The movie starts off with a simple statement that it is not based off of real people, but the movie is similar to that of a documentary. It is very realistic and hard to forget that it is fiction. The movie shows planes refueling with soothing music in the background. Clearly, there is nothing wrong yet. Then General Ripper makes waves.
When I first heard his conversation with Captain Mandrake, I actually believed that there was an attack on the United States. How could something like water fluoridation cause General Ripper to set off such a code? Many conspiracy theorists claim that fluoridation was meant to protect the U.S. atomic bomb program from happening. It is also crazy how someone, who is not the President, can make decisions like this one for the entire country.
General Ripper shows us throughout the movie just how over-the-top he is. He locks his executive officer in his office, shoots at his own men, and later commits suicide. In this movie, every character seems to have their own mindset that is not easy to change. Why do you think this is the case? I know that this is a hard case to solve, but I feel that some opinions must change in order to make change.
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The different dynamics of the characters seem to never change, but I do think that all of these personalities can be placed into one person. During war you all have to make different decisions, even though some may not be in your favor. The power seemed to get to some of the characters heads, which clouded their judgement and put themselves and their troops in danger. However in my opinion you should always stand true to your own beliefs and not let anyone influence your behavior.
Opinions differ among everyone, but in the end, especially with the military, the decision is up to who is in charge. In this movie, it seems like General Ripper’s position is the one to go after, not Presidency. Ripper is filled with power and selfishness that ultimately disallows anyone else from helping him make the decision.
I think this is just an exaggerated look at how people feel about their and others opinions. While these people should be the most flexible because they must fight or enact peace in a single moment, they are the most close-minded people. I think its a side effect of war and not something specific to this movie.
Most of the characters in the movie held leadership roles and had some sort of authority based on their jobs. It was interesting to see how these leaders interacted with each other, especially because many of them stuck to their stubborn opinions, which created major controversies within the dynamic of the movie.
General Ripper is the first to take his opinion to an extreme measure when he takes it upon himself to make a decision to attack Russia. Ripper is paranoid that Russia is poisoning the U.S. water supply and does everything in his power to attack them. Not only does he make this decision unilaterally, but also he goes over-the-top by holding his executive officer Mandate in Burpleson and shutting down the communication between the air force planes and everyone in the Pentagon war room.
It’s funny to think that even when it comes to people of power they are still normal just like us when it comes to talking with others. I think this is best shown through the president, as he is concerned with what is best for himself, even with the people of America were at risk. This movie also gives a great depiction of a mob mentality within military, Ripper tells his men to shoot at everything that comes up no matter what and they all listen. It just shows that it only takes one person to cause a storm and no number of people to stop it.