1984 movie "Threads" nuclear war

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Patchouli

Patchouli

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Since havasu had posted in Off Topic about the movie on Netflix, Leave the world behind, and I don't know where else to put this....
@kd4ulw had posted a thread with a video about the history of the emergency broadcast system that started in the 1960s. The man who created the video mentioned a movie made in Sheffield in the UK, released in 1984, called Threads. It is available on youtube for those who like to watch those kinds of things. It is the most realistic, they say, of what would happen immediately and in the hours, days, weeks, months, and years after a nuclear holocaust. I've never seen and don't recall hearing about it.
I remember watching the movie starring Jason Robards, The Day After, and this movie, Threads, ranks beyond The Day After.
Anyone seen it? Seems weird to watch a movie from "back then" and think it will be realistic. Nightmares and sleeplessness were side effects from watching the movie.
 
Warning: I don't have an account with YT and that means, I think, that I get too many commercials during the movie. Makes it hard to concentrate on it.
Edit to add: I'm half way through the movie. Found it on Amazon to purchase, not sure I'd pay $25 for it. It was interesting as things escalated how quickly the panic set in and how quickly...things escalated.
 
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I have Threads on dvd.

Even having been CBRN trained in the military....it seems pretty realistic to me.

As is common for movies, it has plenty of "human interest" in it......but hey..... that is what you need to do to get through the normalcy bias most people have.

Considering the regularity with which Putin is threatening Western Europe, the UK and the US with nuclear attack, it is probably a good idea to dust off the nuclear combat mindset.
 
Patchouli said:
I don't understand what the psych is, why do I "like" or choose these kinds of movies to watch? Well, that's not what the topic is, but I guess a pre-gamer of what to expect if it happens on our watch.
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My guess is it is something different. Might, look into that, while there is time.
 
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That was very hard to watch. It seemed to be pretty realistic, but focused more on the human tragedy, which was horrific. I question how accurately some things were portrayed. Would there be a nuclear Winter where the sun is blocked due to particulate in the atmosphere? Would it be difficult to raise crops due to contaminated soil and water and a short growing season?

They didn't show it but I wonder if rural areas survived better than the city? When buildings collapsed and the fires started the city was a death trap.

It made you think for sure.
 
Watched it, left me "empty" as everybody loses. To be honest it made me want to build a house-bunker out in the middle of nowhere. But the time line of the movie made me think. When COVID hit there were just rumors and then overnight it was everywhere, boom and that was a slow delivery system. I personally think that if they were to do it we would only know because we were startled by the "thunder"... Little to no warning, no time to grab the go bag or even scurry down to the shelter in the basement... just boom...

It leaves me wondering who was actually lucky, the people taken by the flash or the ones who made it through the winter?
 
I agree @UrbanHunter right up to wondering if those who lived through the winter were lucky. Can’t imagine much hope for their health depending upon how far away they were from dead zones.
I haven’t finished watching it yet. Every time they start saber-rattling you flee for your bug out. Well pretty soon you live there full time.
Is there truly any geographical safety? How deep do bombs destroy? I don’t know, but I can’t imagine a basement will save everyone.
 
Oh, @Neb, I'll use the spoiler. Now I've watched the movie, I'll give my opinion. I pick things apart for consistency. The thing that ticked me off: he couldn't keep his hands to himself. Really, after the bombs he was capable of ... I found it incredible that either were fertile enough to create life. Strongest most fertile survive? Lousy diet, poisoned environment. Found it funny that the one song we heard at least twice, if not three times, was Johnny B Good. Why did they not get violently ill after eating the sheep? Or even die? Sad that the young girl had no command of language, was that from being in utero when the bomb happened? Or was the producer trying to tell us that people would become more like idiots?
Meanwhile, the message of the movie, don't have war. It will ruin everything for a long time.
 
In a nuclear war, some places will get hit quite badly.....some places less so.......but more than 90% of the surface of the earth will be essentially unaffected.

A lot of the 90% will be ocean....but quite a lot will be just land mass that is far enough for any worthwhile targets.

There just are not many such places in North America or Europe or Russia or China.
 
kd4ulw said:
Slight spoiler alert: I always wonder if I’ll be the old guy on the toilet…
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I have always thought the same thing!! What if you are sitting there taking care of business when the big one hits. :dunno:

IMHO if there is a message in ALL of these post-apocalyptic movies it is what we already know. You have to be prepared BEFORE the event happens; LONG BEFORE it happens. Scrounging around the grocery store with the starving hoardes is not going to work.

Patchouli, I really do believe you could survive in a basement, and long as you have a way out. If several stories of rubble collapse on you, you wouldn't have much chance, but in a residence you would probably be O.K. You really need to stay inside for two weeks or more. The people who were wandering around looking for lost loved ones would be in very bad shape.
 
The Thread movie was okay and it did touch on some points most of the Nuclear war movies miss. Failed crops, government control of food and even housing. Loss of education system, survivors growing up illiterate. Good points to be considered. There were still a few missed points, While it did touch on climate temp issues, lower temps, it really did not cover the likely hood of a nuclear winter / ice age lasting decades or more. It also did not touch on the issue of approximately 450 nuclear power plants, world wide, that will go critical. The movie was worth watching. There is also a newer remake but I have not found it yet.
 
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