The Day After

Anyone else remember this movie? It was a two day miniseries that came out in the early 80's about what would happen in the US if we entered into a nuclear war with the Soviet Union. I was in the Eighth grade when it came out, and my science teacher made it an assignment to watch it. We spent the next week talking about it and running emergency drills.

It's on the Sci Fi channel right now, haven't seen it since then. Amazing how dated everything looks, I feel old...

I think I was in seventh or eighth grade too, and it was a scary-as-crapola movie. The idea of being vaporized in a nuclear attack really freaked me out. I had many nightmares about nuclear war after that, until the threat passed. Yikes, I can't even go look at it right now. Once was enough.

The idea of being vaporized in a nuclear attack really freaked me out. I had many nightmares about nuclear war after that, until the threat passed.

Ditto that. I remember my teacher telling us that it was inevitable, that it was a matter of "when, not if." Oy...

Ditto that. I remember my teacher telling us that it was inevitable, that it was a matter of "when, not if." Oy...

Nice! :angry:

You know, next time I think one of my kids "can handle" something that's adult, I'm going to try to remember how I felt watching this movie. At the time it was viewed as "important," but I don't even remember if my parents watched with me. It was horrifying. And I remember thinking how incredibly stupid adults must be to get themselves into a situation where this might happen.

Geez! This post brought back some memories!

My 6th grade English teacher read us a Canadian novel about life after a nuclear holocaust. It was very interesting. One of our homework assignments was to go a weekend acting like we were in the post Nuclear attack world. We had to save water, use no electricity, etc. It was very interesting to realize in about 12 hours how bad something like this would be.

OH MY GOSH. I had the exact same experience as the two of you. Seventh grade. A teacher made me watch it, and I had horrible nightmares afterward.

My teacher, Mr. Brogdon, was this great old retired Army officer. I grew up near Ft. Benning, in Columbus, GA. Mr. Brogdon was kind enough to point out that we'd be lucky enough to be killed in the first strike because Ft. Benning was the fourth highest value target in the U.S., and had enough firepower pointed at it to destroy it 250 times over. He consoled us with the following, "Most likely the Pentagon won't have time to warn us it's coming, because by the time they know the missiles are inbound they only have 13 minutes, and it's unlikely they'd confirm the missiles were real in time to get the word out. You'll just see a flash of light and then there will be nothing left of you except maybe a shadow where your body was..."

I had horrible, horrible nightmares for months. I'd be dreaming, and I'd suddenly see a flash of light and wake up hyperventilating. Or, I'd dream I was going off to camp or the river or whatever, and then Columbus was vaporized. I refused to go on the church youth group beach trip that year.

The worst came that summer, when I was home alone with my younger brother. It was a beautiful sunny day, and all the sudden the civil defense siren went off for no reason. I freaked. I knew that clearly this was the nuclear war. Unwilling to accept my vaporized fate, I dragged the sofa against the wall, flipped it over, and forced my brother into the cave. I grabbed pillows to stuff in the gap at the side, and waited for the end -- completely freaking the 10 year old brother out in the process.

My mother was sure I'd imagined the siren, and was trying to find a good psychologist until the news that night mentioned a small problem with the sirens that left many old people crouching under their stairs and in interior rooms.

Nice to know it wasn't just me.

I don't recall if I saw the Day After or not, but the movie I remember freaking me out as a kid was Soylent Green. It made me so scared that I wouldn't take host at church for 6 months because it looked just like those wafers in the movie. :shock:

I was a youngster during the Cold War and we did have drills in school where an alarm would sound and we would get down under our desk, or be led into the hallway, told to sit along the walls, wrap our arms tightly around our legs with our knees bent, and our eyes pressed against our knees to minimize damage from the blinding flash of a nuclear bomb....we all used to laugh and giggle during these drills--it was childish purity and innocence at its best!


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I don't recall if I saw the Day After or not, but the movie I remember freaking me out as a kid was Soylent Green. It made me so scared that I wouldn't take host at church for 6 months because it looked just like those wafers in the movie. :shock:

Okay, I saw that in reruns, and oh yes ... freaky.

I was a youngster during the Cold War and we did have drills in school where an alarm would sound and we would get down under our desk, or be led into the hallway, told to sit along the walls, wrap our arms tightly around our legs with our knees bent, and our eyes pressed against our knees to minimize damage from the blinding flash of a nuclear bomb....we all used to laugh and giggle during these drills--it was childish purity and innocence at its best!


