Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 days ago
In 1965, filmmaker Peter Watkins (PRIVILEGE, PUNISHMENT PARK) recruited 350 amateur actors, utilized direct quotes from civil defense manuals and employed newsreel-like recreations to craft a BBC documentary drama that depicted a nuclear attack on Great Britain. The network condemned the finished film as “too horrifying” and refused to broadcast it. Watkins’ masterpiece subsequently received a special award at the 1966 Venice Film Festival and won the 1967 Academy Award® for Best Documentary Feature. The BBC would not air his “chillingly different, enduringly brilliant” (The Guardian) classic until three decades later. “What may be the most important film ever made” (London Observer) is now scanned in 4K from the original 16mm A/B rolls for the first time ever, with more than five and a half hours of all-new Special Features and Limited Edition Exclusives that include an authorized reprint of Watkins’ 1967 The War Game book, collectible postcards, a replica of the UK government’s official evacuation pass and more.
In 1965, filmmaker Peter Watkins (PRIVILEGE, PUNISHMENT PARK) recruited 350 amateur actors, utilized direct quotes from civil defense manuals and employed newsreel-like recreations to craft a BBC documentary drama that depicted a nuclear attack on Great Britain. The network condemned the finished film as “too horrifying” and refused to broadcast it. Watkins’ masterpiece subsequently received a special award at the 1966 Venice Film Festival and won the 1967 Academy Award® for Best Documentary Feature. The BBC would not air his “chillingly different, enduringly brilliant” (The Guardian) classic until three decades later. “What may be the most important film ever made” (London Observer) is now scanned in 4K from the original 16mm A/B rolls for the first time ever, with more than five and a half hours of all-new Special Features and Limited Edition Exclusives that include an authorized reprint of Watkins’ 1967 The War Game book, collectible postcards, a replica of the UK government’s official evacuation pass and more.
