Review of The Day After (1983) by John R — 25 Jan 2017

This bleak, unsentimental and remorseless film is an ultra realistic, blow by blow of what would transpire before, during and after a massive nuclear attack. It is a tough watch and pretty unremitting in it's dark hopelessness but is also a amazingly sober and well crafted piece of moviemaking with terrific, powerful performances across the board from an impressive cast (Jason Robards, John Lithgow, Jobeth Williams, Steve Guttenberg, to name but a few) the special effects used to realize the nuclear attack is the only place were the film shows it's made for tv budget, but is still an utterly disturbing scene.

This is a relentless, terrifying look into a possible future that we should hope never comes to pass.