Atomic War Bride / This Is Not a Test - Classic Sci-Fi Movie DVD - Perfect for Film Collectors & 1950s Cinema Enthusiasts

I'm sure there are a lot of "baby boomers" here on Amazon. That means many of us grew up with the specter of atomic annihilation always close at hand. And, indeed, the Cuban missile crisis brought us closer to that horrible reality than we even realized back in the day.Internationally, the were a number of dreary black-and-white movies dealing with the subject. Some were based on famous novels such as "On The Beach." Others, while not exactly addressing nuclear war addressed the larger issues of war and peace. The first version of the book "1984" was a chilling example. And, as others have commented, there were a whole slew of cheesy "B" movies that capitalized on our fears. "The Last Woman On Earth" by Roger Corman comes to mind.What makes this movie so strikingly notable is that it was filmed in 1960 when the country of "Yugoslavia" was still within the Soviet sphere. Set in an imaginary country, the movie is strongly antiwar, but also is pointing fingers in both directions.The movie covers a short period of time in the lives of two naïve newlyweds. The young man still believes firmly that if things are explained, common sense will prevail. He is drafted when war breaks out and is very hurriedly trained.There are some very sarcastic scenes in the movie where the conscripts are classified based on whether they can multiply a couple of numbers successfully or by answering other equally insubstantial questions. Also, a scene where their basic combat training simply involves them flexing their trigger fingers faster and faster is quite telling.Finally, towards the end of the film, nuclear retaliation strikes their country. The President, caught out in the open dives to the ground and tries to bury his head in the sand. He is also commenting that, based on the polls, this war is everyone's fault because he got 55% of the vote! How very modern.From a purely cinematic view, the movie is interesting in that the uniforms and weapons were manufactured with fairly high production values of the day. Aside from some of the facial characteristics of Eastern Europeans, it would be difficult to tell where the film was made. The English dubbing is much better than expected. I am only surprised at the communist government gave its imprimatur to the making of this film. There are no red stars or Lenin busts to be seen.And one final observation: (and this is kind of a spoiler) in the last few minutes of the film the bride and groom return to their apartment which is in rubble. They were also caught in the open and a good portion of their clothes were blown off. It is interesting that both the bride and groom lost predominantly the bottom half of their clothes. The groom has no pants and tattered underclothes. The bride's white dress is essentially gone from just below the waist down. The bride is very close to being exposed in her private area. This was not done to titillate.In most films, after whatever blast happens the top half of the clothes are torn or burned. Think Bruce Willis in any Die Hard film, for example. I suspect the symbolism here is that their sense of pride and propriety and dignity have also been destroyed.So, if you want to get really depressed, think of this movie as a "prequel" to 1984, On The Beach for any of the other mushroom cloud movies. Still, a remarkable film that has been nearly forgotten.