A Blue Collar Drama Classic. Everything is really well done here, but the acting is outstanding and the highlightt. Streep gives an Oscar worthy performance for such a likeable, attractive, flawed, determined, and couragous person. The film nails the asetics, world building, and demeanor of blue collar working class with all star treatment. Ward, Cher, Nelson, all are excellent and Russell is really good to and has great chemistry with Streep. The settings are all memorable too thanks to the strong direction. This film also just makes you angry as well for the misgivings and struggles of blue vs white collar. The one thing that holds this back for me is the drama of Karen's life and the union/espionage story of her vs the company can feel like two seperate movies at times. There both great but the story of her versus the company is the more interesting of the two. One generate riveting drama while the other generates paranoia/tension. However, it felt like the paranoia factor could never get going consistently because the drama kind of slows things down and it has to ramp things up again. I'm not sure how you'd fix that but it still works really well overall. Anyone who is a fan of the director, any actors in this, dramas, or even thrillers may like this.

This movie is a wonderful but sometimes hard to watch. Cher and Streep are amazing. The reason it's hard to watch is because it's true. KAREN SILKWOOD is a hero of mine. GOD BLESS HER. I am thankful as a kid I watched this and wish I could stream it to others. More people need to see this piece of cinematic gold.

Was a little too long with scenes that didn't seem necessary, but overall a good true story. Made me want to investigate Karen Silkwood's story more. Sad.

One of the best biopic that handles the true story of the life and death of a whistle blower that threatened to reveal how a nuclear company was risking lives over making profit.

Slow, very slow. Boring.

Workers contend with the risk of plutonium contamination at their place of work.

It is dangerous to tell the truth or to complain, it could be at the cost your live. This story is not only based on the truth, it is the truth today.

A shocking true story with excellent performances all around.

Nothing out of the ordinary but, surely, the protagonists' acting elevates the film.

Anytime someone asks me which movie is the scariest I can think of, I name Silkwood. It's based on a true story. Whether or not the movie version is 100% factually based is beside the point. You cannot sit through this movie and not feel a chill. The music score plays a big part in this. Karen Silkwood was a real person, living through the HORROR of a job at a nuclear plant, where the management cared much more about profits than it did about the precious lives of its employees. The movie depicts the HORROR of being a poor person -- someone with no clout in the world, someone living in a dilapidated shack at the end of a dirt road, trying to scratch out some pleasure in an existence defined by stress. Karen finally finds an area of focus - the injustices at her job. But the poverty mindset is so ingrained in her boyfriend and her roommate -- Don't make waves! Keep your head down! Stay off The Man's radar! -- that Karen finds herself having to get along without the ONLY support systems she's known. But she keeps on. She won't keep her head down, and she'll continue to demand answers. Meryl Streep does an amazing job, transforming herself into this self-doubting yet daring, flawed character, who we realize COULD HAVE gone to the next level if ... something ... hadn't stopped her in her tracks. It is impossible not to feel paranoid after seeing this film, which implies that the powers that be at the nuclear plant, and perhaps higher up than that, have conspired to shut her down. What else could account for the impossibly high levels of radiation found not only on Karen herself, but in her tiny house? When the radiation levels sound the alarm, the very few, small things Karen has to her name, her house and her body, are ripped apart in the name of "safety." Anyone who has ever felt vulnerable and misunderstood will understand what Karen's life story has to tell us.

Powerful but not something you will want to revisit.

Sure it has the true story to fall back on, but that doesn't change how authentic these characters are and the drama they go through is soo engaging, it makes the ending all that more haunting...

Meryl Streep and Cher together in one film - what more do you want?

Cher is very good here

Karen Silkwood was an ordinary girl - had a working-class background, with a couple of children and a failed marriage behind her, without prospects for significant advancement in life. But, in history she will be remembered as a hero. Karen Silkwood worked at the plutonium factory where she advocated the fight for workers' rights. Within the trade union, she dealt with occupational safety issues and discovered numerous irregularities in the production of plutonium rods, including poor workmanship and exposure of workers to radiation. The company tried to cover it up, but Karen collected a large amount of evidence and documents that backed her claims. To the surprise of the factory management, but also some of her colleagues who disapproved her activism and stirring-up the factory status quo, Karen turned out to be a worthy opponent - one that was ready to go on the line against a large corporation. In return, she was pressured daily, intentionally poisoned with radiation and eventually killed. Karen Silkwood's death, in November 1974, received a lot of attention from the American public. Several books were written about her case, songs were dedicated to her and the movie ''Silkwood'' was made. The choices she makes are those choices we would like to believe we'd make if we were in her shoes. This is why for us Karen Silkwood is a hero. The movie is based on actual events.

May not exactly be as riveting by the rebellious nature against the system considering how it accurately kept under wraps with subtle activism, but the emotional tone does the usual justice when building up to a tragic climax with unknown though easy-to-figure-out circumstances that made the story more stand out, and Streep's performances bolstered that. (B) (Full review TBD)

Mike Nichols' dramatisation of the titular nuclear whistleblower breasting the goliath of nuclear industry compromising safety of workers for profits is a compelling exposé irradiating a quiet strength and simple compassion of the destitute working class.

Meryl Streep delivers one of her greatest screen performances to date in this deeply flawed but very grounded biopic about Karen Silwood, a plant worker in the heart of Oklahoma who believes that radiation poisoning is occurring rampantly there. It is easy to dismiss the performances of Craig T. Nelson and Ron Silver, as one dimensional villain and hero but at the film's heart are three performances that show how flawed and average humans can be (Meryl Streep, Kurt Russell, Cher) and still provide us with a reason to root for them.

If i have enough from my shitty work, i watch this movie and i know, i'm not alone with this issue.

Cher won a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Supporting Role! Meryl Streep won a KCFCC Award for Best Actress! The movie was nominated for 5 Oscars, had another 2 wins & 13 nominations.