Jason Robards

JoBeth Williams

Steve Guttenberg

John Cullum

John Lithgow

Bibi Besch

Lori Lethin

Amy Madigan

Jeff East

Georgann Johnson

William Allen Young

Calvin Jung

Lin McCarthy

Dennis Lipscomb

Clayton Day

Doug Scott

Ellen Anthony

Kyle Aletter

Alston Ahern

William Allyn

Antonie Becker

Pamela Brown

Jonathan Estrin

Stephen Furst

Arliss Howard

Rosanna Huffman

Barbara Harris

Bob Meister

Vahan Moosekian

George Petrie

Glenn Robards

Tom Spratley

Stan Wilson

Arthur Ashe

Billy Beck

Brian Beltran

Bill Baker

Gayne Rescher

Nicholas Meyer

Robert Papazian

David Raksin

Edward Hume

Robert Florio

John S. Perry

Dorothea Long

Frank Serafine

Barbara Amato

Zoltan Elek

Paul Stader

Charles T. Knight

Paul Dixon

Andree Juviler

Joseph G. Pacelli Jr.

Bob Dawson

Steve Dayan

Dianne Cohoon

Walton Domisch

Barbara Palmer Dixon

Elie Cohn

Scott Thaler

Sharon Burke

Dean Williams

Mort Zwicker

Stephanie Austin

Michael Westmore

Judy Crown

Gary C. Bourgeois

Robert Blalack

Gene Clinesmith

Neil Roach

Mary Ann Good

Gail Joyce Fortmuller

Gene Griffith

Jack Wright

David McCann

Ross Brown

Hank McCann

Steven-Charles Jaffe

Janet Bartels-Vandagriff

Romolo Acquistapace

Penelope Gottlieb

Hal Galli

Lavar Emert

Christopher T. Welch

Mary West

Bill Flores

William Paul Dornisch

Peter Wooley

Science Fiction

Drama

TV Movie

The Day After

ABC Circle Films

United States of America

English

high school

environmental protection agency

nuclear war

isolation

darkness

radiation

chaos

refugee

refugee camp

cold war

insanity

post-apocalyptic future

nuclear radiation

delirium

hysteria

kansas, usa

lawlessness

end of the world

nuclear explosion

nuclear holocaust

disaster

apocalypse

armageddon

anarchy

nuclear

nuclear threat

nuclear fallout

mushroom cloud

disfigurement

radiation sickness

catastrophe

revolver

nightmare becomes reality

world war iii

mass destruction

mass grave

mass killing

destroyed city

nuclear winter

psychotronic film

ensemble cast

college campus

danger

pandemonium

This was solid and, considering its epoch, scary. I remember being a teen when this came up, and with U.S./Soviet relations at a nadir, nuclear war films were just starting to appear on the cinephile's radar once again, after taking a breather from their 60's heyday for the sake of the glut of natural disaster films that hit theatres in the interim.

This was one of the first and best, simply because director Nicholas Meyer was so good at sci-fi. I fervently wish he had made a lot more movies.

Well worth the view and it's surprisingly hard-hitting, for an American movie.

TDA depict the full nuclear exchange between NATO and the Warsaw-pact and how this affect the population in and around Kansas.

I think TDA really works better as a pure movie, because it is. Compared to the UK-made "Threads", which is more of a docudrama, TDA sets the scene and develop the characters.

Many of the characters also survive the initial attack and we follow them 2-4 weeks after the initial attack.

Even though TDA was both politically incorrect at the time and is also pretty bleak and scary, it does fall into the trap of being more of a movie than a film meant to shock and present facts.

Some of the cheesy dialogue and characters also feels a little 'meh' (love stories, family-drama etc). Threads also has some of that, but avoid the most cheesy moments, because it's more 'real' than 'played out by actors'.

Anyway, TDA works well, it will keep you seated and you will indeed feel moved by the buildup and attack-scene, as well as the aftermath.

Acting is for the most part very good and the film flows nicely trough the story.

The thing I don't like too much with TDA, is that it does pull it's punches concerning the consequences of such a nuclear exchange and it does leave the viewer with a slightly positive outlook, that things will improve in time and that mankind will prevail. 

Dr. Oakes, one of the main-characters in the film is probably the voice of the most realistic views on what is to come, but his views aren't lifted up as being the view of the movie itself.

Still a highly recommended film, it does cover a subject only covered properly by this and the UK made 'Threads'.

Nutshell

James Robards is exceptional in this sad nuclear holocaust fable, made for TV but a top notch production in most all respects.

The Day After Trailer

The Day After( 1983)

They told us it would be impossible to make this movie. They told us it would be impossible for you to watch it. We hope nothing is impossible.

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A review by talisencrw

Written by talisencrw on Sun Jul 03 2016

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