, an attractive woman reporter, is valued at the news station primarily for her looks. There's mention of her new hair color and how ratings have gone up because of her work on cutesy stories about zoo animals and singing telegrams. Fonda sees herself as a capable reporter and wants a chance to cover a real story, but her boss only wants her doing "what she does best". In classic sexist fashion Fonda is not taken as seriously as her male colleagues on the news team. She gets involved with the nuclear plant story by accident, but follows it through and proves what she can do. The final scene of the film shows a nice juxtaposition, with Fonda's reporter seen on one monitor, after covering the breaking news story like a pro, and a TV commercial of five stereotypical domestic housewives testing microwave ovens on the other.The cast is great all around. Jack Lemmon really stands out in my mind, but Jane Fonda does a good job and Michael Douglas is great as the hot-headed cameraman. Wilford Brimley always seems to pop up in movies from this era and give terrific, down-to-earth performances. Here he plays Lemmon's buddy in the control room. I also want to mention that I couldn't decide if the plant worker at odds with Lemmon's character was Lawrence Tierney. It turns out he's Scott Brady, Tierney's brother.THE CHINA SYNDROME delivers on many levels and is a thriller well worth seeing.