which was the better movie

"threads" or  "the day after"?

i haven't seen "the day after"

i would be interested if any of our american friends remember it !

i think it was first shown  in 1983 a year  before we got to see"threads".
http://vtrgan-film.atspace.com/teden/threads.jpghttp://images.google.co.uk/images?q=tbn:8MPwlu1_LxrBMM:http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0001WTVUW.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

If you're looking for a glimpse at what Western society might look like after a nuclear holocaust, "Threads" is your movie.  If you're throwing a party and looking for a cheesy flick to show after "Dr. Strangelove," "The Day After" is your movie!
:P

Threads for the win.

But for late-night fun, skip The Day After completely, and get thyself a copy of 1988's Miracle Mile (with stunningly awesome soundtrack by Tangerine Dream).

For a view from the other side of the key, I recommend By Dawn's Early Light and for a view from somewhere in between, Countdown to Looking Glass.

What can I say... I miss the days when our enemy could actually set back all of human civilization by 500 years, rather than just wipe out a city or two.  Today's bad guys, even when (not if) they get their nuclear act together, will still not be able to deliver even a tenth of the property damage that hurricane Katrina did.

As I have never seen Threads, I cannot judge between the two films, but The Day After is a very hard-hitting movie. The best 80s depiction of nuclear holocaust and its aftermath that I have viewed is the movie Testament from 1983, starring Jane Alexander and a very, very young Lucas Haas. If you have not seen this film, I would highly recommend it. There are no harrowing scenes of the nuclear catastrophe (only a bright flash of light in the distance), so the drama is centered around a small, Northern California community, desperately trying to survive in a post-Apocalyptic world. Some of the scenes simply devastated me... there are no over-the-top special effects in this film, but the relative simplicity of the story makes it all-the-more haunting and memorable:

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/P/B00062IDJW.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

As I have never seen Threads, I cannot judge between the two films, but The Day After is a very hard-hitting movie. The best 80s depiction of nuclear holocaust and its aftermath that I have viewed is the movie Testament from 1983, starring Jane Alexander and a very, very young Lucas Haas. If you have not seen this film, I would highly recommend it. There are no harrowing scenes of the nuclear catastrophe (only a bright flash of light in the distance), so the drama is centered around a small, Northern California community, desperately trying to survive in a post-Apocalyptic world. Some of the scenes simply devastated me... there are no over-the-top special effects in this film, but the relative simplicity of the story makes it all-the-more haunting and memorable:

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/P/B00062IDJW.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg




That's exactly what I was gonna say!!!  :)

That's exactly what I was gonna say!!!  :)


I'm glad someone else has seen the film Testament, as it really is an amazing film. :)

I still remember "The Day After" freaking me out.

Having not seen Threads, I would go for The Day After.

If you're looking for a glimpse at what Western society might look like after a nuclear holocaust, "Threads" is your movie.  If you're throwing a party and looking for a cheesy flick to show after "Dr. Strangelove," "The Day After" is your movie!
:P


My favorite comparison of the two was made by TV critic Charlie Rose:  "Threads was to The Day After what Coronation Street was to Dynasty".


I agree fully.  "The Day After" was a spiffy piece of "Made For TV Propaganda", which really was high on whine, and low on content.  "The Day After" started with an unprovoked invasion of East Germany by NATO troops.  "Threads" started after a Soviet invasion of Iran, and several accidental skirmished in the Persian Gulf that spiraled out of controll.

"Threads" was much more intense, and covered all aspects of life before and after a devistating nuclear war.  It also followed some of the characters for decades after such a war.  I remember taping it (on my Betamax), and watching it many times over the next 8 or 9 years.  The cause and build-up to war in Threads was much more realistic, and actually followed fairly closely with the background of "The Third World War: August 1985" by General Sir John Winthrop Hackett Jr. (CBE).  Sir Hackett was a former NATO Army Commander, so wrote his book with full knowledge of both NATO and Warsaw Pact war plans.  "Threads" seems to have used his book (published 6 years prior) as the basis for the start of the war.

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

I saw Threads, The Day After, AND Testament (which also had Rebecca De Mornay, Kevin Costner-before they were really known , & Mako).  Which one was better? Not too sure. All three were kind of powerful-and scary. There were good aspects to each one as well as not so good aspects.



