Y2K (1999 film)

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This article is about the 1999 thriller film. For 2024 disaster comedy film, see Y2K (2024 film).

Y2K
GenreSci-Fi
Thriller
Written byThomas Hines
HBO Pictures
Original release
NetworkNBC
ReleaseNovember 21, 1999 (1999-11-21)

Y2K (also known as Countdown to Chaos and Y2K: The Movie) is a 1999 American made-for-television science fiction-thriller film directed by Dick Lowry and starring Ken Olin and Kate Vernon. The film takes a fictional look at the societal problems that could ensue from widespread computer shutdowns caused by the Year 2000 problem, also known as the Y2K problem or the Millennium bug. The film premiered November 21, 1999 on NBC.

The film's airing sparked a controversy after some utility and banking industry trade associations, including the Edison Electric Institute, asked TV stations not to air the film.[1] Before the film aired, executive producer David Israel called the concerns "silly". "My guess is some of the things we say are going to happen might happen, and some we say might won't," he told Variety in November 1999. "It's not like Y2K is a big secret."[2] The film was preceded by a disclaimer stating: "This program does not suggest or imply that any of these events could actually occur."[3]

It was harshly criticized by critics as well as the technology press.

Background

Executive producer David Israel and his partner, Patrick Caddell, developed the idea of making a Y2K disaster film in summer 1998. Israel told the Los Angeles Times: "Frankly, I was astonished that nobody else pitched it. When we were able to clear the title 'Y2K,' I was flabbergasted. I was surprised we are the only fictional thing that got made."[4]

Another Y2K-themed film with the same title and starring Louis Gossett Jr., Sarah Chalke and Malcolm McDowell was produced and released straight to video in 1999.[5]

Plot

Nick Cromwell is an

Atlantic Seaboard goes dark and Cromwell assists a plane to land in Washington, DC, without runway lights. Word then arrives of a nuclear power plant in Sweden suffering a meltdown and killing all the workers, so he takes a supersonic jet back to his hometown of Seattle to avert disaster at the similar power plant there. Everyone within a 10-mile radius of the plant is ordered to evacuate, including Cromwell's wife, Alix, a physician who is delivering a millennium baby. But the Cromwells' 16-year-old daughter Kelly has disobeyed her mother's order to stay home with her younger brother, so Alix begins searching the city for her.[6][7]

Other Y2K-related disasters around the country shown in the film include a Navy

The Tonight Show With Jay Leno.[6]

Cast

Reception

The film was criticized by many critics. The Variety reviewer called it a "ridiculous sweeps-ploitation thriller".

ZDNet's Mitch Ratcliffe called it "indescribably silly".[8]

Several media outlets also took aim at the film for its technical inaccuracies, including

ZDNet, which highlighted more than 25 "myths" from the film,[8] and Computerworld, which printed a "Fact or Fiction?" rundown.[7]

References

  1. ^
    Wired
    .
  2. ^ Schneider, Michael (November 10, 1999). "Inside Move". Variety.
  3. ^ a b Richmond, Ray (November 17, 1999). "Review: Y2K". Variety.
  4. ^ King, Susan (November 21, 1999). "Countdown to Chaos". Los Angeles Times.
  5. ^ Schwartz, Mathew (November 22, 1999). "Analysts call Y2K: The Movie a millennial disaster". CNN.
  6. ^
    Washington Post
    .
  7. ^ a b c Schwartz, Mathew (November 22, 1999). "A Millennium Disaster: NBC's Y2K: The Movie". Computerworld. p. 38.
  8. ^
    ZDNet
    .

External links

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