The Day After v. Threads and When the Wind Blows

[Josephus]

Yeah, the charm of WTWB was the way the elderly couple kept reflecting on WW2 and The Blitz the whole time. "This will probably all blow over, duckie." As the movie went on, it got darker and darker.

[Strix]

What was the BBC show about some Asians who mess up creating a germ than purposely spread it around the world so everyone is affected by it?

It used to come on randomly on the PBS station when I was a kid.

[Queequeg]

At the very least, When The Wind Blows is one of the most depressing animated movies I know, together with Grave Of The Fireflies (two children starve to death in WW2 Japan).

Yeah, that's what I would compare it to as well. 

[derspiess]

It was either "a major television event" or "a very special episode of", and you liked it.

Yup.  And it dominated every conversation for a few weeks.  I remember I was in 5th grade when The Day After aired and our teacher was almost drawn to tears when she had one of those "special talks" with us about it.  Not that it was necessary-- we all got the point.  I told her my takeaway was that we really needed a strong missile defense system and I don't think she liked that too much.

Remember Special Bulletin?  That was the fake newscast that had domestic terrorists detonating a nuke in Charleston, SC of all places.  I was actually in South Carolina at my aunt & uncle's place when it aired and it freaked my mom & her dimwit sisters out even though they knew it was fake.

[mongers]

What was the BBC show about some Asians who mess up creating a germ than purposely spread it around the world so everyone is affected by it?

It used to come on randomly on the PBS station when I was a kid.

Survivors. 

[crazy canuck]

Was The Day After really as effective back in the day as I'd read it was?  Apparently Reagan was moved by it.  How about Threads and When the Wind Blows?

You have to understand the context of the time.  People were terrified of nuclear war and nuclear weapons.  Experts were counting down the minutes to midnight when nuclear war would break out by accident.

[CountDeMoney]

Remember Special Bulletin?  That was the fake newscast that had domestic terrorists detonating a nuke in Charleston, SC of all places.  I was actually in South Carolina at my aunt & uncle's place when it aired and it freaked my mom & her dimwit sisters out even though they knew it was fake.

Oh, yeah man. Now that one scared the shit out of me.  That one because of the homemade terrorism angle, but Countdown to Looking Glass was even more frightening:  same motif--fake news--with the superpower showdown in the Persian Gulf after the Iranians closed the Straits of Hormuz.  In 1984, that shit was waaay too close to possibility.  With the reporter on the USS Nimitz steaming to the Gulf to reopen it, and the Soviets responding?  Yikes.

Those two films were a hell of a lot more effective--because they were a hell of a lot more plausible--than The Day After, which I thought was incredibly stupid.  So Kansas City gets melted, big deal.  The Chiefs have sucked since the 60s.

[CountDeMoney]

Was The Day After really as effective back in the day as I'd read it was?  Apparently Reagan was moved by it.  How about Threads and When the Wind Blows?

You have to understand the context of the time.  People were terrified of nuclear war and nuclear weapons.  Experts were counting down the minutes to midnight when nuclear war would break out by accident.

Yeah...the early 80s, particularly '81 through '84, were pretty scary as far as the Cold War went.  Between Reagan's hawkishness and the uncertainty about what the hell was going on in the Kremlin after Brezhnev's death--Andropov actually scared the piss out of Kremlinologists, and Chernyenko wasn't any easier to decipher--the early 80s were probably the scariest time over the concept of nuclear war since the early 60s.

[Ed Anger]

I liked the dayton daily news insert soon after the movie was shown which described, in loving detail what would happen when 2 400kt nukes would hit wright patt afb. Scary shit, but us sixth graders got a giggle when the dayton mayor's eyeballs melted.

I remember some of the teachers having a cow over us kids reading it, especially since WPAFB was right next to town. WE ARE ALL GOING TO DIE.

[Darth Wagtaros]

By Dawn's Early Light was good.

[CountDeMoney]

By Dawn's Early Light was good.

My fave-rave WW3 flick.  I'd ride to the Apocalypse with Powers Boothe in a B-52 anytime.  STRAIGHT DOWN KARL MARX BOULEVARD  BYE BYE BABY BABUSHKAS

[Ed Anger]

By Dawn's Early Light was good.

Yuk. Only Rip Torn was good in it.

[Syt]

Personally, I was always partial to On the Beach (original).

[Ed Anger]

Try Panic in Year Zero. Ed Anger recommended.

[Jacob]

At the very least, When The Wind Blows is one of the most depressing animated movies I know, together with Grave Of The Fireflies (two children starve to death in WW2 Japan).

Yeah, Grave of the Fireflies is pretty depressing. I had no idea what it was about when I watched it, which made it worse.