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Sputnik Mania

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Sputnik Mania (2008)

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90 %
Reviews Counted: 20 Fresh: 18  Rotten:2 Average Rating: 7.2/10
 
Consensus: Featuring riveting footage, Sputnik Mania is an informative, well-made piece that effectively captures the mood during the height of the Cold War.
 

How does the Tomatometer work?

The Tomatometer measures the percentage of positive reviews from Approved Tomatometer Critics for a certain movie.[-]

Runtime: 1 hr 32 mins

Synopsis: Fifty years ago, at the height of the Cold War, the USSR launched Sputnik, the first satellite to orbit the earth, bringing America to its knees in awe - then fear. Initially thrilling as a marvel of science, Sputnik was soon viewed by America a weapon of mass destruction. Narrated by Liev... Fifty years ago, at the height of the Cold War, the USSR launched Sputnik, the first satellite to orbit the earth, bringing America to its knees in awe - then fear. Initially thrilling as a marvel of science, Sputnik was soon viewed by America a weapon of mass destruction. Narrated by Liev Schreiber with expert use of archival footage, Sputnik Mania explores the fast-moving series of events that brought the world's super-powers to the brink of nuclear war, and the story of two ex-generals whose private agreement prevented WW III. Written and directed by multi-award winning filmmaker David Hoffman. --© Official Site [More]

Genre: Education/General Interest

Starring: Peter Thomas

Director: David Hoffman
Screenwriter: David Hoffman, Paul Dickson

DVD Info

Release:

Feb 8, 2010

[DVD Details]

DVD Features:

  • Region 1
  • Keep Case
  • Full Frame - 1.33

Audio:

  • Unspecified - English

Reviews

 
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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Ratings Image
3/4

Director David Hoffman marshals his information into an absorbing story, adroitly narrated by Liev Schreiber, that captures the fears and the hopes of the dawn of the Space Age.

Full Review | comment Comment
06/20/08
Sean Means
Salt Lake Tribune
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3/4

The enlightening Sputnik Mania looks at the late '50s, a time that was dominated by Cold War hysteria.

Full Review | comment Comment
06/19/08
Jeff Vice
Deseret News, Salt Lake City
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N/A

[A] smart, wry look at the American enthusiasm for and then paranoia over the first manmade satellite to orbit Earth... [R]ings with a truth that still holds...

Full Review | comment Comment
06/18/08
MaryAnn Johanson
Flick Filosopher
Ratings Image
3/4

Sputnik Mania plays, discreetly, like a negative love story between superpowers. Sure they moved on to other enemies, but they still haven't gotten over each other.

Full Review | comment Comment
06/13/08
Wesley Morris
Boston Globe
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7/10

The reigning champion in the archival footage department features great Soviet footage of those days that (hopefully) will never be seen again---the days of the US-Soviet space race.

Full Review | comment Comment
03/28/08
Ron Wilkinson
Monsters and Critics
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3/6

Hoffman manages to keep the tone light -- even H-bomb paranoia gets a breezy treatment -- though most of his filmmaking choices range from banal to boneheaded.

Full Review | comment Comment
03/20/08
David Fear
Time Out New York
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N/A

Clear, comprehensible, polished and articulate, but lacking the gut-punch to raise this portrait of a world-changing event from the level of a museum piece.

Full Review | comment Comment
03/17/08
Frank Lovece
Film Journal International
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4/5

something unlike anything out there.

Full Review | comment Comment
03/17/08
Matthew Nestel
Boxoffice Magazine
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3/4

Avoids reveling in Cold War kitsch in favor of a serious look one of the most important -- and frightening -- moments in human history.

Full Review | comment Comment
03/14/08
Ken Fox
TV Guide's Movie Guide
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2.5/4

For those too young to remember, Sputnik Mania documents the fear and anxiety that gripped the United States half a century ago when the Soviet Union launched the first satellite in October 1957.

Full Review | comment Comment
03/14/08
Lou Lumenick
New York Post
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3/4

The archival footage here is great, and the cosmos-conquering craziness will satisfy space-race nuts. But the small budget is obvious, so director David Hoffman couldn't go from the Earth to the moon on every detail.

Full Review | comment Comment
03/14/08
Joe Neumaier
New York Daily News
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4/5

David Hoffman’s documentary Sputnik Mania is an account of that Soviet satellite’s effect on the American consciousness.

comment Comment
03/14/08
Matt Zoller Seitz
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
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N/A

Clips from old television broadcasts make this space documentary entertaining.

Full Review | comment Comment
03/14/08
Richard James Havis
Hollywood Reporter
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4/5

reminds us that there was a time in the past when world leaders had morality and values

Full Review | comment Comment
03/13/08
Christopher Null
Filmcritic.com
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N/A

Sputnik Mania is not riveting; but it is, first and last, informative.

Full Review | comment Comment
03/12/08
Raphaela Weissman
New York Press
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2/4

So obsessed with delivering a story about "mania" through overcooked narrative and aesthetic means that one ultimately feels as manipulated as enlightened.

Full Review | comment Comment
03/09/08
Nick Schager
Slant Magazine
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N/A

Refreshingly, 'Sputnik Mania' stands back and allows its tale to be told in memorable actuality footage backed with unobtrusive period music.

Full Review | comment Comment
03/08/08
Donald J. Levit
ReelTalk Movie Reviews
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3.5/5

...when it plays to our sense of selective memory and fills in the blanks on issues long forgotten, Sputnik Mania is masterful.

Full Review | comment Comment
03/07/08
Bill Gibron
PopMatters
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3/4

Filled with funny moments ... it perfectly and even-handedly captures the spirit of the time.

Full Review | comment Comment
03/04/08
Steve Rhodes
Internet Reviews
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3/4

Surprising, Insightful, Informative. We are reminded that an "atmosphere" of fear may be much more dangerous than the threat.

Full Review | comment Comment
02/26/08
Ross Anthony
Hollywood Report Card
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