1/3 The Day After | 1983 Nuclear War Movie

A 30-minute rework of the 1983 nuclear war film The Day After focused on the documentary aspect of the movie.

The Day After is an American-made-for-TV movie first broadcast on the ABC television network in 1983. More than 100 million people, in nearly 39 million households, watched the initial broadcast. The film hugely impacted US audiences and aired on Soviet state TV in 1987. The Day After is often credited with helping to usher in a period of nuclear arms reduction treaties in the late 1980s and was ranked the highest-rated television film until 2009.

The Day After depicts a scenario of rising tensions along the East-West border of a divided Germany during the latter phase of the Cold War. Relations between NATO and Russia rapidly deteriorate as events spiral out of control leading to armed conflict and nuclear war. The film focuses on Lawrence, Kansas, and Kansas City, Missouri where several family farms sit close to nuclear missile silos. The Day After documents the actual state of nuclear readiness maintained by the US and Russia. Both nations maintain a nuclear triad in constant readiness for thermonuclear war.

The Day After was first conceived by ABC Motion Picture Division president Brandon Stoddard who came up with the idea after watching The China Syndrome. Veteran television writer Edward Hume undertook a massive amount of research on the likely effects of nuclear war and went to work on a script in 1981. Due to the graphic content of the subject matter, however, several drafts were rejected by the network until the characters and plot finally seemed acceptable for a family audience. Most of the actors in The Day After were Kansas City residents recruited from local shopping malls.

Director Nicholas Meyer had just completed Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and wanted to create a film that accurately portrayed the consequences of nuclear war. After wrangling with the US Department of Defence and the ABC censors, Meyer released a compromise version of The Day After for primetime TV screens. According to the message at the end of the film:

‘The catastrophic events you have just witnessed are, in all likelihood, less severe than the destruction that would occur in the event of a full-scale nuclear strike against the United States.
It is hoped that the images of this film will inspire the nations of this earth, their peoples and leaders, to find the means to avert the fateful day.’

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[sargepent]

One of my neighbors was a crew chief for SAC from the late 60s to the early 90s. He told me there were more than few times that the aircrews were scrambled and while it was panic, it was rehearsed so it was automatic. Of course the surrounding communities would figure something was up when every B52 on the base suddenly took off in as fast a succession as they could. He told me the only thing that motivated him was that their only chance was to get the aircraft away as fast as possible since ICBMs could already be on the way in which case they had less than 30 minutes to get the entire squadron away. But he and the aircrew also knew that it was a 1 way flight as they wouldn't have enough fuel to make it back if given the "GO" order. Anyone under age 55 doesn't really know what it's like to live in fear of nuclear because we've lost that fear it makes it more likely than not to actually have it happen

[YoungGagarin]

I'm Russian, it's very difficult for me to watch films like this. I grew up in the USSR, with everyone saying that nuclear fallout would happen at any moment. If you can find it on the internet, there is a Russian film on this same topic. It was produced in the Soviet era, and is called "Dead Man's Letters".
It is a record of nuclear destruction from the Soviet perspective. It tells about an old professor of natural history, who survives the nuclear war by taking refuge in the bunker beneath the Moscow library. He survives the devastation along with a group of children and some other employees. He lives there, sick and weakened. And in addition, he tries to keep children's hopes alive so that they can build a better world, if it continues.

[kirk]

I was a high school freshman and we had classroom discussions about this after it aired in 1983. The entire school was quiet that day. This is a almost a documentary for Gen-X.

[mattnachazel]

I am not seeing near enough toilet paper being purchased at the store.

[derekwall]

the survivors of a nuclear holocaust would envy the dead
Premier Nikita Khruschev

[tomp]

I was a Minuteman II ICBM Crew Member during the height of the Cold War. Some aspects of this movie are pretty close to how it was in Strategic Air Command. We constantly trained, exercised and were evaluated on being prepared to retaliate if America suffered a First Strike nuclear attack from the Soviet Union.

[Xerdar]

Anyone from 2024? It is getting a little scary here..

[draoi]

As a teenager in the 1980s I worried about The Bomb a lot. It was a common fear, if you listen to the song "Forever Young", one of the lines is: " are you going to drop The Bomb or not"?

[Lordtariq]

The most scariest film ever conceived. Sure beats slasher, aliens, monsters and zombie movies.

[TerraRubicon]

This was such an "in your face" movie when it came out that it actually was a wake up call for everyone on the planet.

[Asukol]

Watched this movie with my dad in the 2000s as a kid and it gave me a genuine fear of nuclear war. Literally had recurring nightmares of dying from inescapable nuclear bombs.

[larrydiaz]

I remember when this movie was aired on prime TV. I was in high school and a senior. It was the conversation of the day. I was scared but not terrified. Now much different. Its amazing how things change when you are older and the chance of such an event can be a reality.

[wjbsdqs]

I was a military policeman and on an EOD team when this came out. Stationed on a Dutch missile base in Western Germany. Everyone hoped this would not come true. We had plans and evacuation routines for our families in place.

[livetotell]

I love how people are buying meat, milk, and other things that need refrigerated. Be smart, buy the cereal, oatmeal, canned goods, and other non-perishable items.

[evanperrine]

The audio quality for the time period this was made is surprisingly good. Even big budget movies then seemed to have much grainier sound.

[Xerdar]

They need to make a modern remake of this flick...

[rikcab]

10:06 I remember my sister's TV had that swing-out door,
looked like that when it wouldn't lock anymore... Boy I am old.

[FlamingoKicker]

Jettisoning the whole marriage storyline actually improves the film here. And the storyline with Jason Robards' daughter.

[Merbella]

I remember watching this in the 4th grade. I was terrified and so were many children. They stopped talking about nuclear war in our school because of that.

[BobSchofield-elhj]

May 2024!...I be under the threat since 1953....still here...Pray