gridlore: Doug looking off camera with a grin (Death)
Douglas Berry ([personal profile] gridlore) wrote2009-06-28 08:45 pm
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A very disturbing, but excellent, film

I just spent the last two hours or so watching Threads. Best described as the British counter to The Day After (and being produced at the same time) Threads follows the events leading up to and the effects of a general strategic nuclear exchange in the English city of Sheffield in May of 1983. The main plot follows two families about to be joined by the marriage of their children, with a subplot following the terribly unprepared local authorities trying to handle the situation.

The entire thing is up on YouTube. The transfer is pretty good, although the sound gets a little out of synch in a few places. But you won't really notice. If you're of a certain age, you remember when we expected something like this to happen. And Threads pulls no punches. Well acted, and it brutally depicts the effects of a nuclear war out to a decade plus. The ending is not happy, holds little hope for the human race, and is quite fitting.

Not really sure if I can recommend this. It's not that it's bad, it's just that some of the images and ideas are very disturbing. For sheer quality of film making, it gets 4 penguins out of 5. And, if like me, you grew under the shadow of Armageddon, you might find this film interesting.

Bit of a warning. Nigh-impenetrable English accents abound.

[identity profile] fearsclave.livejournal.com 2009-06-29 03:47 am (UTC)(link)
Saw that on Google Video last year. The Pixar remake was better.

Seriously, though, I'm glad that we don't have to worry about that sort of thing anymore...

[identity profile] lostwanderfound.livejournal.com 2009-06-29 04:51 am (UTC)(link)
Seriously, though, I'm glad that we don't have to worry about that sort of thing anymore...

Possibly I'm failing to notice a /sarcasm tag somewhere, but...umm, no.

Consider this scenario: rising sea levels dump several million Bangladeshi climate refugees onto India and Pakistan. In the wake of this, Pakistan goes even crazier than it already is and increasing social unrest in India bring the most extreme elements of the Hindu nationalist parties into power. Psycho Indian government collides with psycho Pakistani government over Kashmir, with both sides nuclear armed, and China right next door to catch the fallout.

Keep worrying.

[identity profile] fearsclave.livejournal.com 2009-06-29 12:12 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, if I lived in Bangalore, I'd be sweating. But as an occasional survivalist loon, I'm not particularly worried about Pakistan and India taking the time out of their busy nuclear exchange schedule to lob a few warheads my way.
ext_29896: Lilacs in grandmother's vase on my piano (Default)

[identity profile] glinda-w.livejournal.com 2009-06-29 04:12 am (UTC)(link)
Another *really* good film on the topic is Testament (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086429/), which... nah. no words are sufficient. Ordinary people in an ordinary town... Saw it once, cannot bear to watch it again.

[identity profile] lostwanderfound.livejournal.com 2009-06-29 04:54 am (UTC)(link)
There's an obscure early-80's Australian flick called One Night Stand that's worth catching.

It's not a "day after" flick; instead, it's the night before, with everyone increasingly aware of what's about to happen. Also not a happy ending.

[identity profile] robertprior.livejournal.com 2009-06-29 03:29 pm (UTC)(link)
Accents? I didn't notice any accents, old chap :-)
ext_39067: (Default)

The one that I remember

[identity profile] kath8562.livejournal.com 2009-06-30 01:17 am (UTC)(link)
because I think it was the first nuclear war film (tv drama) that really scared me, was Special Bulletin.....

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

Re: The one that I remember

[identity profile] gridlore.livejournal.com 2009-06-30 01:57 am (UTC)(link)
Oh, that one was great.