It wasn't until well into the Vietnam war that anybody was doing anti-war films of any importance, and even those were "in historical disguise", like Little Big Man. Peter Watkins was invited to join the BBC but told to put his ideal project about nuclear war aside in favor of something else, and Culloden resulted. Although the events pictured are 200 years old Watkins brings them forth with an immediacy that makes viewers realize that nothing has changed in war -- most conflicts are promoted as honorable fights but are really routs and slaughters by whatever aggressor has the advantage. Culloden was both a national and religious dispute started by a snotty royal willing to let his followers be butchered in an attempt to regain a mighty throne. Disorganized and incompetent, Bonnie Prince Charlie refuses to delegate the battle into capable hands. The royals are even worse. Capitalizing on a so-called glorious victory, the Duke basically officiates over an 'ethnic cleansing', a wholesale mass murder of every Highlander, rebel or not, that his troops can find. The poor and homeless are slaughtered right down to babies while the rich and corrupt find ways to profit or make careers.

It's fairly obvious that Watkins overturns the myths about glorious historical warfare for a purpose: To suggest that the messy and inconvenient struggles of the 20th century are no more based on ideals or honor than the ragged slaughter of Culloden. And he doesn't have to produce propaganda to make his point. Every detail comes right out of the history books and is backed by solid research. If one wants to criticize the powers that be, using the conventions of an established genre or putting one's story at a historical remove are highly recommended strategies.

Culloden is a very impressive production. Watkins presents a convincing battle even though he has perhaps only a hundred (if that many) costumed performers to re-create a battle involving perhaps 4,000 (?) participants. The costumes and details are so good that we quickly forgive the picture for not presenting acres of massed troops and long lines of musket-carriers. Watkins' newsreel-like directorial style helps in that a newsman covering the battle from within the troops themselves would likely not have a bird's eye view. The best part of the movie are the numerous close-ups of frightened, hungry and cold faces of men and children preparing to fight, and then suffering unattended with grievous wounds.

There are plenty of cannonades and pyrotechnics while the unruffled Brits blow the ragged Highlanders to bits from afar, and Bonnie Prince Charlie frets because God is so slow to rally to his side. Culloden's version of a reporter is to have a royal witness with a spyglass and writing implements hunker down behind a wall and shout out his amazement at the horrible beating the Highlanders are taking. Meanwhile, the narrator points out the personal backgrounds of the participants --- noting that a British private would have to serve for two years to earn enough to buy the hat and wig worn by the officer in front of him.

In a way, the remarkable Culloden set Peter Watkins up for a fall. It won acclaim and awards from all quarters and earned him the right to do more ambitious and important work, the kind for which they said Television was perfectly suited. Movies were so expensive that they had to be entertainment, but Television held out a greater hope. It could encompass a vast spectrum of ideas and points of view, bringing important subjects to the common people and informing them so that Democracy could do its job. "Independent" Television outlets in England and American boast that their freedom of content represents the ultimate success of our Democratic institutions. When The War Game presented a message that the government wanted to suppress, all of that Democratic talk was shoved aside. Peter Watkins' movie work is important because it provoked Authority, and proved the lie of a free media.

Project X and New Yorker's handsome DVD of Culloden and The War Game are presented on one disc in their original B&W full frame television format. The Culloden transfer is spotless and that for The War Game in fine shape but marred with water spots and other imperfections. The War Game has more of a high contrast look, with those same official-looking scrolling inter-titles as seen in Dr. Strangelove.

Both pictures are given full commentaries. Culloden is made even more fascinating by the observations of Dr. John Cook, a Senior Lecturer at the Glasgow Caledonian University of Scotland. The War Game is accompanied by the very pro-Watkins commentary of Senior Lecturer Patrick Murphy of York St. John University College in England. Murphy also contributes a lengthy essay on The War Game reprinted from a 2003 issue of Film International magazine. It details the exact chronology of the near-conspiracy required to keep The War Game from 'harming' the British public.

In closing I'd like to say that all of these Peter Watkins movies have been revelations, even when they had weaknesses. Project X has made them available on DVDs of excellent quality. If you aren't the type to buy this kind of movie, I recommend giving a couple a rental ... The War Game is definitely the kind of picture that alters one's perceptions.

On a scale of Excellent, Good, Fair, and Poor, The War Game and Culloden rate:
Movies: Excellent
Video: WG Very Good, C Excellent
Sound: Excellent
Supplements: Culloden Audio Commentary by Dr. John Cook, The War Game Audio Commentary by Patrick Murphy; booklet with essay on The War Game by Patrick Murphy
Packaging: Keep case
Reviewed: July 16, 2006