Shows like this are like a time machine. No cell phones, no text messaging, heck even a beeper was rare in those days. It illustrates how much things have changed in 30 years.
lothartheterrible, at 6:27 the two-tone signal of the Emergency Broadcast System is activated replacing the newscast on the radio. Would this have been a localized Kansas City metro activation of the EBS or a national EBS activation? Back in the EBS days, the script that would have to be followed for a national EBS activation started with "we interrupt our programming, this is a national emergency, important instructions will follow", followed by the EBS tone and emergency info that follows.
Fact of the matter is that we (the US) are going to be staying out of other people's business whether the rest of the world likes it or not. With the insane spending, the economy can't handle it - and frankly the rest of the world has proven that it's not worth the trouble. I hope South Korea can handle an invasion from the North if Kimmy launches one.
It's funny watching the people stand in line at a single pay phone. We forget how good we have it with cellphones today. Nowadays, we'd be texting our goodbyes like "Rsns nuking us. FML."
@MasterJediDude I love the comment, but one thing you have to remember. If this happened today, everybody and there mother will be on there phones! It will overload the system, I think it would be funnier if the people got a busy signal. There is no fool proof system.
I love the expression on Robards' face at 7:45 - as if he's thinking, "Okay, that's it. I'm putting a stop to this bullshit *right now!*" His interaction w/ the guy in front of him in the line for the phone is one of the more human moments in the film to me.
The lines outside of the phone booths did make me a bit nostalgic. ;) Funny, how current technology makes us all feel so "connected," but in a crisis, it is no more dependable. Look what happened on September 11th; even in my little podunk hometown, many miles away, we had extensive communications outages (hard-wired lines, cellular, internet).
Nuclear war is useless, it's a loose loose situation. Almost all grocery shelves would be cleared within less then a week. That's if you could even get money to pay for it as most banks will have closed along with ATM's.
And that's before the shit hits the fan or the 2 year long winter.
@Freepepsi42 It would. In the aftermath of a nuclear conflict, the barter system would again become prevalent; food and fuel would truly be worth their weight in gold.
This is so strange! Why do all the characters seem so nonchalante about things "The Russians have invaded West Germany" and they carry on as normal. I'd be shitting myself. Hell even the Kosovo War in 1999 got people more bothered than these people are about World War 3!
@shahideurope Hear you, but even today, we see some pretty frightening headlines and a majority of the folks I encounter daily could care less (or at least it seems that way). Sadly, folks are even more desensitized now than ever.
You think that staying out of the worlds business will keep you from being hit by nuclear weapons? And you think man hasn't learned this? Oil has kepts us overseas and made us very unsafe. Heck resources in general keep us in contention w/ other nations. Even if WW3 happens on the other side of the globe...America will feel the reprecussion. Nuclear winter, lack of oil, food, changed weather, and invasions will be enough to bring us down with them.
But if the missies haven't been launched and the Leaders are supposedly trying to call it off, why are people being told to shelter and why is Moscow being evacuated?
Many cities will not be touched by damage, but that's not really going to matter when your starving. After all the grocery shelves have emptied. Even if the trucks are running there wouldn't be much to bring in after most of the plant and animal life on the planet has died from the nuclear winter.
I beleive this is what Churchill meant when he said "the living will envy the dead"
You know what crazy is? Crazy is not staying away from other people's business... It's so so true. Americans IMO are the most friendly and warm people in the world, but their government been keep making enemy left right front back up and down. Why? Because they just can't stay away from other countries' business. Wonder why 9/11 happened at the first place? If you leave them alone, people won't attack you for no reason.
Has anyone by chance seen "Threads"? It's been described as making this film look like "A Day at the Races", acc. to Wikipedia. Just wondered if anyone has seen it, and what its really like.
@professor501 Yes. It as every bit as bleak and terrifying as it is described. Have a look for yourself; it's on YouTube. Search for "Threads 1 of 12 FULL MOVIE Nuclear War". You won't forget it.
there was another one that showed on u.s. teevee several years ago. i cannot remember the name but there was a family in a sm. town dying of rad. poisoning.
at one point the woman kissed the priest. they took in an orphaned japanese american boy.
Missouri had a chain of missile bases up and down the state as well as at least one major AFB the whole rethoric was to put missile bases in middle of nowhere places what they didnt bargain with was people and places springing up.
And the varying Megaton yields of Nuclear Weapons.
i was well aware when i lived close to an army depo which is chock full of aging nerve gas rockets. i'm aware now that here in sunny socal i'm smack in one of the juciest targets for any kookoo crim with a country (kim jung il).
how long do you think you'd defend the registers when you have your own family at home. or even just your own self to worry about. you still going to stock shelves for mr. boss while the bombs are dropping?
