Commentary: ‘Blast From The Past’ Is The Perfect Cure For ‘Fallout’ Blues
by Frank Martin
It’s amazing how stories can germinate from similar ideas despite being completely different from one another. This often happens when certain concepts or subjects are used as springboards for the premise. In terms of fallout shelters, there are a number of stories that revolve around individuals being trapped in bunkers for extended periods of time. Most recently, Silo and Fallout deal with this phenomenon, each focusing on the desperation of emerging in a post-apocalyptic world. Long before either came to the screen, Blast From The Past did the same with much more positive energy.
The story begins during the Cold War, when genius inventor Calvin Webber (Christopher Walken) builds a fallout shelter in his backyard for his family. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, he and is pregnant wife, Helen (Sissy Spacek), went there to stay safe for a couple of days. Unfortunately, a plane crashed on their house while they were inside. Believing that it was a bomb, Calvin locked his family inside the shelter for decades. When his adult son, Adam (Brendan Fraser), eventually emerges, he is essentially a living time capsule embodying that early-1960s era. Eventually, he meets Eve (Alicia Silverstone), who helps him adjust to his newfound life on the surface.
Fallout is a post-apocalyptic action series. Blast From The Past is a romantic comedy film. Both feature individuals who grew up in a self-sustaining bunker. These people then reach the surface and go on their very own adventures. This is where the two stories diverge. Fallout can be a very depressing story about human desperation and survival. Blast From The Past is not. Adam leaves the bunker extremely naive and kind-hearted. He only ever knew his parents, so it is shocking to learn that the world can be cruel. Eve shows him a kindness others do not. The pair eventually fall in love, highlighting a story about a fallout shelter with more hope and optimism than its counterparts.
Fallout is now streaming on Amazon Prime.
