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A number of people ask me to start a thread to discuus the National Geographic movie 'American Blackout' which premired yesterday on NatGeo.

Well, here goes the third time I’ve asked.

How do you watch this thing?

Is it ONLY available on cable?

Is there a live feed on the net?

Jeesh already!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I’ve been wanting to watch this one.

Here's a review that I and FReeper LadyBuck did:

Anyone else watch the movie? I did.

The kids & I watched it (twice) and our reviews/questions are in (spoiler alert!):I assure you it doesn’t get better the second time! ;-)

1. The yuppie penthouse dwellers were annoying. All three of us were hoping something bad would happen to them much sooner than it did. Who doesn’t have a regular can opener? Who threatens a lawsuit because the power is off and there is no backup? Who whines “Why isn’t someone coming to help us”? Who opens the door to investigate unfamiliar noises - hadn’t she seen ANY horror movies in her lifetime? Who has NO means of defense whatsoever? Mollycoddles, that’s who. I too found them very annoying! But you shouldn’t be that surprised I assure you that there are whole cities full of people who with the restaurants closed and fast/nukable food gone would starve to death! I bet that half the households in American do not have a manual can opener.

2. What happened to pimply teenager’s cat? Well you didn’t hear the kid complaining about being hungry after the scene with the cat. Just saying…;-)
3. Suburban housewife gives birth in a park, is able to sit up and smile right after. No complications. Dad leaves the family in search of food or something, armed with a baseball bat. After a series of misadventures (house burns down, catch a ride with a stranger to the hospital & a trip to a Red Cross camp) the family is reunited. Lucky, but too hokey. Very hokey! Did you notice that when their house was on fire that they left with nothing? Not even a diaper bag! If people in such a situation don’t take the time to but together a BOB what hope is there in getting them to make up one when nothing is wrong? Notice no neighbors came to their aid when the house was burning? I think that would be the case in many of the blue suburban areas. To make it more real they should have had someone come out of their house and complain because she wasn’t putting the fire out and was endangering their home and if their home got damage that they would SUE!! Other than the run on the water the camp was much calmer than I believe it would be. (Think the inside of the New Orleans Super Dome). Note they were out of food in 5-6 days. Most of the country is like that.
4. The trapped college students - these kids were interesting...always thinking, always trying to survive.They didn’t give up that’s for sure, but their lack of water would have done them in. Does anyone know why they couldn’t get off the roof? I saw them try a door once. But with all the construction around them surely they could have gotten the door open?

5. The gal describing how she was at peace because she had a mountain of debt & with the chaos, no collectors were hounding her anymore. Yeah, she’s the picture of personal responsibility. In a survival situation, I guarantee, NO ONE is thinking about the overdue Visa bill. That was a dumb blurb. I don’t know it’s funny the things you think of when you are under stress and understand you have a good chance of dying, debts owed by you and too you (Not just monetary debts) roads traveled and not those passed up, regrets and might have beens….

6. The Prepper Family: Dear Dad, sorry about your daughter’s unfortunate choice in boyfriends. He nearly got you & your family killed. Dad is about to get his throat cut by an invader, when the power comes back on...and that suddenly makes everything ok for the invaders to just walk away? Really? Dude, your supposed neighbors not only stole from you; they nearly killed you! I’d be making sure they couldn’t did it again when the next crisis hit. PS....Great product placement in the bunker for Wise Foods :-) The boyfriend would have found himself locked up for sure or dead. Such a serious breach of OPSEC can not be tolerated! The father going topside from the hidden bunker was ridiculous! He had already a plan in place in cause they were over run (The false food stash) so he knew that this was a possibility, so why loose his life and revel you safe room, put his family at risk over stuff? Especially stuff you don’t need? Selco wrote about this just recently about how he watched people die because they couldn’t let go on their stuff. Made me think of the of old western movies were they must lighten the load on their wagon or be stuck and die. Stuff can be replaced life can’t. I also agree the ending was ridiculous! Just because the power was back on doesn’t mean its over! It would be weeks before things even get close to normal. Food and water will be in short supply for a good while. Both sides screwed up if you got a weapon out you use it. I remember this quote from Louis L’Amour’s ‘The Quick and the Dead’ “If you shoot, shoot to kill. They’ve all been shot before, so wounding them won’t impress them none.”

Thought it was an ok movie - though citizen mayhem portrayed & .gov thuggery wasn’t nearly bad enough. Yes ok movie, but to many happy endings. The real ending would most likely leave wounds that will follow one to the grave. As far as mayhem and thuggery. What should have been displayed is more like:

Quark: "Let me tell you something about Hew-mons, Nephew. They're a wonderful, friendly people, as long as their bellies are full and their holosuites are working. But take away their creature comforts, deprive them of food, sleep, sonic showers, put their lives in jeopardy over an extended period of time and those same friendly, intelligent, wonderful people... will become as nasty and as violent as the most bloodthirsty Klingon. You don't believe me? Look at those faces. Look in their eyes."
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (TV Series) The Siege of AR-558 (1998)

That’s my two cents!

told in real time, over 10 days,

I don't think I could watch any movie for two days, let alone 10.

And here's the obligatory "Already posted here."

I don’t think this show was that great, but it did stimulate some questions. At the end of the movie, the rural family retreated into the bunker when a small group of men raided the main house. This family was in effect out gunned it appeared in the scene. The father went out to confront the intruders, but he was apparently caught from behind at the end; not a good move.
It appears that as a small defensive unit, this family was vulnerable to being outnumbered. It would have been nice if they had like minded neighbors that could have provided assistance, perhaps setting up a hand held radio system before SHTF. But, if you are a small unit, you do need some types of other defensive measures such as booby traps, trip wires etc especially if you faced a SWAT invasion by rogue LEOs or other brigands.
Any ideas on perimeter defenses or good places for info?

Thanks! Set to record.

Remake of this...

If the electric grid went down nation wide for 10 days you could stick a fork in us, it would be so bad, the planners/politicians (if not actually in cohoots with it) would be looking at making sure our international rivals were set back equally, like in the beginning of the novel The Stand...

Read the book One Second After by William R. Forstchen.