BelSports This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Hayden Kane There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Haven Kaycee It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

Scott LeBrun "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.

dougdoepke No need to recap the plot, nor echo consensus points on the excellence of the production. Instead, I want to single out three topical threads that drive much of the drama and remain relevant in our own day.One thread is the shaping of public consciousness by mainstream media. The conflict here is between a breaking crisis at a nuclear power plant and how that gets reported, if at all. Understandably, Godell (Lemmon) and allies feel that ordinary cautions about law-suits and bureaucratic procedures must be overridden in order to prevent the plant from starting up again and risking apocalypse. On other hand, Well's (Fonda) TV station must concern itself with risking major liability if Godell turns out to be a crank, which the power company is insisting upon. So where does the station's responsibility lie. In the movie there's little time to sort out these concerns, so the station's honchos must make snap decisions.Another thread is the conflict between personal conscience and practical concerns. Godell is a central figure here, along with reporter Wells. Godell loves the plant and the services it provides. On other hand, he must wrestle with growing realization that the plant's safety features are fatally flawed. Thus he moves through stages of personal involvement until finally engaging whole-heartedly in exposing the dangers to a TV audience. Similarly, Wells moves through stages from cushy denial to putting her job and life on the line in support of Godell going on TV. But can Godell be so certain of his conclusion. There's no time to verify since the power company insists on starting up again.And lastly is the question of power itself, both literally and figuratively. Power, considered literally amounts to electricity to run our many modern conveniences (the movie's microwave oven), generated here by the nuclear power plant. Shutting it down would also mean shutting down an entire community including the TV station. Figuratively, the leverage amounts to who ultimately wields power within the society itself. We see elements of this crucial question revealed by the basic conflict over whether the plant is shut down or not. To me, the contest here is between an element of the 70's counter-culture, the bearded Richard (Douglas), along with in-betweeners like Wells and Spindler (Brimley), and the suits concerned foremost with company investments, especially the planned new plant up the coast. Note how the imperious board-chairman (Herd) peers down from above into the control room where the action is. Note too how he commands an armed security attack force, a lethal arm of corporate power where the power really is. Thus, I can't help but see elements of 60's counter-culture helping to shape this 1978 production. However, these echoes shouldn't be allowed to consign the perennial threads to a bygone time. Fashions may have changed, along with a new digital age that's loosened MSM's grip on public information. Still, these underlying threads, so powerfully dramatized in the film, remain among the underlying conflicts of our own age. For example, apocalyptic climate change is controversial, emerging as both an individual and collective issue. All in all, the movie amounts to a harrowing interweaving of such basic themes, thanks to a stellar cast, screenplay, and production crew. So don't miss it.

keachs Wow. Not sure why this thriller has so few rating in IMDb. (Actually not so unusual for any non-blockbusters from this era) Almost every aspect of the film is rock solid: setting script, acting, story-line, and the issue is still relevant 35 years later. The characters and scenes in the studio and nuclear power plant are totally believable. There no superfluous scenes at all, no added sex scenes, no smart alack comedy or in-your face scenes. Jack Lemmon in my opinion is also very underrated and gives a great performance as Jack Godell, and Jane Fonda and Michael Douglass are very good in their respective roles. I had not realized that Michael Douglass produced this film, along with One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest four years earlier when he was barely 30 years old. Though some of the costuming and settings obviously reflect the era of the film, it does not feel dated at all. The China Syndrome holds it's own with the other more well-known films of it's day and probably surpasses in quality, the majority current releases put out by Hollywood.

Leofwine_draca THE CHINA SYNDROME is another example of those great '70s-era conspiracy thrillers that still outdo most similar fare being released in cinemas today. It's a realistic, thought-provoking and sometimes terrifying tale of mankind's reliance on nuclear energy, and the problems that arise thanks to laziness and negligence on our parts.Jane Fonda has never been better playing a TV reporter trying to get the scoop of her life, with a dependable Michael Douglas playing her tireless cameraman. Best of all, however, is Jack Lemmon in a straight role as a worker at a nuclear power plant who soon becomes aware that something very fishy is going on at his place of work. The cast is loaded with familiar faces, particularly at the news studio with James Karen and Peter Donat in support.THE CHINA SYNDROME quickly grips you at the outset with an outstanding set-piece, one that's full of tension. After this things change down a gear, and then it's a slow burn for a while. Towards the end though, they really pick up again with some chilling moments and a grand climax. It's a bit of an emotional roller-coaster ride and what makes it so effective is that it's easy to believe this could really happen. A great thriller.