Featured Audience Ratings

• Daniel P

  
  A spooky Cold War classic about those MAD years, when the complete ruination of the world through nuclear war seemed a real possibility. Once again, Gregory Peck carries a film with his performance - I'm starting to think he's one of the all-time best - and it's the… More
  A spooky Cold War classic about those MAD years, when the complete ruination of the world through nuclear war seemed a real possibility. Once again, Gregory Peck carries a film with his performance - I'm starting to think he's one of the all-time best - and it's the humanity of these characters and their attempt to retain hope when all seems lost. It's a pushing to the extreme of a feeling in that was in the air at the time, but it also seems unfortunately easy to relate to. An important and uncomfortable film to see.

• AJ V

  
  This movie has a lot of stars, and it's a pretty intense drama, I liked it.

• Red L

  
  Saw this on TV the other day. I could just imagine the movie sending shivers up and down the spines of viewers in 1959. There must be at least one other movie based on the same novel as I have seen this concept before. I found the most surprising actor Fred Astaire. I've… More
  Saw this on TV the other day. I could just imagine the movie sending shivers up and down the spines of viewers in 1959. There must be at least one other movie based on the same novel as I have seen this concept before. I found the most surprising actor Fred Astaire. I've never seen him in a serious role before.

• Daniel H

  
  One of the earliest apocalyptic films, despite being over half-a-century old, has a startlingly unique and refreshing viewpoint on nuclear annihilation. Not post-apocalyptic in the ruined wasteland scenario, nor a commentary on the events leading up to such an event. It still remains… More
  One of the earliest apocalyptic films, despite being over half-a-century old, has a startlingly unique and refreshing viewpoint on nuclear annihilation. Not post-apocalyptic in the ruined wasteland scenario, nor a commentary on the events leading up to such an event. It still remains one of the only films to take place in a place utterly untouched by war, but reeling psychologically from its aftermath. On the Beach instead deals with the end of the world as a slowly creeping outside influence, utterly terrifying and alien... yet calmly assured. A threat whose nationalistic cause is eerily dealt with through nationalist pride. Perhaps the best non-documentary analysis of nuclear war.

• Tim S

  
  I loved the set up of this movie. It was utterly depressing and I am always all over that. Then you have the superb acting from the entire cast. Gregory Peck leads it and there is a scene which contains one of the most natural deliveries of a tough monologue and is just another… More
  I loved the set up of this movie. It was utterly depressing and I am always all over that. Then you have the superb acting from the entire cast. Gregory Peck leads it and there is a scene which contains one of the most natural deliveries of a tough monologue and is just another example of why he is a legend. Also, Fred Astaire is astounding as a cynical, drunk scientist. There was also the way the film was shot (there are some beautiful shots here). I love what Stanley Kramer did with the film, but felt that he beats you over the head towards the end with the entire nuclear war will destroy and I blame that on the times in which paranoia was running rampant. It does take a realistic (though does it's job with stretching) look on the entire situation and I felt deeply for each character.

• Randy T

  
  Released at the height of the cold war, Stanley Kramer's <i>On the Beach</i> is the story of a submarine crew forced to deal with the post-apocalyptic realization that the human race is about to become extinct. As with most of Kramer's endeavors, this one is… More
  Released at the height of the cold war, Stanley Kramer's <i>On the Beach</i> is the story of a submarine crew forced to deal with the post-apocalyptic realization that the human race is about to become extinct. As with most of Kramer's endeavors, this one is forceful and direct. Casting is spot-on perfect with Hollywood legends Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Anthony Perkins and Fred Astaire. By my reckoning, this is one film that is vastly under-appreciated

• Michael G

  
  Not a bad early post-apocalyptic drama which happened to be released at the height of the cold war. Mostly maudlin as its cast faces their own mortality with a little suspense thrown in for the San Francisco sequence. Everyone speaks with an American accent despite the fact that most… More
  Not a bad early post-apocalyptic drama which happened to be released at the height of the cold war. Mostly maudlin as its cast faces their own mortality with a little suspense thrown in for the San Francisco sequence. Everyone speaks with an American accent despite the fact that most of the characters are Australian. How most of the characters' storylines were tied up was done in a reasonably lame manner but this is where I'm guessing the book is better than the movie.