@lothartheterrible : I gotta say, I do reallyt do dig the pop-ups. The info is interesting. As for the fucktards that ca't see past it, tell them to pull out their own fucking VCR and RCA cables (which it seems you have done) and upload it themselves!
@dariodepiante It's actually off a DVD; when I uploaded this in 2007 I had to compress the shit out of it otherwise the clips would have been much shorter; YouTube have since upgraded their servers but I don't feel like re-doing it. As far as the annotations go, people could simply click that little "turn off annotations" icon, but that would rob them of the chance to show the world that they are whiny pissbags.
wow just imagine the 80's no cellphones yet in case of an emergency people had to line up on the telephone booth God bless the guy who invented the cellphone .
The fact that all those people are taking such huge amounts of food is madening to me... Then again, the closest to an Atomic Attack film Ive seen is the TV Show "Jericho".
There were cellphones around in the 80's, though they were so big, if people see you using one they might think you're trying to call in an air-strike or something. :)
At this time, Russia invading West Germany would have been REALLY bad. That's almost a guaranteed war with the Russians. Do you guys agree? Do you think a Nuclear attack would have happen?
I was reading about the "Able Archer 83" incident in Wikipedia (where else?) when I came upon this movie. Chilling times, but are we truly out of the woods yet?
FYI, the barber doing most of the talking is Jason Robards brother. And the reason for this movie being made was to disprove a study that said that Lawerence KS would be the place least affected by a nuclear war.
Historical Context: Ronald Reagan. Geriatric Soviet leaders in somewhat uncertain touch with reality. MANY more ICBMs (on both sides) than in 2010. UNCOUNTABLY more conventional forces, some within only a mile of each other, facing off across the artificial German border. Effective, mostly centralized propaganda means (no Internet/YouTube). Failing Soviet economic system that may have led to a "use it or lose it" situation for their military. Primitive US-Soviet communications. Ronald Reagan.
You can see the top of my mom's head at 8:28, and you can see her at 8:43 pushing a shopping cart. She has blonde hair and is wearing a blue and white plaid shirt.
If you haven't, you should take a shot at commentating some of the other Cold War films. I'd like to get your impression of Countdown to Looking Glass or The War Game.
@lothartheterrible Eh, she did have a nude scene in "Teachers"...I'm not exactly turned on by nude scenes, but if you ask me, JoBeth Williams wasn't that hot. She is a great actress, though.
That was VERY TELLING! This had to be before or during the Reagan Admin, but the line already is hinting to going for the oil in Mesopotamia. FEMA is alerting people to brace 4 a possible attack. Hints r being dropped all over this movie. They even referred to a ship bieng hit in the Persian Gulf. Art predicts life maybe?
if the world is coming to an end....why would anyone waste valuable time standing in the checkout line at the grocery store!? I'd be runnin for the nearest liquor store!
i saw this movie on satellite a couple years ago. its amazing when the nuclear missles fire from beneath the earth in the middle of kansas. they are huge.
a lot off innocent people,soldiers have to die in wars,while they are always started by some powerfull morons who think they are the truth,the land belongs to them,to their people,it should be better ,that generals and persidents, did the fighting on their own,off course,we wouldn't sell many weapons then
3:45 I just love how people who know nothing about the military nor a military situation try to talk about what we are going to do military wise..just love it..rofl..
They still use the warning tone at 6:29 for the Emergency Alert System. I've heard it on tests of the system on radio stations and when the cable provider tests it (it even interrupts DVR recordings that you're watching!)
Why the hell would the US plant silos all over the breadbasket of the US?? Way to go, make the farms a target, that'll insure no food production after a strike. Idiots!
With the likely saturation of warheads from a full scale Soviet strike, it won't matter where our silos are vis a vis the farms. If the bread basket isn't incinerated, it'll either be irradiated from the fallout or die from nuclear winter.
they put the silos where the ground is most stable, as in where the nuclear weapons are least likely to be disturbed by earthquakes. funny how the planners of the nuclear silos are actually smarter than you despite your loud protestations to the opposite. moron.
I asked that question a while ago, like why don't they put them in Alaska due to its proximity to asia, and that is the reason they are in the midwest. Harder to hit with subs and bombers.
well,jackoflava, military strategists wanted to locate silos asfar aspossible from oceans,and from soviet ballisticSubmarines! but,of course,enough close(maximum 10000km) to Soviet bases. So the unique locations were Oregon,California(portArguello) and nothern-central US.
its a nice idea, but all radio nets would be useless after a hydrogen exchange, certainly civilian ones. The ionisphere completely screwed and unhardened FM or sideband would be screwed.
