Threads (1984) dir Mick Jackson
A terrifying and shockingly brutal TV film about a nuclear war in the 1980s. The back story is the USA and USSR both intervene in a civil war in Iran. This then escalates over the course of a few weeks and ultimately leads to all out nuclear war with both countries, and their allies, bombing each others cities into oblivion. It's set in Sheffield, where I now live, a large, industrial city. It was more industrial in the 80s and had an RAF base fairly close, so this is what makes it a target. It's not made completely in the usual narrative style of films, although there is a basic plot following a young couple, expecting a baby, and their parents and friends (at least those who survive the initial attack). Parts of it are more documentary and some bits almost like a public information film explaining what would happen in the event of a nuclear war. Things like who would take control of local government, how would they distribute food and medicine in the aftermath. A lot of it is narrated, explaining things like how there would be no electricity, because early nuclear strikes would be aimed at destroying that sort of infrastructure. And then after the attack, what life would be like for those who were not killed outright. This is when the film is at it's most shocking, making you feel that the people killed instantly when the bombs hit were the lucky ones. It explains how the fallout would kill many of those not killed already; debris blown into the air, with lethal levels of radiation, that gradually falls back to the ground, blown by the wind away from where the bombs fell, so spreading death over an even greater area. It continues the story for many years after the war, showing how other clouds of dust blown into the upper atmosphere by the blast shroud huge parts of the Earth, blocking out the Sun, leading to a “Nuclear Winter” as temperatures plunge and hardly anything can grow for years. And of course this does not just effect the countries who fired their nuclear missiles at each other. So there's no winners in nuclear war, every one loses.
I reiterate what Lime said in his review and urge you to watch this if you can.
10 / 10
I'd also recommend another TV film I saw many years ago, on the same basic theme but from a very different angle and without the documentary style. By Dawn's Early Light (looks like it could be available on Youtube), which follows the crew of a US B-52 bomber, armed with nuclear bombs and on patrol when war breaks out, plus other military personal and politicians who survive the initial strikes. No where near as brutal as threads, about the choices these people have to make.
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