Anybody remember this movie: "The Day After" from the 80's

[KyndCulture]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Day_After

It was a movie about the aftermath of a nuclear strike on Lawrence, KS.

I was in school then and the teacher made us watch it for Social Studies... and it scared the bejesus out of me.

[AngelFactor]

1. I remember that

It was about the same time as "Thriller"

@@@

American Justice? Sure, so why is an attorney getting away with tampering with court documents even though he “inadvertently” filed three pages of emails detailing what was done with the court.

See for yourself: http://www.maximumadvocacy.com/Court_records.html, look on pages 25-27 of document 64.

Unbelievable. Priceless. Hilarious, if it wasn’t so sad but true.

How’s your faith in the justice system?

[NYC]

7. Your link doesn't work.

It says: Paqe not found.

Welcome to DU. :hi:

[Jazz2006]

16. It's because of that comma at the end of the link

If you remove the comma, the link works

http://www.maximumadvocacy.com/Court_records.html

Welcome to DU :hi:

[NYC]

23. Thanks.

I'm going to read it now.

Edit: Reading it, and still trying to figure out what is going on.

Excerpt from page 26 of Document 64:

This is an employment action brought by a former employee of Defendant GES against GES and four of its senior managers, only one of whom was Plaintiff's direct supervisor. Plaintiff has brought a wide variety of claims, including (1) retaliation under the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA"), Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and N.R.S. &*613.340; (2) relief under the FLSA for allegedly improper overtime exemption; (3) age discrimination in violation of the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act ("ADEA") and N.R.S. &*613.310; (4) unpaid wages under N.R.S. &*608.040; (5) defamation and libel; (6) intentional and negligent infliction of severe mental distress; (7) negligent hiring, training, and supervision; (8) negligence, gross negligence, and negligence per se.

[Jazz2006]

49. I was reading it and

do not see what the controversy is re: "tampering with evidence" as alleged by AngelFactor.

[NYC]

52. They replaced a document,

or a cover letter for an attachment. For me, there are too many PDF files. Not easy to open so many and compare. So, I still don't know what is going on.

If Angel Factor explains, I'll take another look.

[Jazz2006]

54. Yes, I read through

most of it

It appears as though the D made a request through the court clerk's office (proper channel) to request that a filing error be corrected, and that the correction was documented appropriately. (Seems the error was that they initially filed the pleading on behalf of one of the individually named Ds instead of on behalf of the corporate D).

But as you say, if Angel Factor explains further, I'll take another look, too.

:toast:

[AlCzervik]

2. yup, we actually had to watch that for earth science class, scared the

crap out of all of us.

[wryter2000]

3. Yup

It was scary.

[silverstateD]

4. yes, i remember

It was a big deal at the time. People freaked out, said it would give kids nightmares and all that. I had already seen road warrior, couldn't see what the big deal was.

[KyndCulture]

5. I was talking to a friend on another board today...

She was saying how she was out with a group of 20 somethings yesterday and not one of them even knew what Chernobyl was.

So I got to remembering this movie.

[Ecumenist]

11. Are you serious?

Okay, that's almost scarier than the possibility of that scenario of nuclear war happening.

[KyndCulture]

12. Yeah totally serious...

it truly disturbed me.

[nonconformist]

6. Yep, my whole family watched when it aired

I remember there was a great deal of hype surrounding it, even though I was only 10 in 1983.

[Ecumenist]

8. That was horrible, although it was a lot less graphic

and less realistic than it should have been. Testament is a far superior film, at least in the likely outcome. the creepiest thing is in that film, the bombs are set off by terrorists, if I remember correctly. The most horrifying one is called Threads, a British production and it's storyline traces what would happen following such a war to the survivors to everything from the social structure to untreated cancers to genetic degradation due to radiation. HORRIFIC!!

[TallahasseeGrannie]

27. Testament was more subtle and

horrifying, especially when they buried the child in his own sheets.

But The Day After almost sent me to the psychiatrist. I was obsessed for about three weeks, totally panicked about my family because we have no basements in Florida.

[KyndCulture]

29. Ah yeah Grannie... I was in Jacksonville then.

I cried to my mother about the basement thing over and over again. My mom was just as freaked as I was... I was a junior in high school then. I was sure there was no future.


Little did I know we'd be repeating these fears again.

[Ecumenist]

38. Wow, I was young, about 17 to 18 years old when

"The Day After" was first broadcast and I was bothered about it for quite a while. I think that it might be a good idea to rebroadcast all three of these programs so that people can be reminded of what nuclear war really results in. That it's not just a walk in the park with a bit of cleanup and then going on with life as before.

