Thirteen Days

"You'll never believe how close we came."

2000 2h 25m EN

👍

7.0

SOLID

★7.0TMDB · 871

HistoryThriller

Synopsis

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The story of the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962—the nuclear standoff with the USSR sparked by the discovery by the Americans of missile bases established on the Soviet-allied island of Cuba.

“You'll never believe how close we came.”

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Cast

Kevin Costner
Kenneth O'Donnell
Bruce Greenwood
John F. Kennedy
Steven Culp
Robert F. Kennedy
Dylan Baker
Robert McNamara
Michael Fairman
Adlai Stevenson
Henry Strozier
Dean Rusk
Frank Wood
McGeorge Bundy
Kevin Conway
Gen. Curtis LeMay

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Roger Donaldson
Writers: David Self
Languages: English, Russian, Spanish
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Mid-budget at $80M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 43% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

26 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 3 languages: English, Russian, Spanish.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Roger Donaldson, shot by Andrzej Bartkowiak. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Trevor Jones. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Conrad Buff IV shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Kevin Costner and Bruce Greenwood and Steven Culp carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Roger Donaldson directs. Andrzej Bartkowiak behind the camera. Trevor Jones scores. Conrad Buff IV cuts. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English, Russian, Spanish.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Mid-budget at $80M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.
2Earned back only 43% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
326 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
4Dialogue crosses 3 languages: English, Russian, Spanish.
5Directed by Roger Donaldson, shot by Andrzej Bartkowiak. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Trevor Jones. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Conrad Buff IV shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Kevin Costner and Bruce Greenwood and Steven Culp carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "You'll never believe how close we came.".
10IMDB entry: tt0146309 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Classified under 10 themes, including "usa president", "politics", "atomic bomb", "cold war".
12Released under 14 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Andrzej Bartkowiak
Original score: Trevor Jones
Editing: Conrad Buff IV
Production design: J. Dennis Washington
Costume design: Isis Mussenden
Makeup / hair: Toni-Ann Walker
Sound: David E. Fluhr
Stunt coordinator: Allan Graf
Runtime: 145 min · 2h 25m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $80,000,000
Box office: $34,566,746
Return: 43% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: Thirteen Days (2000)

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Roger Donaldson

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What people are saying

John Chard2015-07-25
★ 9.5/10
The art of political film making in all its glory. "Communicate with the Soviets? We can't communicate with the Pentagon - and it's just across the goddamn river!" October 1962, for 13 days the American government fought to avert a nuclear war when it was discovered that the Soviet Union had deployed nuclear missiles in Cuba. This is that story. Many superlatives can be chucked at Thirteen Days, and all are viable. In simple terms it's an intelligent and gripping political thriller, superbly scripted and performed by a cast firing on all cylinders. It's a treat to find a film of this type that educates while it pitches you into a world of political intrigue, to provoke real life thoughts even as the suspense takes a hold. Yes it's talky, of course it is, but these conversations are real and riveting. And while there's not a duff performance in the acting pack, Bruce Greenwood deserves special praise. He is the leader, the fulcrum, there's not a false note by him, JFK becoming the role he was born to play. Superlatives were invented for films like Thirteen Days. Assuredly so. 9.5/10
GenerationofSwine2023-07-10
★ 10/10
Kevin Costner at least tried to do an accent in this movie, which probably means he got a new agent, a yes man that didn't bother to give him the advice that doing believable accents isn't his thing. It's almost like listening to your average Brit trying to sound like an American and completely overdoing it. Do we really sound that exaggerated to them? Who cares, ignore the above, it's still a good movie... despite Costner's accent. Or, possibly, in spite of it. It trashes Dean Achenson, and as a historian the only thing I like to see MORE than Dean getting his just deserts is Allen Dulles getting his... and it throws a jab at that ahole too. In 2000 that would have been seen as pure liberal honesty, but now it sort of comes across as far right. I mean the movie is literally about avoiding Nuclear War with Russia as the entire Democratic party and the progressive movement seem to want to push us closer and closer to it. It's one of the better political films you can see, and it builds the pressure to the point where you are terrified that the world could end despite the fact it has long come and gone. And the shift from Jack and Bobby to Ken O'Donnel, a humble appointment secretary is probably one of the best approaches and best ideas any Historical Drama has ever had. Start to finish it is one of the best political thrillers of all time.