Meryl Streep is stunning (The New York Times) in this shocking true story about one woman's struggle against a huge corporation. Nominated* for five Academy AwardsÂ(r), including Best Actress (Streep) and Best Supporting Actress (Cher), this daring, provocative and critically acclaimed drama just 'shouldn't be missed (Newsweek)! Karen Silkwood (Streep) lives a free-spirited existence with two friends (Kurt Russell and Cher) who work with her at an Oklahoma nuclear facility. It's only when she discovers she's been exposed to radiation that Karen's conscience awakens, and soon she is digging for evidence of wrongdoing at her company. But her sudden zeal for safer working conditions may come at a high price as she alienates friends and possibly even puts herown life in peril.
Based on the harrowing account of whistle blower Karen Silkwood, this 1983 film directed by Mike Nichols (The Graduate, Postcards from the Edge) is as much a character study of a woman galvanized by injustice as a story of the dangers of nuclear power and the extremes of corporate greed. When Karen discovers unsafe conditions and reckless protocol at the plant where she works, her actions in uncovering the dangers that lie at the plant not only cause a rift between her and her lover (Kurt Russell) and her best friend (Cher), but they threaten her very life. Streep gives yet another bravura performance as a wild child in Oklahoma forced to confront the harsh realities of her life, and the supporting cast, from Cher to Russell to Diana Scarwid is first rate. This true story of the woman who disappeared under mysterious circumstances while trying to find the truth is a well-told, challenging, and emotionally complex tale. --Robert Lane
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
Silkwood: One Of The Best:
Wonderful intriguing movie. Makes you wonder and Think, like a good movie should. I hope Mike Nichols decides to do a movie on the 2008 Presidential Primary race: how Hillary Clinton received more votes than any of her rivals, and more votes than any Presidential Primary candidate in History. Base it on the report Primary versus Caucus by Peniel Cronin.
BAD quality of the DVD:
Great movie, but the DVD that we received was AWFUL. I had my suspicions when it arrived, just from how it was wrapped, and there was a sticker that said "made in mexico" but it looked like someone just at home made a copy or something. Didn't look like a professional copy. It had lines all through it. The darker scenes were so dark, they were difficult to see. The volume would only go up to a certain level, and wouldn't get any higher. When the A/C would kick on, we had to pause the movie because we... more info
as good as film gets:
the cast, the director, the story, the editor, everthing is at its best... more films like this please.
"THE BEST LABORATORY SAFETY MOVIE EVER MADE":
If marketed to businesses to use as a training film, "Silkwood" could get all sorts of industrial safety film awards including the honor of being the first industrial training film in which: A) Three famous actors team up to teach us radiation safety,
B) Cher plays a Dyke,
C) Meryl Streep pulls a "Janet Jackson" and we get to see her boob for a split second,
D) Kurt Russell's talent for dry humor is wasted; e.g. in the bedroom scene where he is consoling the radioactive Meryl Streep... more info
