Past Tense - Nuclear Apocalypse '80s Style Part I


This is one of the more different entries. I'm going to be showcasing a title and it's upgrade. Did not expect this to turn into a two parter. Surprise!

I'm going to be talking about the not sci-fi drama, "The Day After".



The ABC TV movie aired November 20th, 1983. It was a mega hit when it aired - well over a hundred million people were watching; this equaled 62% as in sixty-two percent of the entire nation was viewing it that night. It was a three hour presentation with limited commercial breaks (once the attack happens, no further commercials). Yeah.

The movie is decent enough, so what was the drawl?

Timing is everything. Let me give you some perspective...

This aired as the Cold War was ratcheting; America and the Soviet were talking about expanding nuclear capabilities. The U.S. was working on their space based missile shield system, "Star Wars". Which was pure BS, we didn't have the tech at the time to make it work - but the Russians didn't know. And spent billions upon billions trying to create their own competing system, it never worked. It couldn't work, not enough power could be generated for the orbital platform.

It was a laser system to shoot down missiles before they could do serious damage to America, multiple satellites to cover the nation, like under a dome. But those satellites could only shoot one or twice before the system got drained. Too much power for those long distance lasers. The technology wasn't up to the task. It was a ruse to get the Soviets to drain their resources. It worked.

Anyhow.

This movie came out when there were genuine fears that each day could very well be our last. At any time, we could be attacked and it's a war with no real winners. Death from the detonation. Lingering, suffering death from the radioactive fallout. The people who would be dying wished they were already dead. Seriously bad stuff, physical disintegration; hair and teeth falling out, unable to digest food, loosing muscle mass and so much worse.



That week's TV Guide issue.

I was in junior high when this aired. The movie was something that school staff felt needed to be shared. I didn't see it when it was broadcast. I saw it in school. Shown in our social studies class (on VHS, recorded on someone's VCR). They took it quite serious. Which is dark as hell, showing little kids mass devastation and deaths.

The movie was made to be as scientific accurate as possible. The director had a tough time with the network since he wanted to get more graphic; radiation sickness, but was told to pull it back. When it aired there was a warning, this program has disturbing scenes. And suggested that families watch it together to have a discussion about what to do should it happen.

No sh!t, this was something that frightened a lot of people. When it aired there were 1-800 numbers for hotlines to talk to a counselor about what was being shown.

It aired on a Sunday night. The following evening, "Nightline" had a lengthy discussion about the movie and what could happen. Host Ted Kopple had NASA scientist Carl Sagan, General Brent Scowcroft, ex-Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, ex-Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, professor of humanities Elie Wiesel and social commentator William F. Buckley Jr. to talk about the subject. This is something I would like to see today. I'm not a little kid and can now appreciate the discussion.

Imagine a room awash in gasoline and there are two implacable enemies in the room. One of them has nine thousand matches. The other has seven thousand matches. Each of them is concerned about who's ahead who's stronger.
- Sagan

The movie was the topic of in-depth discussions from Time and Newsweek magazines to TV Guide. The filmmakers touched a taunt nerve. Can't please everybody; critics at the time fell into two camps, mostly. One - this is nothing more than sensationalism. Two - this was too real; as in based on real possible events, but was way too graphic. The other subset of that, not graphic enough - hoping the movie could be used as a legit deterrent against nuclear war.

You could very well say that "The Day After" was one of the iconic films of the 1980s. It did so well, that PSO, Producers Sale Organization released the movie in Europe, theatrically - with six more minutes of footage. These were edits from deleted moments, not more graphic scenes. The film was screened for President Ronald Reagan on October 10th, '83. In his memoirs, he said the film left him greatly depressed.

I'm really touching the surface here - the impact this TV movie had on the media and people in power. It changed minds.

Okay. The details.



The film first came out on DVD on May 18th, 2004 from MGM Home Entertainment for $27.98.

This is the TV broadcast. Presented in full screen and had zero bonus features.

Man, MGM dropped the ball here. They could've at least included that "Nightline" episode as an extra. It would've been memorable. Nope. There's more, but I'll get into that in a few.

I will say that cover was excellent; certainly gets the point across and has rich colors.



Horrible cover here. Where's the umph? The TV movie was re-released on disc on August 8th, 2018 from Kino Lorber Inc. for $19.95 on DVD and $29.95 for Blu-Ray. This was a two disc special edition. It has both the TV broadcast (full screen) and theatrical (anamorphic widescreen) versions, both remastered.

Extras included commentary by film historian Lee Gambin and comic artist/writer Tristan Jones. And interviews with actress JoBeth Williams and director Nicholas Meyer on the making.

Both the DVD and BD have the same extras.

The Kino release is a genuine upgrade. I'm only going to show you a single example, but this encapsulates all that's wrong with the MGM release. Sure at the time, it was the only way to own it on disc. It looks like they were just going through the motions rather than making it a solid DVD.