The China Syndrome

Summary

“Jack, it just might be a feedwater leak.”

Sony Pictures has recently given the 1979 political thriller The China Syndrome, starring Michael Douglas, Jane Fonda, and Jack Lemmon, a Blu-ray release. When it was released in 1979, the script seemed a little far fetched to critics until just twelve days later the Three Mile Island crisis occurred. At that point, the film seemed prescient. The picture was nominated for four Academy Awards (Best Actor (Jack Lemmon,) Best Actress, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Art Direction.) The film will appeal to fans of Alan Pakula’s paranoia trilogy (Klute, The Parallax View, All the President’s Men,) or fans of the actors involved. I had not seen the picture before. I watched it the other night.

Kimberly Wells (Jane Fonda) is a television news reporter that largely focuses on upbeat mind-numbing fluff pieces. She has dreams of being a hard-hitting journalist, but her good looks and cheerful personality have kept her from being granted her ultimate goal. She is given a job of touring the Ventana power plant outside of Los Angeles for a small piece on how the nuclear power plant works. Her cameraman Richard Adams (Michael Douglas) and sound man Hector Salas join her to film the outing. While they are taken on a tour of the facilities, they enter a room that overlooks the control room where shift supervisor Jack Godel (Jack Lemmon) oversees his crew of technicians. To their shock, they witness the plant go through a turbine trip and an emergency shutdown (called a SCRAM.) Because a gauge shows high water levels, Godel begins to remove water from the core. The gauge stays high despite Jack dropping more water from other valves. Another tech notices a gauge showing low water levels. It turns out the prior gauge had malfunctioned, and Jack and his team had almost caused a nuclear disaster. When they add the water back in, the plant stabilizes. Unbeknownst to them, and going against the law, Richard had filmed the entire event. Leaving the plant, Kimberly and Richard think they have a hot story about a potential nuclear disaster, but their television station is reticent to show the footage and create a panic. Especially since the power company is petitioning to be allowed to build yet another plant. Meanwhile, the executives over the Ventana plant scramble to make sure to cover up any evidence. As Kimberly and Richard press on to get the full story, Jack Godel wrestles with a moral dilemma of what he needs to say and do. As the coverup begins to occur, it becomes clear that the power company is not above violence to achieve its ends.

The China Syndrome is an enjoyable political thriller from the age when political thrillers were made for mass audiences and were allowed to take their time to make their case. The suspense in the film is largely based on conversations between characters rather than large scale disaster effects or excessive violence, which is probably why some of the reviews online felt the picture was a little boring. I can understand their point of view, and think this type of drama probably was just not for them. That said, while watching the picture, I struggled myself with some suspension of disbelief like the harsher critics of the picture on its release. This film is definitely in line with the paranoid thrillers that came before it by the excellent Alan Pakula, but it never quite reaches the levels of believability or suspense that those films generated. I would give the script itself about a 7/10. What saves the film is the excellent acting in the picture. Jack Lemmon was reliably good in whatever role he took on, and his casting for Jack Godel is right on the money. He is able to fully display his range as he grapples with the moral dilemma of the character. He deservedly was nominated for an Oscar. Jane Fonda is great as the female reporter who faces pressures from the station while wanting to break the story. Michael Douglas is given less to do than those two, but he is still well cast. Wilford Brinkley is also very good as Jack’s best friend and co-worker. Director James Bridges worked well with the actors from his script he cowrote, and they all turned in good performances. The picture’s pacing is not perfect, with a few moments that slowed more than they should have, but the film is pretty enjoyable despite its flaws.

Video

The China Syndrome has been released by Sony onto Blu-ray in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 in 1080p. This is likely sourced from the same master that was supplied by Sony for the Image release in 2015. That said, the aspect ratio has been changed from 1.85:1 to 1.78:1. This is probably not a huge deal, but it is worth noting. The picture looked pretty good. It is not an extremely compelling film in terms of cinematography, but what is presented looked accurate to the source. 

Audio

The DTS-HD MA 5.1 track was expanded from the original Mono track. Some purists may be disappointed that the Mono track is not included, but the surrounded track does a solid job of expanding the range from the Mono. Clarity is solid, and the dialogue and the score some through well. I have no complaints.

Supplements:

• A Fusion of Talent – Key members of the cast and crew discuss working on the picture. 
• Creating a Controversy – Nuclear energy is discussed by the cast and crew in this featurette. 
• Deleted Scenes
• Theatrical Trailer

Overall Scores:

Video: 4/5

Audio: 4.5/5

Supplements: 3.5/5

Overall – 3.75/5

The China Syndrome is an enjoyable paranoid thriller regarding nuclear power from 1979. While the film does not match the level of paranoia drummed up by the excellent thrillers by Alan J. Pakula of that same era, it still fits in with those pictures. The China Syndrome was not taken seriously by critics at first, but twelve days after it was released the Three Mile Island disaster occurred which made the film relevant. I had some issues with parts of the scripting, largely the more tedious pacing the film falls into at times and some of the moments where I had trouble suspending my disbelief, but the excellent acting in the film overcame most of the issues with the script. Jack Lemmon is particularly wonderful in the film. The Sony Pictures Blu-ray features good looking video, solid audio, and some well made supplements. If you are a fan of the film, the Blu-ray will definitely be worth adding to your collection. 

The film can be purchased at www.moviezyng.com.