2 old but great nuclear war movies

Colash

With all this talk to nukes and wars going on the last while , I just thought I'd let all know of two good nuclear war movies I've come across . Some of ye may or may not know them . One is called THE DAY AFTER an the other is called THREADS. one is an American one and THREADS is a British film .. Both made in the 80's I think . Both films really drive home the whole idea of nuclear strikes , the build up, the strike and the aftermath . Although the films are old and the special effects is primitive for today's standards , both movies are a great watch and at times , scary in a totally helpless way ! Both can be watched on YouTube as full movies

BostonB

Not really war movies. More like disaster movies no? When the Wind Blows was another. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_the_Wind_Blows_(film)

I remember liking this at the time. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_III_(TV_miniseries)

Then again I liked Buck Rogers back then too.

Colash

BostonB wrote: »

Not really war movies. More like disaster movies no?

I remember liking this at the time. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_III_(TV_miniseries)

Then again I liked Buck Rogers back then too.

Well there's a hint of war in them , but I guess your right , their more disaster movies. Anything to do with the whole American / Russian nuclear weapons conflict , I find very interesting . That's what drew me to these

krudler

I remember seeing Threads on tv as a kid and it was absolutely terrifying

Padraig Mor

Threads pisses all over The Day After TBH. Very similar to Threads is the older The War Game.

thegreengoblin

I will never ever forget watching Threads back in the day, it was the stuff of nightmares. I watched it again a couple of years ago and it still freaked me out!
The Day After is less memorable but still well worth a look for those who haven't seen it.
I also really liked By Dawn's Early Light from around 1990. It showed the forces that come into play when you put these old hawks in charge of nuclear weapons and it wasn't a standard Americans good/Soviets bad film.

* An interesting sidenote about The Day After. Apparently, Ronald Reagan saw a private screening of the film and was so affected by it that he made nuclear arms reduction one of his government's main priorities and kickstarted a series of negotiations with Mikhail Gorbachev to do just that.

Renn

Disturbing collection of 1940s and 1950s United States government issued propaganda films designed to reassure Americans that the atomic bomb was not a threat to their safety.

The Atomic Cafe (1982)

D-FENS

Superman 4?....:o

mike65

Testament which almost nobody saw (the Day After having cornered the market the same year) is apparently very good.

Padraig Mor

mike65 wrote: »

Testament which almost nobody saw (the Day After having cornered the market the same year) is apparently very good.

Not quite as good as its reputation unfortunately (IMHO).

NeVeR

The Sum Of All Fears.

losthorizon

The Bedford Incident is an excellent film which deals with the perils of cold war nuclear tensions. Also notable for casting a black actor which makes no reference to his skin colour. Its a fairly crappy trailer but the film itself is excellent and really cranks up the excitement without much "action". "Dano" from Hawaii five 0 appears in the film as well before that series appeared on TV.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsHdAnbOnmc

Curly Judge

Dr. Strangelove and Fail - Safe.
Fail - Safe is the poor relation but still a very good, if disturbing, film.

nyarlothothep

Threads is a vision of hell, it is absolutely unforgiving, I only watched a few scenes, bits of it, and the last scene which is horrifying (it basically says, there is no future hope for humanity, only misery and pain, in the most ontological sense which makes it even worse). I was down about it for a few days and it is the most effective "dont start a nuclear war you morons" film ever. Seriously, we need to create a global governance structure and advance beyond these primitive conflicts while engaging in nuclear disarmament, on a long enough timescale one of these missiles will launch due to a blunder, technical or otherwise.