5 min may kill 80 million
Thirteen Days
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PG-13
15K
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Release date
2000
Running time
2:25:39
Audio
English
Subtitle
English [CC]
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Born in 1955 and having lived through these days in a military family and being between 7 and 8 years old then, I remember some of this clearly. Our neighbors digging big holes in their backyards and installing bomb shelters. The air raid drills in school promoting the "Duck and Cover" BS getting under our desks in the event of a strike. Only a few really understand how close the end of this world was. I watched this movie just after it was released and remember it being all black and white. Maybe I am just getting older or - someone colorized it. But, this movie and the original book should be required reading and watching in every school in our nation for all time. Young folks today do not know nor understand what we, the United States of America have that makes this nation so special and precious. For, if we don't study and understand history, we are doomed to repeat it. Jim Lee USMC Retired August 16, 2023.
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I love this movie . Saw it in the theater . I was born in 1978 so didn’t live through this but had no idea how close we came to WW3 . Couldn’t have written a more suspenseful movie. The fact that this really happened is a mind blower .
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I haven't seen this movie in a very long time. It is one of my favorite movies, not just because of excellent acting, but because of historical accuracy. I remember this time well, even though I was only 6 yrs. old. I wish all teens through adulthood living in America could see it. There are many lessons learned here, especially about the important role of leadership in DC and in our military, communication domestically and abroad, love of country, patience and strategic thinking. Those in power hold our lives in their hands. President Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, and Kenneth O'Donnell prevented WWIII with the Soviet Union. Thank God they didn't listen to those war hungry military leaders. I am very concerned about the safety of America today. I never thought that I would live long enough to see how weak our leadership in DC could be and how divided the media, among others, encourage Americans to be, all for the love of political power. I pray for our country every single day.
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I remember at this time I was a paratrooper in the 101st and we were put on alert and all packed up, thankfully it all was resolved peacefully.
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This movie is VERY faithful to the book from which it is taken called Kennedy , by Theodore C. Sorensen who was Kennedy's speechwriter and a member of Kennedy's inner circle. This movie is essentially the chapter from the book titled The Cuban Missile Crisis . I studied this chapter, as well as the stories surrounding these events from other sources, in depth when I was younger and I can assure you the movie is totally accurate in every respect. Few people today are aware of how close we came to Armageddon and the end of civilization as we know it in 1962, but I will never forget it because I, though only entering my teens at the time was acutely aware of what was going on. [EDIT] I think all of us who were living at this time are like veterans of a war - a cold war - and just like veterans of other wars we could never in a million years convey what the feelings were like to those who were not there. We lived in a constant anticipation of horror, a horror that the sirens might blare at any time, and if they did we were also aware that there was nowhere to find safety.
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As a history buff, this is a fantastic movie. However, having also seen "The Missles of October," I rate that film superior to 13 Days - and that is saying something. Both films have amazing casts and are well acted, and tell a deeper story about an issue that really brought us to the brink.
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A splendid, epic dramatization of a terrifying time in America’s history. Just to watch Bruce Greenwood as JFK and Steven Culp as Bobby makes it worthwhile. The confrontation with the Soviets at the UN is excellent! A thrilling piece of filmmaking!
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Wow, I was only 2 years old when this was going on so of course I had no idea what was happening. Of course: as I grew up, you learn about this in your history classes. Watching this and understanding it, makes me even more grateful for our lives and the sacrifice of our military pilots and all military personnel, I'm a Veteran myself and thank God we didn't go to war. I will probably watch this again as I'm sure I missed something. How close we came to our world ending
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This event made a huge, huge impression on a first-grader! I realized that Mommy and Daddy couldn't control everything in the world. They were scared stiff! My father couldn't even talk only constantly prepared, my mother was frantically busy getting the camping equipment ready for us to high-tail it to the mountains (fall-out). I remember Cronkite talking but didn't really understand what he said. I've seen this movie a number of times and always feel the same fear that everyone was feeling then. The actors of JFK, RFK and O'Donnell were fantastic in this.
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I remember this terrible event playing out. I was 8 years old and my Mom and family were ready to go to a fallout shelter. I have watched this movie many times. It's one of my favorite movies in my collection. I agree that this is one of the great underrated movies of all time! Underrated actor Bruce Greenwood is magnificent as JFK. Steven Culp is equally great as RFK. The rest of the cast is magnificent. Be sure to watch "The Making of 13 Days" the movie. It's gives great insight on how the actors prepared for their roles in this movie.
