Command and Control
| Release Date: September 14, 2016 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
77
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 15 Critic Reviews
Positive:
14
Mixed:
1
Negative:
0
Watch Now
Stream On
Buy on
Stream On
Stream On
Expand

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
VarietyNick SchagerSep 10, 2016
Based on the harrowing book by Eric Schlosser (who not only co-wrote, but also appears in the film), this unsettling production...is equal parts history lesson, cautionary tale and nerve-rattling thriller, using all manner of nonfiction devices to elicit both horror and outrage over the precariousness of our deadliest arsenals. Read full review
90
Village VoiceChris PackhamSep 24, 2016
Despite the high stakes, Command and Control is morbidly fun to watch, in the manner of good suspense thrillers and disaster films. Read full review
90
The New York TimesNeil GenzlingerSep 13, 2016
The film effectively recreates the sense of confusion over how to try to contain the leak and what might happen if the fuel ignited. Read full review
90
Screen DailyDavid D'ArcySep 10, 2016
A terrifying disaster thriller. Read full review
88
Philadelphia InquirerTirdad DerakhshaniSep 30, 2016
It's the stuff of nightmares. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranSep 29, 2016
Lots of documentaries these days will tell you to be afraid, to be very afraid, but few will scare you as coolly and as convincingly as Command and Control. Read full review
80
SalonAndrew O'HehirSep 16, 2016
How close did a simple maintenance mishap come to rendering at least one American state uninhabitable and killing an unknown number of people? And what does that tell us about the security and safety of the deadliest weapons ever built in human history? We don’t know the answer to the first question, and the second one raises extremely troubling issues. I don’t want to spoil the gripping and improbable details of Kenner’s film, but how the Damascus accident started is no big secret. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleOct 13, 2016
As a child, I worried about nuclear war. It never occurred to me that I should have been worried about a nuclear accident. Read full review
75
TheWrapSam AdamsSep 29, 2016
As with most documentaries drawn from books, it feels like you’re getting the Reader’s Digest condensed version, handy for those who have 90 minutes to spare but no substitute for the real thing. Read full review
75
Boston GlobePeter KeoughSep 29, 2016
Kenner and Schlosser not only remind us of a danger that never went away, but honor the men whose bravery was never recognized. Read full review
75
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanSep 22, 2016
Far from being a historical cautionary tale, Command and Control looks forward, not backward. Kenner’s unsettling film casts its worried gaze not at the accidents that already have taken place, but at the ones yet to happen. Read full review
75
New York PostFarran Smith NehmeSep 15, 2016
Archival footage is combined with somewhat affected-looking re-enactments, but the film achieves its purpose: to remind us that we still have thousands of bombs, and neither they — nor we — have gotten that much smarter. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyJoe McGovernSep 15, 2016
The pace of the drama is riveting, as it jumps back through the decades to place the accident in the context of the nuclear arms race. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeSep 29, 2016
Interspersing technical talk with a quick history of nuclear testing and other near-misses, the doc demonstrates how often situations like this arise. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineClayton DillardSep 11, 2016
Robert Kenner's stylistic choices amplify the film's fetishistic fascination with the nuclear weaponry itself. Read full review
More From This Movie

77 Critic Reviews

tbd User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 81 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
2 77 Project Hail Mary
3 75 Send Help
4 73 Hoppers
5 72 The Sheep Detectives
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL