The Day The Earth Caught Fire (1961)
Temperatures rise in this 60s British sci-fi classic
It’s been a little hot the last couple of days, so as a bit of preparation for the coming heatwave I watched The Day The Earth Caught Fire on Sunday evening.
The side-effects of post-WW2 nuclear testing inspired a lot of media in the 50s and 60s. Godzilla was awoken by testing in the Pacific, while testing in the deserts of the US created everything from giant ants to the X-Men. Meanwhile in Britain, they inspired a story about the redemption of an alcoholic Daily Express journalist. Oh, and the Earth being sent off course and heading into the Sun.
The outline of the film’s disaster plot is quite simple to explain: the US and the USSR have simultaneously performed the two largest nuclear tests and the resultant shockwave from them affects the axis of rotation of the Earth. Extreme weather events occur across the planet as new climactic patterns form, but then a further discovery is made. The planet has been knocked out of its orbit and is now getting hotter and hotter as it inexorably heads into the Sun. Only a last-ditch mission to detonate a series of the largest nuclear weapons ever made in Siberia offer a hope of halting the Earth’s progress and saving the world.