• Stella D

  
  an early post apocalyptic drama with all star cast. the peck/gardner romance is kinda corny but overall it's pretty damn good. it's fun to see fred astaire tackle a dramatic role even if his accent is patchy and anthony perkins turns in an affecting performance as a family… More
  an early post apocalyptic drama with all star cast. the peck/gardner romance is kinda corny but overall it's pretty damn good. it's fun to see fred astaire tackle a dramatic role even if his accent is patchy and anthony perkins turns in an affecting performance as a family man. also i'm pretty sick of that waltzing matilda song now

• Daniel P

  
  Wow. This film still packs a powerful punch. The science behind the concept may be a bit shaky (though undoubtedly would have been considered more accurate at the time the film was made), but then <i>On The Beach</i> isn't interested in the science but in what happens… More
  Wow. This film still packs a powerful punch. The science behind the concept may be a bit shaky (though undoubtedly would have been considered more accurate at the time the film was made), but then <i>On The Beach</i> isn't interested in the science but in what happens after the fact; how the surviving members of the human race after a global nuclear war, deal, or not deal, with their inevitable fate from the fallout. Whether in denial, carrying on as normal, turning to alcohol or becoming consumed in 'frivolous' activities, all the reactions are utterly believable and entirely human. An outstandingly good cast give their best - Ava Gardner and Gregory Peck's romance is particularly well played - and the direction is assured. I especially love the way the Australian anthem Waltzing Matilda is continually entwined and riffed on - towards the end, the extended version is drunkenly and amateurisly sung much to the apparently irritation of Dwight, until the reality of the words (which after all intone suicide) seem to register. The lush score by Ernest Gold also is very powerful. This is a poignant and surprisingly relevant film, up there on my list with the 2000 version of <i>Fail Safe</i>, about the futility of war and the hope of survival, with a difficult to watch ending.

• Kyle M

  
  Powerful film -- bleak but necessary and important.

• Henrik S

  
  Ava Gardner: " He sent me down here. I think he did not know what to do with me." <br/>Gregory Peck: "That is debatable" <br/> <br/>A great post-apocalyptic scenarion set in Australia, depicting the various lifes of people involved with the… More
  Ava Gardner: " He sent me down here. I think he did not know what to do with me." <br/>Gregory Peck: "That is debatable" <br/> <br/>A great post-apocalyptic scenarion set in Australia, depicting the various lifes of people involved with the disaster and how they cope with it and the time they have left. One thing that always struck me as weird, was how limited the number of nuclear craze movies Hollywood produced that were at least partially realistic and dialect. The cold war led to put out of hundreds of giant monster movies but only a handful of "serious" tackles of the topic. <br/> <br/>This movie is a prime example, grim, gritty and throwing many questions at you. Gregory Peck is one of my favourite leading man in Hollywood (past era) and he agains proves me right in this picture. Ava Gardner clearly enjoys her first non-contract film work, while Anthony Perkins is as cringing to look at as ever. <br/> <br/>The movie is very raunchy, with many drinking and sexual references, I would even go as far and not call them references at all. In one scene, Ava Gardner's characters ask Peck's character what he thinks about when he is at the dentist: "Do you think about the most beautiful thing ? Sex ?". <br/> <br/>I give Stanley Kramer two thumbs up for this.Without spoiling the ending, it is refreshingly non-hollywood. <br/> <br/>The only weak spot of the movie is, see above, Anthony Perkins and every scene containing him, which are unfortunately quite a few. He is a terrible actor and I had to fast forward his sequences, I could not take it. <br/> <br/>All in all, an interestng movie which, despite its cast, direction and overall American feel, is a bit off-beat and quirky as well.

• Keith M

  
  First hour takes it time to set to set up all the characters, but once they start to search for other life the movie becomes very suspenseful . Fred Astaire give a great supporting performance. His later roles in his career are very interesting. Instead of being that badass on the… More
  First hour takes it time to set to set up all the characters, but once they start to search for other life the movie becomes very suspenseful . Fred Astaire give a great supporting performance. His later roles in his career are very interesting. Instead of being that badass on the dance floor he turned into an angry old cynic. I noticed that in this and Towering Inferno.

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