[KyndCulture]

39. I think that's a damn good idea!

Wish I could round up tapes or links of these so we could spread them around.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

44. We could all do to freak out just a bit more

I now have plans for how to survive (or more importantly, save the babies) without a basement but it sure wouldn't be fun. I am trying not to think too hard about it right now. I can go too far really easily about nuclear things because...sigh...I have always assumed I would not die in bed, but rather in a conflagration. Isn't that awful?

[TallahasseeGrannie]

45. A great book about the same thing

is called "War Day" and it kind of helped me deal with the whole nuclear issue because it at least addressed some pockets of civilization in America surviving. I really recommend it if you can find it.

T-Grannie

[Jeebo]

9. There was a spate of movies on that theme...

...at about that time. "The Day After" was the one that stirred up the most controversy, but it wasn't the only one by any means. Two more that come immediately to mind are the British film "Threads" and -- in my humble opinion the best one of the bunch, I have it on Beta videotape and still get it out and watch it every year or two -- the PBS film "Testament" starring Jane Alexander. "Testament" is aptly titled because it is a testament to the human spirit. It stands out not only among films of that very narrow subgenre, it is a great film of ANY genre.

Ron

[marmar]

10. Yes, I was in grade school...

and thought for sure the world was going to be annihilated by madmen. :scared: :scared: :scared: Whew, what a relief that we don't have madmen threatening to use nukes anymore! :sarcasm:

[KyndCulture]

13. For REAL!

That's what got me thinking about that.

[IsIt1984Yet]

14. Indeed, I do. Nuclear holocaust was the 'terra' of the 80's.

I remember being terrified as a small child that a nuclear warhead would vaporize us all. And, if not vaporize, we'd turn into green-glowing freaks.

[Warpy]

15. My nukemares have always been worse than that movie

but the network made this whole big deal out of not watching it alone. Well, I had no choice. The way people stood there as they watched those missile silos open and fire, knowing there was nothing they could do about it <shudder> was very true to life. The aftermath of farmers standing around listening to the ag extension guy saying everything would be fine after they scraped the first 6 inches of topsoil off (and they had no farm equipment or way to run it) was great. Other than that, it was typical disaster movie fare, introduce the characters, develop sympathy, then pick about half of them off.

My nukemares date from the "duck and cover" days outside Washington, DC. They are much worse than that movie tried to be.

[graywarrior]

17. There was another one that came out at the same time, but

I think it was British made. It was much more disturbing. Can't remember the name of it. Anyone else remember?

[KyndCulture]

18. Testament.

[graywarrior]

20. Yeah, I think that may have been it.

Very frightening.

[Poll_Blind]

28. Yes, I saw Testament on PBS it was MUCH more disturbing.

I will never forget the scene where one of her son (5-7 y/o) is crying and she picks him up, lowers him into a sink full of water (just his butt) to try to cool him off. When she picks him up, the water is full of his blood. His bowels were bleeding. Fuck, I just started crying thinking about it- I cry about 4 times a year. Ok, waited a minute to catch my breath but it's not stopping:

You see, that boy is about the same age as my son is now. When I saw it I was 11, now I'm 33. I can't believe the things we do to ourselves and each other as human beings. I will do anything to prevent that happening to my son.

If Bush uses a nuke some mother, somewhere, is going to go through that. Some beautiful pair of little eyes is going to look up into theirs as their skin falls off or they shit their internal organs out and plead for relief- that will never come. I don't care if it's the son or daughter of an American, or a Venezuelan or an Iranian or a Nigerian or an Israeli or a Palestinian. I don't care if it's the son or daughter of a crook or a saint or a Nazi or a Rabbi- I don't fucking care.

I believe in the law. I believe in the rule of law. I understand why laws exist and why we keep a judicial system and how that is the framework of any society. Yet now, my eyes are red and stinging and all I can think about is that I have no mercy in my heart for anyone who visits that sort of atrocity on the innocent. I am an atheist and since I do not believe in gods I realize that the only way Love will be brought onto this earth is if I bring it. There are no wands, no sky wizards in my world who can visit it magically or work a transmutory miracle. I have spent my adult life attempting to fill every chamber of my heart, every capillary in my body with Love. Because Love is the answer. And yet there is a strong wind that blows that Love away for those who would commit this sort of atrocity, this holocaust on the world again.

I am ashamed of but unapologetic for the sentiments that I willingly allow to settle in my heart should such a thing come to pass.

PB

[David in Canada]

21. Threads

It was made for the BBC. I have it on VHS :-)

It was only shown a few times on US television.

Ted Turner showed it on his TBS station. When there were no advertisers, he paid for the film to be shown out of his own pocket.