Cat

I'm glad someone else has seen the film Testament, as it really is an amazing film. :)


Testament is one of those films that completely affected me!!!!  It was very powerful. I wish more people had seen it or would watch it now.

I do not know if anybody else caught it, but The Day After was on Sci-Fi tonight.

Having not seen the movie in over 23 years, I was curious to see if it was as bad as my memory told me it was.

And yes, it really is horrible.  I was 18 the last time I saw it, and with more experience, I can honestly say that the movie is absolutely horrible.  Now only was the reason for starting the war totally implausible, there were a lot of huge technical and storyline flaws.

And yes, the movie did start with a NATO attack on East Germany.  Which is totally contrary to NATO doctrine at the time.  During almost all of the Cold War, the Warsaw Pact had at least a 2 to 1 superiority to NATO forces.  And attacking into an overwhelming force is simple suicide.

And their reason for the invasion was a second Berlin Blockade.  After closing off the city, the USSR was given 3 days to end it or NATO threatened invasion.  Now that was tried once before (1948-1949), and was a diplomatic and military fiasco for the SOviet Union.  And if the US did not attack in 1948, they certainly would not have attacked in 1983.  Plus it had NATO forces launching the first of the nukes, which was again totally against NATO doctrine.  Dating back to the 1960's, both the US and NATO clearly stated that nukes would only be used in retaliation, not as a first strike.

Of course, you also have the exageration of the effects of EMP.  In the movie, all vehicles stopped dead when the first airburst went off.  The problem is that not all vehicles would have been affected.  One of the vehicles shown was an old BMW with a "Boxer" style engine.  Since that bike uses a mechanical "points" style ignition instead of a solid-state electronic ignition, EMP would have had no impact on it.  And many other "classic" style cars (like the 1965-66 Mustang shown dead on the freeway) would also have been unaffected, since it had no computers or advanced electronics.

And the story itself really was bad.  We had several major characters that simply "vanished".  This was an early role for Steve Gutenberg, and he had a fairly major part.  But about 3/4 of the way through the movie, he simply vanished with no explanation or follow-up.  The same thing happened to the Airman who was looking for his family (and the guy he was helping).  At least 1/3 of the cast simply vanished well after the bombs went off, with no resolution to their stories.

So I once again give my vote to Threads.  It was done much better, with a tight storyline that gave full resolution to all the various storylines.  The Day After feels more like a Freshman Film School project, where visual style is more important then content.

My favorite comparison of the two was made by TV critic Charlie Rose:  "Threads was to The Day After what Coronation Street was to Dynasty".


I agree fully.  "The Day After" was a spiffy piece of "Made For TV Propaganda", which really was high on whine, and low on content.  "The Day After" started with an unprovoked invasion of East Germany by NATO troops.  "Threads" started after a Soviet invasion of Iran, and several accidental skirmished in the Persian Gulf that spiraled out of controll.

"Threads" was much more intense, and covered all aspects of life before and after a devistating nuclear war.  It also followed some of the characters for decades after such a war.  I remember taping it (on my Betamax), and watching it many times over the next 8 or 9 years.  The cause and build-up to war in Threads was much more realistic, and actually followed fairly closely with the background of "The Third World War: August 1985" by General Sir John Winthrop Hackett Jr. (CBE).  Sir Hackett was a former NATO Army Commander, so wrote his book with full knowledge of both NATO and Warsaw Pact war plans.  "Threads" seems to have used his book (published 6 years prior) as the basis for the start of the war.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Threads
I read this book many years ago The Third World War: August 1985" by General Sir John Winthrop Hackett Jr. (CBE).  and still have a copy. I've only seen The Day After (is the the movie with Jason Robards?) & Testament and based on that I'd say The Day After was better. I thought the nuclear explosions (bright light) in The Day After were intense and the radiation sickness that affected those closest to the blast, but not obliterated was quite powerful. The characters at the college? watching retaliatory ICBM's going up in the air from nearby missile base was dramatic. I really need to see Threads and am puzzled that I've never heard of it before.

I really need to see Threads and am puzzled that I've never heard of it before.


