Quite old movie about during and post-fallout Britian

[Ouchgeddon]

Spoilers follow, though no one is likely to have anything spoilt for them in this case.

Since civ3 players are from all over the world, has anyone ever watched that show? British production I think. Russia and America trade nukes, jolly old England is much less jolly when a nuke explodes over their skies. Explosion, riots, hunger, nuclear winter, but no tribal chosen ones searching for a GECK of any sort. Civilisation grinds to a halt, the country officials try to keep order...Gas is supplied to tractors for what may the last time harvest is conducted by vehicle power.

Important plot point is the mother who's pregnant during the nuclear attack, and gives birth to a normal child. Years later the girl runs away and joins up with some young hooligans, but gets raped by one. Last scenes are she is heavily pregnant, stumbles into some sort of makeshift hospital. The nurse is unwilling to help her. Final scene, she awakes in a bed and asks "Where's my bebby, my bebby?" The nurse hands her a long, LONG-shaped bundle. The girl looks at it and opens her mouth to scream, where the show freezes and the credits play.

I think it was called Time Lines or something (strange name for it tho). 80's production likely. Do help, thanks!

 

[VoodooAce]

Haven't seen that one....

Here in the U.S. it was "The Day After". A tv movie during the 80's starring Jason Robards and, snicker, Steve Guttenberg.

The first half was all about the increasing tensions, with war becoming more and more likely before nukes begin to be lobbed all over the place.

Also in the 80's, there was a show on TV (NBC?) that was supposed to mimic a news broadcast covering a story about a nuke device in Charlotte, N.C.....placed there by terrorists, I guess.....that eventually goes BOOM! Was chilling for sure.

Reason I remember that one so well is I sat and watched it for quite a while before I realized it was all fake.

Anybody remember this one? What was it called?

 

[Simon Darkshade]

There was a post apocalyptic one with John Lithgow in it, which may have been called "The Day After", but one cannot remember fully
The best part of that was when the Minutemen missiles launch from near the stadium, and the know-it-all girl splutters on how it must be a drill or a mistake, and Lithgow coldly corrects her that corresponding Soviet birds are most probably already flying.

Have not heard of the one VoodooAce refers to, but it is interesting to see the old "War of the Worlds" trick a-la Orson Welles still in use in the modern media (Incidentaly, the audio musical version of WOTW from the late 70s has my golden seal of approval - it is great, and Richard Burton is an ideal narrator )

As to other nuclear terrorism films, "The Sum of All Fears" is meant to be coming out this year, which is along similar lines. They have reportedly edited the script from Arabic extremist terrorists as the guilty party to Neo-Nazis, which seems to me to be nonsensical and gutless.
It will be interesting to see what the Neo Nazi motivation for sparking a nuclear exchange between the US and the USSR is; or maybe they will sidestep that part as well
It was a pity that Harrison Ford could not be persuaded to take on the role of Jack Ryan again, as it he fits it perfectly, and besides, Ben Affleck is too young for the character, IMO.

 

[Whiskey Priest]

Did anyone see Failsafe. I'm not talking about the old one but the live version of it on CBS a couple of years ago. I thought it was great had a great cast (George Clooney, Hank Azaria, some others). Just curious I thought it was fickin' wicked.

 

[knowltok2]

Originally posted by Simon Darkshade
As to other nuclear terrorism films, "The Sum of All Fears" is meant to be coming out this year, which is along similar lines. They have reportedly edited the script from Arabic extremist terrorists as the guilty party to Neo-Nazis, which seems to me to be nonsensical and gutless.
It will be interesting to see what the Neo Nazi motivation for sparking a nuclear exchange between the US and the USSR is; or maybe they will sidestep that part as well
It was a pity that Harrison Ford could not be persuaded to take on the role of Jack Ryan again, as it he fits it perfectly, and besides, Ben Affleck is too young for the character, IMO.

Both facts revealed in your post sadden me, though I already knew about the second one. It makes me think that they will significantly change the story, making it much less powerful of a movie. I wonder how these Neo-Nazi's are going to get their bomb? I doubt the movie will take us through the chilling sequence of construction that the book did. I also wonder if the bomb will actually go off? Somehow I don't see them going this route either.

I'll most likely still go to see it though. I like Tom Clancy, and his past movies have been enjoyable, so that in my book give's him the benefit of the doubt.

 

[Sixchan]

I saw one a year ago called "The day the Earth stood still" (I think). Russia and the U.S. detonate nuclear tests on the same longitude at the exact same time, causing the eath to spiral in towards the sun. Really stupid, but it was still good for an old black and white film.