Threads is WAY more scarier than "The Day After" and more gory as well. It depicts a nuclear strike on Sheffield, England, UK.

The buildup in the film is about US-Soviet tensions regarding Iran and it culminates into a dramatic nuclear exchange. :scared:

[Media_Lies_Daily]

53. Yes...that was a terribly horrific film....link inside....

<http://www.btinternet.com/~pdbean/threads.html>

[tlsmith1963]

61. Threads is *Much* Scarier...

than The Day After. After I saw it, I said that I never wanted to see it again. It's not because it was a bad film. It's because it scared me so much that I didn't know if I could handle seeing it again. And I have been 100% anti-nuke ever since.

Tammy

[Ecumenist]

43. THREADS

It was horrific...

[northernsoul]

19. that movie scared the shit out of me

I remember being 9 years old and working my neighborhood to raise money for the nuclear freeze movement. I was a little DUer in the making, I guess.

[David in Canada]

22. Yes...

Threads was more scary, albeit VERY difficult to procure in the States.

The Day After was indeed very scary in it's own right, however.

[guinivere]

24. I remember. They showed it on

Thanksgiving night. Nice warm, family gathering with a little nuke movie for dessert.

It did scare me.

[MrSlayer]

25. Yes. Scared me pretty badly as a kid.

It wasn't really the nuke thing that scared me, it was the end when the guy looking for help was mercilessly gunned down by some farmer for no reason. The lawlessness of the after society was what was scary.

[gollygee]

26. Yes I had a nightmare after watching it

something about me and a deer living in a cave.

[Peace Patriot]

30. Yup, I remember it well. The anti-nuke movement had suffered eclipse

in the war profiteering corporate news monopolies, but had been kept alive by people like Jeff Dietrich of the Catholic Workers (Los Angeles), who would get publicity blips with things like taking a shovel to the ground around city hall in Pasadena, in a mock effort to build a bomb shelter. He was great! But, as for the country at large, it was fast asleep--after major efforts in the '60s to reign in our godawful war machine. Then "The Day After" hit TV. It stunned the nation. The threat of accidental war that annihilates us all came front and center for a period. Three-Mile Island and Chernobyl brought that OTHER threat--nuclear power for "peaceful" uses--forward. The nuke non-proliferation treaty was one result of all this, but the demise of the Soviet Union, and the blindness, stupidity and complicity of the war profiteering corporate news monopolies sent the matter back under the "public" radar.

The Bush junta is stirring things up a bit, though. I have an old friend (former Air Force bomber pilot) who says that it is a MIRACLE OF GOD that nuclear bombs have not been used since Hiroshima/Nagasaki. Never in the history of mankind have evil dudes had access to powerful new weapons and not used them. And now we have just the evil dudes to do it, running the whole government--White House, Pentagon, CIA, courts, Congress, news organizations. It's damn scary, for sure. But, as with Corporate Rule in general, and our humongous, war-creating military budgets, the Bushites are so-o-o-o-o-o-o-o bad, maybe the rubber band of public opinion will snap back and bite the fascists real hard, with a genuine, representative, majority rule, leftist government in the U.S. of A. (as is happening in Latin America).

And maybe what will help that happen is Grand Jury indictment of the vice president of the U.S., Dick Cheney, for OUTING not just ANY CIA agent, but outing the head of a major U.S. NUCLEAR COUNTER-PROLIFERATION project, twenty years in the making, putting all of its covert agents and contacts around the world at risk of death, by IN ADDITION outing the project front name, Brewster-Jennings.

Wake up, America!

-------------------------------------

Throw Diebold, ES&S and all election theft machines into 'Boston Harbor' NOW!

[peekaloo]

31. I remember the scene on the highway when all the cars ignitions died

right before detonation nd the hospital scenes afterward. :scared:

[KyndCulture]

36. Oh that was a scary thing...

I remember that scene too.

[mrcheerful]

32. Good gravy you all would have never made it through school in the 60's

we had to sit in class and watch stop, duck, cover movies along with LSD the evils of movies. They were very graphic in what happens to people exposed to atom bombs, they even used the after math pics of the 2 bombs we dropped in japan. I can still see the burns survivors had and the images of people who shadows were on walls because the light was so intense and hot that even though the people were turned into instant dust, their shadows remained. The LSD warning movies were even worse because they were trying to link LSD to genetic deformities, They showed pics of deformed fetuses and dead babies to drive their point home on what happens when you use LSD and its life long side effects. Who can forget the image of the fetus with a finger sticking out of its eye socket or babies with 4 eyes 2 noses and a mouth? This was real stuff, yet you get upset over a make believe movie about what if?

