Ask HN: Why isn’t Hollywood producing WWIII films in these perilous times?
5amichail187/14/2025, 7:26:51 PM
Maybe such movies could act as a deterrent?
Comments (18)
JoshTriplett · 3h ago
A very detailed fake BBC "Breaking News" special was produced a while back. The original seems to have disappeared, likely because people were sending it around without clear labeling as being intentionally fake, but here's one copy of it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHLU0Uej1WA
dysoco · 1h ago
Making war films is very expensive.
Sure, superhero movies are very expensive as well, but my theory is that you can easily sell merchandise, etc. for superhero movies not so much for war ones.
Also superhero movies appeal to children which are a huge chunk of the market.
thinkingemote · 3h ago
The better, more interesting question would be: What story would you tell?
What story could prevent war?
And a further question would be, what usually happens when people try to tell that story?
And another may be: could these questions and answers be resolved within that story?
PaulHoule · 3h ago
Like it starts over Ukraine or Taiwan?
I have nightmares where Chinese students disappear at my Uni because the lid blows off in Taiwan.
Fred Pohl's Plague of Pythons is a flawed but terrifying book that describes a very strange apocalypse that starts out in a still-Soviet Ukraine.
amichail · 3h ago
The war in Ukraine could escalate to WWIII.
PaulHoule · 3h ago
I think it could have.
The early phase of the war, when there was a lot of motion and the successful and then failed counter-attacks were very similar to what war planners thought might happen maybe 1000 miles or so miles west, at the Fulda or Suwałki Gaps. US Army manuals circa the 1980s (I have a collection) quote a lot of material from Russian Armed Forces manuals describing how their defensive lines work, how they expect to do maneuver warfare, etc.
Back then there were many "red lines" crossed by both sides, particularly the use of US-supplied weapons to attack targets on Russian ground, that hypothetically could have been cause for a nuclear war. Those lines got crossed, there was no nuclear war, it's hard to believe it's going to happen now.
The war is now in a frozen state where the Russians gain ground at a glacial rate and it seems unlikely that Ukraine is going to get very much terrain back any time soon. So some kind of escalation seems unlikely, rather steady attrition.
The scenario where China invades Taiwan and the US tries to organize resistance from the Philippines and via a carrier group and China takes a nuclear shot at a carrier group is more believable, particularly as we become economically decoupled.
toast0 · 3h ago
WWIII need not be nuclear. The US and Russia have fought proxy wars for 80 years at this point without bringing out the nuclear weapons; certainly there's a bigger chance of them coming out in case of direct fighting between nuclear states, and nuclear war would be a big deal, but a conventional world war would be a big negative event regardless.
PaulHoule · 1h ago
In terms of sending equipment it's already happened. We just haven't sent manpower. Ukrainians want to fight to defend their country, whereas Iraqis (say) couldn't agree on what exactly they want to fight for.
jollyllama · 3h ago
What do you think the latest Top Gun installment was? When did WWII movies start calling it "World War Two"?
Ekaros · 3h ago
Because they are the propaganda for military industrial complex. And those people want war.
hammyhavoc · 3h ago
Because people generally want fantasy and escapism, not something that holds a mirror up to reality.
bigyabai · 3h ago
Because Dr. Strangelove beat them to the punch. You could make a hundred WWIII films and nothing would be as entertaining or horrifying as Kubrick's flick.
“Mein Führer, I can walk!”
_wire_ · 3h ago
And
"The War Game" (1965)
By Peter Watkins
slater · 3h ago
The Terminator franchise already exists.
amichail · 3h ago
That's science fiction and is unlikely to act as a deterrent.
markx2 · 3h ago
Because they cannot agree on the enemy?
Aliens from Outer Space?
AI?
A foreign Govt?
Your own Govt?
A deterrent to what?
amichail · 3h ago
A deterrent to WWIII.
markx2 · 3h ago
A deterrent only works on those who think they will lose.
Propaganda works to tell people they will not.
Govt controlled media will parrot what they are told.
Sure, superhero movies are very expensive as well, but my theory is that you can easily sell merchandise, etc. for superhero movies not so much for war ones.
Also superhero movies appeal to children which are a huge chunk of the market.
What story could prevent war?
And a further question would be, what usually happens when people try to tell that story?
And another may be: could these questions and answers be resolved within that story?
I have nightmares where Chinese students disappear at my Uni because the lid blows off in Taiwan.
Fred Pohl's Plague of Pythons is a flawed but terrifying book that describes a very strange apocalypse that starts out in a still-Soviet Ukraine.
The early phase of the war, when there was a lot of motion and the successful and then failed counter-attacks were very similar to what war planners thought might happen maybe 1000 miles or so miles west, at the Fulda or Suwałki Gaps. US Army manuals circa the 1980s (I have a collection) quote a lot of material from Russian Armed Forces manuals describing how their defensive lines work, how they expect to do maneuver warfare, etc.
Back then there were many "red lines" crossed by both sides, particularly the use of US-supplied weapons to attack targets on Russian ground, that hypothetically could have been cause for a nuclear war. Those lines got crossed, there was no nuclear war, it's hard to believe it's going to happen now.
The war is now in a frozen state where the Russians gain ground at a glacial rate and it seems unlikely that Ukraine is going to get very much terrain back any time soon. So some kind of escalation seems unlikely, rather steady attrition.
The scenario where China invades Taiwan and the US tries to organize resistance from the Philippines and via a carrier group and China takes a nuclear shot at a carrier group is more believable, particularly as we become economically decoupled.
“Mein Führer, I can walk!”
"The War Game" (1965)
By Peter Watkins
Aliens from Outer Space?
AI?
A foreign Govt?
Your own Govt?
A deterrent to what?
Propaganda works to tell people they will not.
Govt controlled media will parrot what they are told.