Threads was made by the BBC, and was never shown by any of the major TV networks (there were only 3 at the time).  I was lucky, in that I was living in LA when Threads came out.  Channel 5 in LA (which later became the WB flagship) gave the movie a lot of fanfare in the weeks before they showed it.  More then likely, unless your town was big enough to have an independent TV station, it was probably never shown in your area.

I also still have my copy of "The Thrid World War", and the follow-up book he wrote.  And later on when I read "Red Storm Rising", I was surprised to see how closely the 2 different portrayals of such a war would be. 

One thing that most people just do not get is that the vast majority of the military at the time actually hated nuclear weapons.  Nukes are not a mlitary weapon, they are a political weapon.  After all, there is absolutely no military objective accomplished when a city full of civilians is wiped from the face of the earth within 30 minutes of pushing a button.  However, the fear of such a thing happening is a very potent political threat.

"The Day After" is to "Threads" what Steven Spielberg is to Roman Polanski!

I do like the end of threads when the Jason Robards character goes back to the ruins of his old house and finds atomic refugees taking shelter there.  First he throws a tantrum and tries to kick them out.  One of the refugees offers him a slice of bread, and the Robards character collapses and cries.  Property no longer matters, just survival.

"The Day After" is to "Threads" what Steven Spielberg is to Roman Polanski!


Pay attention, folks.  First and last time you'll see me, Mushroom, and MaxwellSmart agreeing on anything.

('cuz "Threads" was twisted, evil, and eminently more terrifyingly believable than "The Day After" :)

If you're looking for a glimpse at what Western society might look like after a nuclear holocaust, "Threads" is your movie.  If you're throwing a party and looking for a cheesy flick to show after "Dr. Strangelove," "The Day After" is your movie!
:P


  Heh, remember all the hype surrounding The Day After..?  Oh jeez...

  Watch this TV special and learn how to survive a nuclear winter..!  Steal a loaf of bread to feed your family and be placed in front of a hastily gathered firing squad on the spot..!

  I watched.  Scared me to death...

  Never heard of Threads groove ;) on...

I do like the end of threads when the Jason Robards character goes back to the ruins of his old house and finds atomic refugees taking shelter there.  First he throws a tantrum and tries to kick them out.  One of the refugees offers him a slice of bread, and the Robards character collapses and cries.  Property no longer matters, just survival.


That was the ending of The Day After.

Threads ended with the daughter of one of the main characters leaving her dead deformed baby in the hospital and wandering back out into the devistation, roughly 15 years after the bombs landed.

"The Day After" is to "Threads" what Steven Spielberg is to Roman Polanski!

I do like the end of threads when the Jason Robards character goes back to the ruins of his old house and finds atomic refugees taking shelter there.  First he throws a tantrum and tries to kick them out.  One of the refugees offers him a slice of bread, and the Robards character collapses and cries.  Property no longer matters, just survival.



Wait I thought Robards was shot by the squatters on his property and we were to come to the conclusion, in the new times, that the property was not worth dying for

Wait I thought Robards was shot by the squatters on his property and we were to come to the conclusion, in the new times, that the property was not worth dying for


Nope, he basically realized how far he had sunk into barbarisn, and collapsed on the ground.  One of the "bums" then came forward and knelt next to him.  The two of them held each other and cried as the movie ended.

I remember this because I just saw the movie last week.

Wait I thought Robards was shot by the squatters on his property and we were to come to the conclusion, in the new times, that the property was not worth dying for


The farmer was the one shot by the squatters on his property. I remember the actor who portrayed him was also on Northern Exposure. Jason Robards played a doctor in the movie.

The farmer was the one shot by the squatters on his property. I remember the actor who portrayed him was also on Northern Exposure. Jason Robards played a doctor in the movie.


  You mentioned Northern Exposure, so I had to look this up...

  John Cullum (aka. Holling Vincoeur on Northern Exposure) played Jim Dahlberg on The Day After...

The farmer was the one shot by the squatters on his property. I remember the actor who portrayed him was also on Northern Exposure. Jason Robards played a doctor in the movie.


that's right well its been awhile

I found some clips of Threads over on YouTube, and it looks like a truly harrowing film:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RN8-VP810aA