I’m watching the ABC tv movie “The Day After” on the SciFi channel and am wondering about the feasability of making a sequel to this nuclear apocalypse.
Two principlal characters are of course gone:
Dr. Russel Oakes, because actor Jason Robards has died, and
John Cullum’s character Jim Dahlberg, shot dead toward the end of TDA.
John Lithgow, Steven Furst, Amy Madigan, and Steve Gutenberg are of course still around and IIRC available for work.
…it was pretty clear to me that all these characters would be dead within weeks…and absolutely no chance of them living for years… let alone a quarter of a century later.
Oh come on! You’re completely discounting the potential for a CHUD/zombie/mutant sequel. Think outside the box, man!
Enola, what would be your story-line?
I have this on DVD, but haven’t seen it in a while, so I will give it a look this weekend.
Q
Gee, and I thought the whole point of the movie was
a) there’s no such thing as a “winnable” nuclear war because
b) all that stuff about being able to destroy all life on Earth 46 times over is actually true.
The state of emergency has lasted a quarter of a century, and martial law has never been lifted.
Birth defects, cancer, and diseases such as cholera continue to decimate the population.
All labor and industry is geared toward human survival: agriculture, simple medicines, pre-electrical machinery (EMPs burned out things like solenoids and coils).
The premise: Whats left of the United States must defend itself from the Third World nations of South America which escaped the nuclear holocaust between the USA, USSR, and their respective allies.
I actually preferred Special Bulletin.
And Threads, which scared the hell out of me.
I agree about Threads – great flick. **The Day After[/] , despite the awfulness, just seemed too clean.
But the grand-daddy of nuclear war films, even sczarier than Threads, is the earlier The War Game (not to be confused with the cutesy Matthew Broderick/John Wood film WarGames), made in the 1960s for the BBC, who never ran it on the air. Shot in cinema verite style on black and white, it’s really scary and creepy. The survivors with totally vacant looks on their faces, rocking back and forth in shock, their faces and bodies covered in patches of black stuff, which might be dirt or blood or charred skin. The remaining police and fire forces being overwhelmed, and resorting to shooting people to keeping order. People blinded by looking directly at the fireball from too close. the scary and jarring reality putrs TDA to shame.
I watched it last night, too, but I was thinking what it would be like if it were remade with today’s technology.
When I saw it when I was 13, it was very scary. My mother wouldn’t let me watch it, but I had a little 13" black and white TV in my room and kept the sound low and watched it anyway.
But seeing it today, it just doesn’t hold up well. So despite the irrelevance (I hope) of the subject matter, I’d like to see it redone. I think the CGIers could sufficiently scare me, even though I’m 36.
You know, they’d just have to make a sequel to Amerika for fairness’ sake, then.
SNL did this at the time. They had the US taken over by Canada and called it Amerida. The sketch was set in a typical US middle class living room, and the Dad (Phil Hartman?) was freaking out over Mom and Sis using Canadian words. “It’s not a ‘Chesterfield’ it’s a SOFA! Will this madness never end??!!!??!” Since the “aggressor” was Canada, that was the extent of the change in US society.
On a serious note, I’ve seen The War Game, and it is incredibly scary and creepy. The Brits learned a thing or two about what happens to people and society after a strategic bombing campaign, and it shows in the movie. Just thinking about the movie makes my blood run cold.
Crap! I just read the Wikipedia page on the movie. I’d forgotten about
the cops shooting burn victims who were beyond hope. Damn!
It’s not like I was planning to sleep at all tonight or anything. Not after remembering the look on the nurse’s face, and the tone of her voice, while she described her patients in the film.
Where President Gretsky rules over Amerida with an iron grip, and the father reminisces of a world where you could spell flavor and color without a “u”.
Enola inspired me bust out the tape and watch it last night… Yeah no f-ing way any of those characters would live 25 years. They are all dying or dead by the end of it.
Eh… I still love it. I still think it is scary.
Mostly because it is Uncle Leo from Seinfeld who comforts Robards at the end.
I bought Testament a few weeks back and have yet to watch it. I still think its the best of the “realistic” post-Nuke movies. I know alot of people vehemently disagree.
Amerika taught me a valuable lesson. I read in Insight magazine that it was very good, and figured, “there’s no way they’d say it was good just because they agreed with its politics. You can DISlike a show because you don’t like its politics, but you can’t say it’s good because you agree, right?”
For eighties nuke movies, my fave is Miracle Mile.
a perfect Christmas movie!