Rating: Summary: Meant to be a Reality Shocker but failed (and it's not snow) Review: This made-for-TV movie was supposed to show the true horrors of nuclear war. Oddly enough, most of the controversy raised by the film concerned a teenager and a diaphragm.So the unbelievable happens and nuclear missiles are fired. From both sides. Death and destruction abound. Fallout is visually added as "snow" falling. Many viewers thought it was real snow except it didn't accumulate. There are plenty of scenes of wasted fields and herds of dead livestock. Now with the electromagnetic pulse that rendered most technology unusable, the survivors all find horses (from where?) and ride to a town meeting where the speaker tells them they must decontaminate their land. Of course the speaker cannot tell them how to do it as he doesn't know. He is just reading from a government-issue survival guide (no I don't know who wrote it, printed it and distributed it in the aftermath). I couldn't help but think that the movie started fairly well, but once the horses appeared it got kind of silly. If you want to see Jason Robards after the bombs drop, check out A Boy And His Dog (it's just as silly but at least it's honest about it).
Rating: Summary: The BEST Made for TV Movie Review: This film was produced to show the dangers of an all out attack against the United States. Unfortunatly the damage was Unrealistically understated, but it was enough for the time. This movie scares hell out of all of my friends that were too young to remember this film when it was shown on ABC TV in 1983(I think) It was loosley based on "Alas, Babylon" writtten by Pat Frank, a.k.a. Harry Hart. I REALLY want this film on DVD with more than the VHS version, The original post movie debate, and the booper reel would be cool. This film, even though it's effects of the war are not as extreme as the British film "Threads" it really impacted the population of the US in 83. Threads was more realistic, but this film is the best ever produced by ANY TV studio here in the US. Unfortunatly the Brits beats us out, by showing the closest effects of an all out thermonuclear war on the small screen. There has NEVER been a film that shows this EVER. IT is too scary to most studios to show the end of the world. I Wish I could have the chance to direct and produce "Alas, Babylon" for the big screen, I would show the REAL effects of nuclear war on humaity.This could Still Happen even in our current 21st Century world. The possibility is even MORE possiblr today. Think about it.
Rating: Summary: The Day After Review: I actual first saw this movie on Laserdisc and watching this movie, I realize just how likely nuclear war is even today. Watching it makes me wonder if we might not see a nuclear war in our lifetimes. The movie itself is a fine piece of work, with Jason Robards and JoBeth Williams and John Cullum. It's has a great script, great actor's which resulted in a totally superb film. The Day After should be released on DVD as there are still thousands of nuclear warheads out there, still more than enough to easily destroy the human race. Because as Jason Robards mentions in the movie "[cockroaches will be], the only guranteed survivor of a nuclear war." lf more people watch this movie maybe human's will learn to live together as one in peace. THIS MOVIE MUST BE RELEASE ON DVD!
Rating: Summary: No DVD Review: This deserves 5 stars still I want this on DVD. I hate VHS. When it is released on DVD with extras on how the effects were done and the Nightline special I will buy this.
Rating: Summary: The Greatest TV Movie Ever Made!! Review: I remember watching this on ABC TV in 1984. I've never been so scared after watching a movie as to when I was finished viewing this. This is more errie and scary than any other horror film ever made. This is only because something like this could still happen in our lifetime. It also gives you a sense of purpose over what you should do to prevent this catastrophe from happening in the future. After almost 20 years since the first viewing, I still won't see it.
Rating: Summary: Still scares me Review: For this movie to be scary nearly 20 years later,is amazing to me.This movie makes you think.It don't matter if it came out in 1983,the thought of nuclear war is still scary to anyone.
Rating: Summary: The Day After Has Gone. Review: Propaganda films can make for interesting movies and can leave lasting impressions (the propaganda films of Hitler's Third Reich still influence movie makers to this day). However, most of the time, they are boring and fail to do educate or impact their audiences. As a propaganda movie, THE DAY AFTER succeeded brilliantly. When the movie first aired on television in 1983, it caused a national border-line panic about the possibility of nuclear war. The acting is well done and the special effects were great for an early 80's television movie. Fast forward to the present day. Though a nuclear attack is still a possibility, it probably wouldn't be in the form of the total annihilation depicted in THE DAY AFTER. The Soviet Union no longer exists and the evil empire is no longer communism, but the unseen threat of terrorism. Not only that, but I watched THE DAY AFTER as a child when it first aired and none of the grahic images ever stayed with me (TESTAMENT was the movie that still haunts me to this day). THE DAY AFTER, though still graphic, no longer pulls the punches it once did. It is a period propaganda piece. Not only that, but it really doesn't make for very good home viewing either--the film has a large cast and suffers from a miniseries-type mood, but with a depressing tone. If you really want to watch a moving, haunting film about the devastation of a nuclear explosion watch TESTAMENT, that's a film you will never forget. THE DAY AFTER is a film better used for historical purposes.
Rating: Summary: Art, propaganda or potential reality? Review: I remember seeing this movie when I was 15 years old. It has ever since burned an impression in my mind as a movie that should not be missed or dismissed. Just recieved my copy tonight from Amazon, which I hadn't seen in the almost 20 years since it originally aired. While it wasn't exactly as horrific as I remember, it certainly will leave an impression that is daunting and yet leave you with a sense of incredible sadness as this could be a reality for us at any time. The same school year that this movie came out (one of the best Made-For-TV movies ((IMO)) ever made, I had a World History teacher tell us that it would not be Russia (the former USSR) that would follow through with a nuclear threat, but smaller more rogue nations like we see in this year of 2003. I can't help but think he is right and knew something many of us didn't understand, including my elders. If you haven't seen this movie, I recommend a viewing through a rental to see if it's something you want in your collection. It can be very disturbing and definately not for the weak or those easily disturbed by potentially real events depicted in fiction. You may "walk" away with a sense of dread but maybe some hope given this was 20 years ago and we haven't hit that point yet. Never mind the clothes, the hair, the whatever, don't let the time period cloud you from the quality of the story and the potential reality of the story line. It is worth seeing and pondering. War, no matter it's origins always leaves innocent people in it's wake and this is one of those wars that does such a thing. Jason Robards, those many years ago, at the end of the movie, left an image burned into my brain that I relived this night. An image that has haunted me for almost 20 years. I kid you not, this is not for the weak, those that always think the world is coming to an end...
Rating: Summary: A movie that will scare the socks off of you Review: The Day After is one of the scariest telefilms of the last two decades, second only to By Dawn's Early Light in terms of sheer terror. Set in the small town of Lawrence, Kansas and directed by Star Trek writer-director Nicholas Meyer, this movie's plot deals with the most ultimate of all "what if?" questions, showing the devastating effects of an all-out nuclear war on a group of average people in small-town America and the students of a nearby university. Although we seem to have reached an accord of some kind with the Russians in the past decade or so, The Day After continues to be a frightening film because the possibility of a nuclear conflict is still out there, if not with the Russians, then with a rogue group such as the North Koreans. It is my hope that The Day After will continue to be lesson to all of us, so that we will work to keep the kind of catastrophe portrayed in the film from ever happening.
Rating: Summary: Very Chilling to say the least Review: For me, this movie was very chilling in light of current world events. The footage of the Nuclear attack was great, but knowing there's a hint of reality to it all is what's chilling about it.
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