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This movie really portrayed the intensity of what was going on behind the scenes. I was 13 years old at the time of the Cuban missile crisis. My father was a U.S. Air Force officer and we were stationed in Frankfurt, Germany. I remember all U.S. military being placed on highest alert. Because of the concern of Berlin potentially being targeted by the Russians as a retaliation against any strike President Kennedy might authorize, we were given evacuation plans to follow should a strike appear to be imminent, though now I wonder how effective that would have been. If I remember correctly, we were to get to France and then the States, if that was still feasible. Simply chilling to think how close we came to annihilation.
"Let us hope that the will of good men is enough to counter the strength of this thing that was put in motion." That line always gives me chills.
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Thirteen Days is such an incredibly underrated movie. Probably one of the best casts since Network back in 1976.
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A good, sobering movie that brought back an old memory. In 1962, I was 20 years old and in college in Boston, when the events portrayed in this film began to unfold. My friends and I were inclined to discount the seriousness of it all and dismissed the whole business as a yet another product of the Cold War. Then, about 5 days into the crisis, I happened to be on Logan Airport's observation deck when I looked out and saw 4 B-47 medium strategic bombers. They had dispersed from their main base and now sat on a ramp in an outer part of the airport. At that point, I reevaluated the situation, and it occurred to me that a "cold" might turn disastrously hot.
I was born in 1947 and remember what it was like. There was always a lot of fear under the radar. I was a sophomore in high school when this all went down and they had TV's in every classroom tuned to what was going on. When I was in the military I spent 9 of my 14 career years in Western Europe, mostly West Germany and Austria with some TDY to Norway, Denmark, Italy and Greece. So I am very familiar with the tenor of what is shown in this film, but it was the feelings of the people of the countries bordering the Warsaw Pact nations that really give you a sense of a deep-seated fear that is almost tangible and I remember it to this very day. When I was in West Berlin it was sad to see the Berlin Wall where it was and the people who died trying to escape the East.
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What an amazing story that changed the world! I wish their stories were told more often that the stories of those we hear about today. Real good men. We need more productions like this.
This is one of the best movies ever made. The acting is powerful and exacting. I was 12 years old when all this happened. Even my school teachers were worried, and some wondered out loud if we would survive the week.
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Thirteen Days is certainly one of the most underrated history/political films. It seems like a story and a concept very much like Spielberg's Lincoln in 2012 of finding the one defining moment of leadership. It could be remade today with less emphasis on O'Donnell.
I lived through this as an 8-year old in Texas. Tension was so thick, one could feel in the the air around us. My parents were planning for us to evacuate. So many people were taking all their money out of the banks, that many banks had limits how much customers could take. Each day, my step-mother would go to the bank to take out as much money as the bank would allow. We kept packed baggage by the door. And my dad kept camping gear in the camper attacked to his pickup, as he went to work each day. There were agreed meeting places, in case there was an evacuation. . And at school, the principal kept his radio on. He would come throughout the day to give the teachers updates. Churches held nightly prayer meetings, all over the country. We were not allowed to leave our yard, in case of the evacuation. Instead we stayed so glued to the TV, that I still remember the names of many politicians involved.
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I was just a kid in New Zealand when this was happening but my father explained it all to me at the time it was happening, he was a WW2 vet in Europe & the Pacific & like many was well aware of the consequences. He saw JFK as a hero to the world as did I & still remember where I was about a year later when he told me JFK had been assassinated & trying to get my head around that knowledge. I certainly never envisaged that I would eventually become a US citizen & call this place home as does the director of this movie.
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This was Bruce Greenwood's finest hour as an actor. Sensational performance as President Kennedy. Kevin Costner stars in this inside look at how the Kennedy Administration responded to the discovery of offensive Soviet weapons in Cuba, and the pressurized tug-of-war that ensued between the US and the USSR during the thirteen days of the missile crisis. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7aKD6CvU8w? Bruce Greenwood's finest hour as an actor. Sensational performance as President Kennedy. Kevin Costner stars in this inside look at how the Kennedy Administration responded to the discovery of offensive Soviet weapons in Cuba, and the pressurized tug-of-war that ensued between the US and the USSR during the thirteen days of the missile crisis. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7aKD6CvU8w? Against the backdrop of the Cold War, the movie delves into the high-stakes and pressure-filled thirteen days of the Cuban Missile Crisis. With an atmosphere charged with suspense, "Thirteen Days" provides a gripping narrative of one of the most pivotal and perilous moments of the 20th century.
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