Review of Sputnik Mania (2007) by Sean C — 04 Nov 2009

"Sputnik Mania" is a compelling documentary about the events following the launch of the first artificial satellite on October 4, 1957. It would have been significantly better if it had provided more information from the Soviet side of the equation, especially including up to the launch, which should have been possible considering the opening of the Russian archives.

Talking to Nikita Khruschev's son is a nice touch, however. The documentary takes a different path than "The Right Stuff," showing the military buildup after everybody in the United States wet their pants at the possibility the Soviets could now launch missiles with nuclear warheads directly at America(And I'm sad at the people who I thought were smarter than this), instead of marveling at the human ingenuity it took to make Sputnik possible.

This Cold War mentality would not lead to doomsday as thought possible since cooler heads like Khruschev and Eisenhower would prevail but to the horrors of Vietnam. On the plus side, this whole arms race would provide Stanley Kubrick with tons of material.

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