The Day After (1983) (TV)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Nicholas Meyer

Writer:

Edward Hume (writer)

Release Date:

20 November 1983 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

The day before. The day of. The Day After.

Plot:

A graphic, disturbing film about the effects of a devastating nuclear holocaust on small-town residents of eastern Kansas.

Plot Keywords:

Kansas | Fallout | Nuclear War | Nuclear Holocaust | Mass Killing

Awards:

Won 2 Primetime Emmys. Another 3 wins & 10 nominations

Cast

Jason Robards	...	Dr. Russell Oakes
JoBeth Williams	...	Nurse Nancy Bauer
Steve Guttenberg	...	Stephen Klein (as Steven Guttenberg)
John Cullum	...	Jim Dahlberg
John Lithgow	...	Joe Huxley
Bibi Besch	...	Eve Dahlberg
Lori Lethin	...	Denise Dahlberg
Amy Madigan	...	Alison Ransom
Jeff East	...	Bruce Gallatin
Georgann Johnson	...	Helen Oakes
William Allen Young	...	Airman Billy McCoy
Calvin Jung	...	Dr. Sam Hachiya
Lin McCarthy	...	Dr. Austin
Dennis Lipscomb	...	Reverend Walker
Clayton Day	...	Dennis Hendry

Runtime:

127 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Canada:14A | Australia:PG | South Korea:All | Netherlands:12 | Finland:K-14 | France:-12 | Norway:12 (1984) | Norway:15 | Sweden:15 | UK:12 | USA:Unrated | West Germany:12 (w) | Singapore:PG | Brazil:18

Filming Locations:

Harrisonville, Missouri, USA

Company:

ABC Circle Films

Trivia:

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.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Dr. Oakes first realizes he is the only one on I-70 heading into Kansas City and that everyone else is heading out, an exterior shot shows his car almost level with an offramp. Later, when the bombs hit, his car stalls near the same offramp.

Quotes:

Joe Huxley: This is Lawrence. This is Lawrence, Kansas. Is there anybody there? Anybody at all?

Movie Connections:

Featured in "The 100 Most Memorable TV Moments" (2004)

Appropriately Bleak

I, like many of my age, saw this when it originally aired as a class assignment. It had a great impact on me, as the cold war was still going strong and the threat of a nuclear war was something that people still thought about. The movie may not be the greatest ever made, but the acting is more than adequate, especially from Jason Robards, and the script was far better than any other movies made for television at that time. I recommend it to anyone, even those with a low tolerance for grossness (radiation sickness is shown in progressive stages, and it is not pretty). It's dark, depressing, and if you get into it you will definitely need to follow it up with a musical or cartoons just to lift your spirits again. Still, the subject matter is not something that can be portrayed positively even at a tv-movie level of realism.