The Day After (1983)

★ 6.8 2h 7m 434 votes IMDb

Drama Sci-Fi

In the mid-1980s, the U.S. is poised on the brink of nuclear war. This shadow looms over the residents of a small town in Kansas as they continue their daily lives. Dr. Russell Oakes maintains his busy schedule at the hospital, Denise Dahlberg prepares for her upcoming wedding, and Stephen Klein is deep in his graduate studies. When the unthinkable happens and the bombs come down, the town's residents are thrust into the horrors of nuclear winter.

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Cast

Jason Robards as Dr. Russell Oakes Died 2000 · Chicago, Illinois, USA Jason Nelson Robards Jr. (July 26, 1922 – December 26, 2000) was an American actor. Known as an interpreter of the works of playwright Eugene O'Neill, Robards received two Academy Awards, a Tony Award...

JoBeth Williams as Nurse Nancy Bauer Age 77 · Houston, Texas, USA Margaret JoBeth Williams (born December 6, 1948) is an Academy Award, Golden Globe, and Emmy nominated American film and television actress and director, and current President of the Screen Actors Gui...

Steve Guttenberg as Stephen Klein Age 67 · Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA Steven Robert Guttenberg (born August 24, 1958) is an American actor, author, businessman, producer, and director. He is known for his lead roles in Hollywood films of the 1980s and 1990s, including C...

John Cullum as Jim Dahlberg Age 96 · Knoxville, Tennessee, USA John Cullum (born March 2, 1930) is an American actor and singer. He is a five-time Tony Award nominee and two-time winner, both for Best Leading Actor in a Musical (Shenandoah in 1975 and On the Twen...

John Lithgow as Joe Huxley Age 80 · Rochester, New York, USA John Arthur Lithgow (born October 19, 1945) is an American actor. He studied at Harvard University and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art before becoming known for his diverse work on stage...

Director Nicholas Meyer

Cast Jason Robards, JoBeth Williams, Steve Guttenberg, John Cullum, John Lithgow, Bibi Besch, Lori Lethin, Amy Madigan, Jeff East, Georgann Johnson

talisencrw 9/10 Jul 03, 2016

This was solid and, considering its epoch, scary. I remember being a teen when this came up, and with U.S./Soviet relations at a nadir, nuclear war films were just starting to appear on the cinephile's radar once again, after taking a breather from their 60's heyday for the sake of the glut of natural disaster films that hit theatres in the interim.

This was one of the first and best, simply because director Nicholas Meyer was so good at sci-fi. I fervently wish he had made a lot more movies.

znapper 8/10 Feb 21, 2017

Well worth the view and it's surprisingly hard-hitting, for an American movie.

TDA depict the full nuclear exchange between NATO and the Warsaw-pact and how this affect the population in and around Kansas.

I think TDA really works better as a pure movie, because it is. Compared to the UK-made "Threads", which is more of a docudrama, TDA sets the scene and develop the characters.

Many of the characters also survive the initial attack and we follow them 2-4 weeks after the initial attack.

Even though TDA was both politically incorrect at the time and is also pretty bleak and scary, it does fall into the trap of being more of a movie than a film meant to shock and present facts.

Some of the cheesy dialogue and characters also feels a little 'meh' (love stories, family-drama etc). Threads also has some of that, but avoid the most cheesy moments, because it's more 'real' than 'played out by actors'.

Anyway, TDA works well, it will keep you seated and you will indeed feel moved by the buildup and attack-scene, as well as the aftermath.

Acting is for the most part very good and the film flows nicely trough the story.

The thing I don't like too much with TDA, is that it does pull it's punches concerning the consequences of such a nuclear exchange and it does leave the viewer with a slightly positive outlook, that things will improve in time and that mankind will prevail.

Dr. Oakes, one of the main-characters in the film is probably the voice of the most realistic views on what is to come, but his views aren't lifted up as being the view of the movie itself.

Still a highly recommended film, it does cover a subject only covered properly by this and the UK made 'Threads'.

Nutshell 7/10 Aug 03, 2019

James Robards is exceptional in this sad nuclear holocaust fable, made for TV but a top notch production in most all respects.