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 Lawrence Dagstine |
The Day After |
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Posts: 721 (05/15/08 22:59:57) Veteran Shockliner |
Starring Jason Robards. Saw this post-apocalyptic movie for a second time this evening. LOVE IT, LOVE IT, LOVE IT.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085404/ What do other people think?
Lawrence Dagstine Homepage: www.lawrencedagstine.com
Lawrence Dagstine MySpace: www.myspace.com/lawrencedagstine 
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NewmanJames |
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Posts: 3508 (05/16/08 02:38:30) Top-Tier Shockliner Demon |
While THE DAY AFTER wasn't a "horror movie," per se, I do remember it was one of the first movies I ever saw that scared the hell out of me. I
must have been 11 or 12, and after it was over I recall my mother sitting up with me for hours past my bedtime, trying to assuage my fears of something like
that really happening.
J.N. |
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nkalanta |
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Posts: 12459 (05/16/08 03:34:29) |
I thought the movie was pretty lame (but I saw it as an adult). What scared me was the panel of experts (including Carl Sagan) who came on after the movie to
explain life after a nuclear incident. Did they keep that part in the DVD release?
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NewmanJames |
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Posts: 3509 (05/16/08 03:57:21) Top-Tier Shockliner Demon |
nkalanta wrote:
Oh, I'm sure it probably wouldn't hold up for me now, either. If I had seen it as an adult it most likely wouldn't have had the same
effect. I'm just sayin', as a kid it scared the hell outta me . . . .
J.N.
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sean |
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Posts: 202 (05/16/08 03:57:55) Shockliner |
I dunno, I thought this one was a bit crap really. I'm a 'Threads' man myself. 'When the Wind Blows' and 'The War Game' make the points just as effectively. Saying that, I haven't seen 'The Day After' since the 80s. |
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Gary Mc |
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Posts: 1805 (05/16/08 04:03:03) Shocklineraholic |
I'm with Sean: The Day After was like your typical American soap opera, but with scabs. Threads and When the Wind blows were far superior, IMHO. The former
scared me so much when it first aired that it scarred me for life - I've owned the DVD for over a year and haven't summoned up the courage to watch it.
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sean |
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Posts: 203 (05/16/08 04:44:10) Shockliner |
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scottstandridge |
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Posts: 30 (05/16/08 07:27:01) |
Kids today just have no idea what it was like growing up in an era when "The Day After" scenario seemed not only possible, but likely. I had friends
in jr. high and high school, intelligent kids, who pretty much just gave up and decided nothing was worth hoping for because they were absolutely convinced
none of us would ever get the chance to grow up. (Granted, they had OTHER problems as well, but this was part of it.)
Being so far removed from the Cold War now--I would wager that some of the posters on this board were either in their infancy or not even born when the Berlin Wall came down--you can't really imagine the mortal terror for kids of that time. In context, "The Day After" was the most horrifying thing, EVER. People talked about it for weeks after it aired. Kids lost sleep. Adults too. It was scary because it was REAL. Or at least seemed very likely that it could be. So yeah, looking back it seems a little melodramatic and lame, but I still would be a little nervous about watching it again. Old scars.
Managing Editor
City Slab Magazine [website] [blog] Personal Blog: Defined By Negatives Movie Blog: Mad Mad Mad Mad Movies Poetry Blog: The Sonnet Project |
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elizabethdonald |
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Posts: 238 (05/16/08 07:36:10) Veteran Shockliner |
I was born in 1975. I didn't find it terrifying, but I didn't find it boring or lame at all. I thought the performances held up very well for the
passage of time. I have never heard of THREADS or WHEN THE WIND BLOWS, but being a huge fan of postapocalytic fiction, now I want to find them both. EDIT: Only
they're not on Netflix!
ekd
--------
ABADDON, book three of the Nocturnal Urges series Available in ebook from Cerridwen Press! Coming soon to a bookstore near you! www.elizabethdonald.com |
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MariAdkins |
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Posts: 2256 (05/16/08 07:44:18) Shocklineraholic |
NewmanJames wrote: I remember discussing the movie in 10th grade "Earth Sciences Biology". I watched the mini series as it originally aired, and I remember it made the hair on my head stand straight up (well, probably not for real, but it sure felt that way). I had post apocalyptic nightmares for months.
Mari's Midnight
Garden - Apex Book
Company
I don't own a cell phone or a pager. I just hang around everyone I know, all the time. If someone wants to get a hold of me they just say "Mitch," and I say "What?" and turn my head slightly. - Mitch Hedberg 
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scottstandridge |
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Posts: 31 (05/16/08 07:49:15) |
>>I was born in 1975.