 

[VoodooAce]

It was a pity that Harrison Ford could not be persuaded to take on the role of Jack Ryan again, as it he fits it perfectly, and besides, Ben Affleck is too young for the character, IMO. [/B]

Noooooooooooooo.....

Ben Affleck???? As Jack Ryan????

 

[Simon Darkshade]

Yes, the horrific rumours are true, and Affleck is a single Ryan, changed into a low level analyst.
James Cromwell is Bob Fowler, fair enough, but the villainous Neo Nazi leader is none other than...Alan Bates.
Clancy approves of Affleck, however, so full judgement will be withheld.

From what I could garner, there are two bombs, one going off in Chechnya, the other in Baltimore (can't afford to leave it in Denver now can we? Nooooo, we've got to move it to the eastern seaboard and be trendy... )

And the villains want to spark a new Cold War, which is silly and an understatement of the effect of a real blast close to Washington, as portrayed in the book, where MAD was the goal, making it all the more evil.

And will a young unknown Jack Ryan go into the NMCC, and get on the hotline with Narmonov to cool things down? I don't think so, given his new youth and inferiority, and Cardinal of the Kremlin not being factored in.
And of course, there will be no ultimate climax where Fowler is stopped from nuking Iran by a few seconds by Ryan, one would surmise.

It will probably be an allright film, but the book had the potential to be truly great, and deserves to be, coming from back when Clancy could still write
Will Mr. Clark make an appearence? (I personally thought Dafoe was ok in Clear and Present Danger, but he isn't fully Clark-like...don't know who is him this time around...)

I just hope they do not f**k it up too badly.
What's it going to be in the next film? Macaulay Culkin as President Ryan?
Will Smith? (Russell Crowe could do a nice job, but he has an advantage, being an adopted Aussie)

 

[Jimcat]

Because no one seems to have mentioned it yet, the title of the TV-movie to which the original poster refers was "Threads".

It came out in 1983 or '84, shortly after "The Day After". Much more pessimistic view of life-after-the-Bomb, but then, Britain is in a much more vulnerable position than the US.

The scariest thing about this is seeing these movies referred to as "quite old". I was in high school when they came out! Guess I must be getting, ummm, quite old.

 

[Whiskey Priest]

Just a couple thoughts.

I don't think we need Laurence Olivier to play Jack Ryan. The guy in the Big Bird suit on Sesame Street could probably play such a one dimesional character.

I thought Jack Ryan was married? I seem to recall this being the case in Patriot Games. But then again, who would like to see Ann Archer in a love scene .

Russel Crowe? RUSSEL CROWE!!? I'm sick of this man. Sorry but I don't see good acting. I see the same damn stare into the camera in every role he plays.

But If we want an Australian I nominate Paul Hogan. "That's not a thermo-nuclear device, THIS is a thermo-nuclear device."

 

[Richard III]

Originally posted by Jimcat
Because no one seems to have mentioned it yet, the title of the TV-movie to which the original poster refers was "Threads".

It came out in 1983 or '84, shortly after "The Day After". Much more pessimistic view of life-after-the-Bomb, but then, Britain is in a much more vulnerable position than the US.

The scariest thing about this is seeing these movies referred to as "quite old". I was in high school when they came out! Guess I must be getting, ummm, quite old.

Ditto, ditto and ditto. It was definitely "Threads," it's NOT old, and it was actually pretty "good" - not in an entertaining sense, but the scenario, characters and special effects were much more effective than the Day After, which had a slightly campy movie-of-the-week feel to it.

R.III

 

[Daryl17]

Ouchgeddon,
The movie you are thinking of is called "Threads". I saw it back on August 18 of last year. I was so traumitized by it, I felt like killing myself when September 11th came aroung
I never understood just what the big deal was with "The Day After". I tried watching it on TV a year ago, and I almost fell asleep. I kept sitting around waiting for it to get scary, and it never did. Not to mention the whole thing was ridiculously sanitized...
Oh, and the ending was different from what you remember. Same idea, but there wasn't any dialogue. Shouldn't spoil it any more, though.
These pictures might refresh your memory:

 

[Ouchgeddon]

You guys DO rule! Now all I need is to find the show...

I want those pics, tell me where to get the rest (which didn't make it to the post).

 

[Daryl17]

There are more pictures at:
http://members.tripod.com/stupid_poo
and
http://www.chandrella.org/kevin/threads.shtml
Do you remember the hospital scene with the kids getting glass pulled from their backs, and the guy getting his leg removed with an old saw?

 

[Ouchgeddon]

Good sites, and I do remember the hospital the injured were brought into just after the bomb.

Other question: How do I put a picture and a subtitle under my name?