Movies That Changed Everything...

[titsonritz]

Blazing Saddles. One of the greatest comedies of all time and could never be made today.

I bet Quentin Tarantino could get away with it.

[SteyrAUG]

I remember everyone freaking out about that one back in high school.

It was pretty bleak and honestly with the exception of the Cuban Missile Crisis, early 80s had some "almost went hot" events, Able Archer 83 being the scariest even if we knew nothing about it at the time.

That there isn't a statue of Lieutenant Colonel Stanislav Petrov anywhere in the world is probably the greatest irony of the idea that we memorialize those who save lives. His decision to doubt computer launch warnings and not pass them up the chain of command because it didn't feel accurate might have saved millions of lives on both sides. And that kind of independent thinking and assumption of responsibility from a soviet military leader is even more impressive.

[Lacos]

Night of the Living Dead started the whole zombie thing.

[1_click_off]

“I am sorry Dave, I cannot do that.”
One of the original AI takeovers.

[titsonritz]

Night of the Living Dead started the whole zombie thing.

Not to mention one of the scariest I've ever seen. I think I was about ten the first time I saw i, man it made an impression.

[titsonritz]

It was pretty bleak and honestly with the exception of the Cuban Missile Crisis, early 80s had some "almost went hot" events, Able Archer 83 being the scariest even if we knew nothing about it at the time.

That there isn't a statue of Lieutenant Colonel Stanislav Petrov anywhere in the world is probably the greatest irony of the idea that we memorialize those who save lives. His decision to doubt computer launch warnings and not pass them up the chain of command because it didn't feel accurate might have saved millions of lives on both sides. And that kind of independent thinking and assumption of responsibility from a soviet military leader is even more impressive.

The dude must have been cool as a cucumber, Soviet orbital missile early warning system says a US missle is inbound, nah, false alarm.

[SteyrAUG]

The dude must have been cool as a cucumber, Soviet orbital missile early warning system says a US missle is inbound, nah, false alarm.

He was a "thinking" person and he knew a US strike would not be FOUR missiles but hundreds. He also had "some" knowledge that the USSR early warning system had bugs. But had he been a good little commie and just passed it up the chain of command it is extremely likely things would have gone hot given all the political shit going on concurrently that had the soviet leadership convinced the US might go with a first strike option.

I'm not crazy about glorifying commies, but there should be a statue of him in DC.

[Chubbs103]

The dude must have been cool as a cucumber, Soviet orbital missile early warning system says a US missle is inbound, nah, false alarm.

We can include Vasili Arkhipov as Soviets who kept things from the brink.

[MistWolf]

Godzilla is the first movie to take off the gloves and go for absolute over the top extinction level destruction at the hands of an unstoppable god-like force. The most terrifying part wasn't just the flattening of Tokyo or the possibility Japan would be the first nation to be wiped off the face of the Earth- it was the thousands of people crushed underfoot without notice.

Godzilla didn't just open the floodgates for epic mega destruction blockbusters. It shattered the floodgates and loosed a tsunami.

2001: A Space Odyssey set the bar for stunning visual effects that still stands to day.

The "Man With No Name" spaghetti westerns changed westerns. They set the stage for Outlaw Josey Wales. The spaghetti westerns created quite a stir in Hollywood and it's said that's why John Wayne said he'd never work with Clint Eastwood.

[SteyrAUG]

We can include Vasili Arkhipov as Soviets who kept things from the brink.

If I was president, I'd be willing to dedicate a statue in DC of him right next to Petrov. Hell I'd even invite Putin to the US to help dedicate these true "world heroes." I'm sure we could find a couple SAC/NORAD guys as well and maybe even some CIA guys who changed the world for the better.