Well, I did say "some," not "all." *smile*
Managing Editor
City Slab Magazine [website] [blog] Personal Blog: Defined By Negatives Movie Blog: Mad Mad Mad Mad Movies Poetry Blog: The Sonnet Project |
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MariAdkins |
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Posts: 2257 (05/16/08 07:49:28) Shocklineraholic |
scottstandridge wrote: Same here. And for the record, my oldest child was born October 28, 1989. I had a long discussion with him and his brother about the wall and about Soviet Russia back in the Winter because they had no clue what I was talking about when one of them said something, and I countered with, "In Soviet Russia, [whatever it was]'s you!"
Mari's Midnight
Garden - Apex Book
Company
I don't own a cell phone or a pager. I just hang around everyone I know, all the time. If someone wants to get a hold of me they just say "Mitch," and I say "What?" and turn my head slightly. - Mitch Hedberg
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NickYak |
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Posts: 8254 (05/16/08 08:37:23) Top-Tier Shockliner Demon |
THREADS is really intense stuff---I thought that made The Day After look like an afterschool special.
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JimPI |
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Posts: 1411 (05/16/08 08:39:27) Shocklineraholic |
I remember watching The Day After when it originally aired and while it didn't terrify me, it certainly was a topic of discussion for weeks afterward.
Still haven't seen Threads but I've wanted to ever since I first heard about it.
I bought a DVD copy of The Day After last year on ebay and I've watched it a couple times since. I think it holds up fairly well, for the most part. Jim
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Son, the First Amendment protects you from the government, not from me. You can say whatever you want to out there. You come within reach of me, I'll exercise my right to give you a good ol' country ass whoopin'. --Trace Adkins, "Fightin' Words" |
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nkalanta |
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Posts: 12461 (05/16/08 08:40:40) |
I agree that this movie had some major implications for it's time and James, please don't think I'm discounting your opinion. The movie was
definitely something that would frighten folks but, for me, it was the panel of experts after that scared me more than the movie. As for Threads and When the
Wind Blow, I'll be perfectly honest -- I'm *terrified* of watching either of them just from what I've heard
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Mike Heffernan |
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Posts: 405 (05/16/08 09:11:46) Veteran Shockliner |
I continue to revisit that film. It's certainly not perfect, but a great one and classic in that genre.
For me, Threads is probably the most devastating film ever made. It's a hard one to sit through, and for that reason brilliant. Testament is another emotionally draining experience. Jane Alexander was just brilliant. |
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pendragon |
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Posts: 753 (05/16/08 09:18:28) Master Shockliner |
Gary Mc wrote: I've since watched it twice, Gary; I don't think I'll watch it a third... reminds me of MI5's maxim: "society is four meals away from anarchy". One of the more frightening elements to the film was how language would deteriorate - how children of the survivors, without basic literacy material, would descend into little more than grunting. Actually, I think that's happening now... if you listen to the typical teenager on the street corner.As anyone seen the BBC "documentary": The War Game? This is only a clip... fucking hell.  Despite
winning the Oscar for best documentary in 1966, it was never broadcast on the BBC until 1985.
I can remember growing up and practically 1 in 4 Sunday's I'd hear the "air-raid" klaxxon from the local fire station, no doubt to make sure it was working (just in case) - then, when the wall came tumbling down, it stopped; the sad fact was, if the inevitable happened, then we would've just thought that the klaxxon was just a safety drill, and take no notice of it. See: Protect and Survive. |
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Shocklines |
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Posts: 27957 (05/16/08 09:18:51) Administrator |
I saw this when it first aired and was hugely disappointed. Great first 45 minutes though.
It ain't no Miracle Mile.
Shocklines.com -- your one-stop shop for hell on earth
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Lawrence Dagstine |
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Posts: 738 (05/17/08 01:27:23) Veteran Shockliner |
Miracle Mile was AWESOME. But yeah, I heard a lot of people tell me that THREADS reigns supreme in the scary 'nuke film' department. I'll have to add it to my queue.
Lawrence Dagstine Homepage: www.lawrencedagstine.com
Lawrence Dagstine MySpace: www.myspace.com/lawrencedagstine
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HorrorLibrary |
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Posts: 742 (05/17/08 21:14:56) Master Shockliner |
Here's some fun with YouTube. Take this clip from "The Day After" and boot it up to 2:40 and then start the second clip, "Peace Frog"
by The Doors. Makes a great music video and has some interesting coincidental synch-ups.
R.J. Cavender
  www.myspace.com/horror_library_net |
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MariAdkins |
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Posts: 2264 (05/18/08 06:44:45) Shocklineraholic |
Okay. That was just wrong.
Mari's Midnight
Garden - Apex Book
Company
I don't own a cell phone or a pager. I just hang around everyone I know, all the time. If someone wants to get a hold of me they just say "Mitch," and I say "What?" and turn my head slightly. - Mitch Hedberg
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