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But they did not show you graphic scenes of what would happen in that blinding flash! Like your body disappearing immediately! Or they may not have impressed upon you the idea that, once you saw those missles in the air, you had maybe 15 minutes to live, because by god the Russians were sending some your way! And my mother, helpfully, informed me that because MacDill Air Force Base was nearby (home of Central Command now -- not sure about then) we were surely toast! Which I guess would be better than dying of radiation poisoning!

Good lord, 25 years (!) later, I am STILL very bitter about that movie.

I had recurring nightmares for a decade, probably until a couple of years into the Clinton presidency, so I can definitely thank Bill for something. (And, okay, Reagan.)

I think this was a difficult movie for everyone to see, but I guess Punzy and WCW and I were among the youngest to see it, and it obviously messed us up a little bit.

But they did not show you graphic scenes of what would happen in that blinding flash! Like your body disappearing immediately! Or they may not have impressed upon you the idea that, once you saw those missles in the air, you had maybe 15 minutes to live, because by god the Russians were sending some your way!

I know...we also didn't have half the kids on Ritalin and the other half on asthma or antidepressant meds; we didn't have metal detectors at school entrances; we didn't have police on campus; we didn't have drug dogs checking lockers. The information era isn't all it's cracked up to be when it comes to our youth--kids are missing out on the joys of an innocent and pure childhood--it's too bad.

I remember my dad watching TV on the evening of the Cuban Missile Crisis; I was too young to understand what was happening, all I knew is that my father seemed concerned and that Newsmen and President Kennedy were on TV instead of 'regular' programs. I asked my dad what was going on--he told me, "Go play, but don't leave the house." What good would it have done if he'd given me the gory details of a full-blown nuclear war? Luckily, I've never had to find out.

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hmmm... I've a fascination with doomsday scenarios but found that books are more realistic than the films. Maybe it has to do with facing your fears? Any psych majors out there? I'd say the first 30 minutes of "Saving Private Ryan" were what I'd consider scary...and that REALLY happened!

I remember this movie too, probably 7th or 8th grade also. Haven't thought of it until now, but looking back...why did our teachers feel it necessary to show us this? It's not like we had a choice either...whether to watch it or not. I'll bet now you'd have to have a permission slip. I agree with Shelly that kids just don't need to know the details of war. (At least I think that's what you "said" basically.)
Kids have enough to think about.

F - False
E - Events
A - Appearing
R - Real

I watched it in 5th grade. I was glad I was in 5th grade, too. Because after the 4th grade watched it, they spent the entire day in a bomb shelter. Who thought this was a good idea to do to elementary school children? I'm still scared!

Anyone else remember this movie?

I think I was in seventh or eighth grade too, and it was a scary-as-crapola movie. The idea of being vaporized in a nuclear attack really freaked me out. I had many nightmares about nuclear war after that, until the threat passed. Yikes, I can't even go look at it right now. Once was enough.

OH MY GOSH. I had the exact same experience as the two of you. Seventh grade. A teacher made me watch it, and I had horrible nightmares afterward.
Nice to know it wasn't just me.

Good lord, 25 years (!) later, I am STILL very bitter about that movie.

I had recurring nightmares for a decade, probably until a couple of years into the Clinton presidency, so I can definitely thank Bill for something. (And, okay, Reagan.)

I have the same memories of that movie. Seventh grade. I remember being horrified, and still don't want to talk about it

I remember that there were no commercial interruptions. Very powerful and haunting film. Another film that I never miss when it is shown on tv is
FAIL SAFE. If you have never seen it is worth renting from the local video shop, if it is still available after all these years.

I think a far better choice of movie to show ALL kids would be this!

YouTube - Hate your Credit Card Bills? MAXED OUT - NOW ON DVD

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Dismal.................

Man do I feel old...I was in college when I watched that movie. My Psychology prof. made us write a paper on it. It really did freak me out though.

That same prof also had us do a paper on the very last episode of MASH. I guess he didn't like missing good shows either.

I think a far better choice of movie to show ALL kids would be this!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiOVNWoWTAU

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That made me a little misty..

So sad for our us and this is probably just the beginning. My father has never used credit...never believed in owing anything and still managed to save money. It's a generational thing that's just starting to catch up with us. I don't think they even used to have a credit score. Back then, your word was your credit.

I think a far better choice of movie to show ALL kids would be this!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiOVNWoWTAU

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Luckily congress (was paid by the credit card companies to) rewrote bankruptcy laws. :roll:

Not long after that, Sting released this. I remember being moved by the lyrics:

YouTube - Sting - Russians