[KyndCulture]

35. I admit I was born in 66 and didn't hear any of that.

But it was totally recycled in the 80's and guess what? It's back.

[GreenPartyVoter]

59. No one is showing film of the Iraqi babies who have been contaminated with

DU in schools, are they? I think they should.

[robertpaulsen]

33. When it was first broadcast in 1983

I remember a scene where the President gives a radio address after the bombs go off. What was particularly chilling for me at the time was the voice sounded just like Reagan. Then when they rebroadcasted several years later, it was a completely different voice that didn't sound like Reagan at all. My sister is the only one in my family who remembers him sounding like Reagan too. Was that just our imagination, or does anyone else remember the same thing?

[KyndCulture]

34. My friends and I decided it was a mind fuck

after talking about it for a few weeks.

But it seems to me we are reliving the mind fuck right about now.

[robertpaulsen]

55. I was right! There was a voice actor who sounded like Reagan.

I found out these interesting facts on imdb:

* Immediately after the film's original broadcast, it was followed by a special news program, featuring a live discussion between scientist Dr. Carl Sagan (who opposed the use of nuclear weapons) and Conservative writer William F. Buckley Jr. (who promoted the concept of "nuclear deterrence"). It was during this heated discussion, aired live on network television, where Dr. Sagan introduced the world to the concept of "nuclear winter" and made his famous analogy, equating the nuclear arms race with "two men standing waist deep in gasoline; one with three matches, the other with five".

Unable to get permission to use U.S. Department of Defense stock footage of mushroom clouds (although able to get stock footage of Minuteman III ICBM test launches), producers were forced to recreate mushroom clouds using special effects.

The US Department of Defense would only co-operate with the film's production on condition that it be made clear in the story that the Soviets, and not the United States, launched their missiles first.

When originally televised, the Presidential speech via radio was delivered by a voice actor who sounded much like Ronald Reagan. This speech was re-voiced by a different actor for the VHS/DVD releases and the version which airs on cable television. Conversely, a startling close-up of a screaming hospital patient was excised from the original ABC telecast, but restored for the home video and cable versions of the film.

more...

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085404/trivia

[Buddyblazon]

37. Remember it?

I was in grade school in Lawrence at the time. Deerfield elementary. Had several friends that were extras. And one girl who played the daughter of one of the main characters.

I had nightmares for several years afterwards.

[KyndCulture]

41. Oh damn!!

That must have been pretty traumatic!!

[lpbk2713]

40. Ever read 'Alas, Babylon'?

It's a nuclear doomsday novel along the same lines. I read it in high school and it scared me.


Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alas,_Babylon

[Media_Lies_Daily]

51. Yes...it was a very good book about the results of a nuclear war.

[greekspeak]

42. I was 9 when I watched almost ten

That night I could hardly sleep. Every scratch or peep or light I saw outside I was sure was a bomb. Between that movie and the red scare still being alive and well in my family, I was convinced at that age that the end of the world would come at any moment. I was actually afraid Mondale would win in 1984 because it would mean certain annihilation. People do change. Luckily.

[KyndCulture]

46. We were all baby DUers back then...

I know that seeing those things, and hearing the lessons of my teachers then convinced me that paying attention to the government was the most important thing I could ever do.

[kweerwolf]

47. I was just out of college and working at my first job ...

... when "The Day After" was broadcast. I remember inviting co-workers over for an "end of the world" party to have dinner and watch the movie.

I think we all started out with a cavalier attitude about it, but since we live near where the movie was filmed it really struck us all to see so many familar places get annihilated.

I grew up around Whiteman Air Force Base and the Minute Man silos that dotted the countryside. I'd never given those silos a thought before, but after seeing "The Day After," I could never drive by them without a shiver.

[sakabatou]

48. Watch "Barefoot Gen"

A very good film on the effects of The Bomb.

[Poiuyt]

50. There was another good film named Special Bulletin

It was about some terrorists who blew up a nuclear device in Charleston SC. Shot from the perspective of a TV news crew covering it live. Very effective, though not as scary as The Day After.

[Gold Metal Flake]

56. It was a theatrical release, but Miracle Mile was also a scary film.

The latter scenes showing the complete panic and breakdown of the public at large were too real.

[LostinVA]

57. I was in the college, and we all watched it in my dorm room

And were freaked for WEEKS.

Now, I realize it was an esquisite piece of Cold War, Reaganesque propaganda.

[GreenPartyVoter]

58. Was in 5th grade.. and terrified of it

[scruffy]

60. It was on TV not too long ago . . .

and I remember thinking that it is entirely possible that this could really happen! The first time I saw it I wasn't nearly as scared as I was the other night!

[Hissyspit]

62. Gave me panic attacks. n/t