I do prefer Threads, but TDA is a brave and nobile effort on the part of American Artists. Respect.
Mobile phone networks would be cut very early in a real crisis. In the UK, where Im from, in the 80s ordinary phones would have been cut too. That provision undoubtedly still exists. It may be the same in the US.
I could see that people would try and create a shelter in the church first - before their homes. Our church was 7 miles out of town, this one reminded me of it.
John Cullum (1776, Northern Exposure; Broadway) at 7:22 tells his boy to line up "milk jugs" then you see them - they are 8 gallon "milk cans" - I know, nit-picky of me, but it bugged me. Being born and raised on a farm - stuff like that stands out. John Cullum did a great job in this role though...
In response to your video description, cell phones likely wouldn't have done much better. The volume of calls would likely overwhelm all the local towers and nobody would be able to get through. I live in a part of the U.S. frequently hit by hurricanes and that often happens in the immediate aftermath.
Where in the description did I say anything about cell phones being "better"? I made the observation because in today's society, one would be highly unlikely to see a line of frustrated and frightened people lined up at a pay phone.
You're seeing attitude where there isn't any; it was merely a statement. I understand, however, that intent is easily misread in situations like this; words alone do not convey emotion all that well. Beside all that, what you said is 100% true; I have friends in New Orleans and after Katrina I may as well have sent messages via carrier pigeon because there was no way of getting ahold of them otherwise.
There is one way; HAM radio. A modest station could be set up using a 12 volt battery and a decent antenna could be mounted just about anywhere.
In fact, jsut over the fourth of july weekend my friends and I set up a station in the north woods of MN and made contacts in Florida, Texas and South Carolina, all completely "off the grid".
@JohnnyDart76 There's a very real concern among some of the top brass in the US military that some third world shitpot dictator could launch a High altitude EMP attack, setting the US back to the 1850s within seconds.
Interestingly, "tube type" radios (the big ones, roughly the size of a large microwave oven) are almost impervious to EMP effects. WIth a modestly equipped station, an operator could become a very valuable commodity in his community.
@jen8933 I'm sure so, probably mostly in NYC and DC at the time. Elevated cell traffic in general across the country, but probably not enough to cause major service problems outside the Northeast.
Okay, I understand. Forgive me for the misconception, I'm accustomed to comments that are left by the lowest common denominator. In that sense, yes; it's quite droll and sounds like something I would say.
Why were those people even paying for all that food? If it was me, I would have loaded up a shopping cart and then busted out a window.
theZinator 6 days ago
guttenburg playing a steven...hmm
McPuffins509 1 month ago
Mahoney!!!!!!!!
kaptkarl 1 month ago
7:38 The guys kids on the camping trip probably faired way better then their Dad did.
poodtang1 1 month ago
3:58. its funny because oil in the middle east is an issue today.
TheDecimater1000 1 month ago in playlist Nuclear Holocaust Theatre
Shows like this are like a time machine. No cell phones, no text messaging, heck even a beeper was rare in those days. It illustrates how much things have changed in 30 years.
ClearSmashDrop 1 month ago
lothartheterrible, at 6:27 the two-tone signal of the Emergency Broadcast System is activated replacing the newscast on the radio. Would this have been a localized Kansas City metro activation of the EBS or a national EBS activation? Back in the EBS days, the script that would have to be followed for a national EBS activation started with "we interrupt our programming, this is a national emergency, important instructions will follow", followed by the EBS tone and emergency info that follows.
EdRingwald 2 months ago
THIS CAN REALLY HAPPIN
henrysmusic2009able 2 months ago
I'm pretty sure I could hear Trey Parker ranting in that supermarket
oddun 2 months ago
able archer 83 Holy fuck! It is freaky
SandmanCOD 3 months ago
Is one of the voices heard in the sequence Jerry Corden?
pookerville 4 months ago
All these years I'd thought it was just some dude who *looked like* Arthur Ashe. But it''s the great man himself. Who the hell knew?
And I love Bruce's total lack of awareness in the grocery: "Who are 'they'?"
snidelywhiplash 4 months ago
All these years I'd thought it was just some dude who *looked like* Arthur Ashe. But it''s the great man himself. Who the hell knew?
snidelywhiplash 4 months ago
We always do have a blast on my dad's birthday - September 16 (I know it's corny but my parents made this joke to make us kids feel better)
chefkat83 4 months ago
For a minute, I thought that guy in the line at the grocery store was on a cell phone. It amazes me how much things have changed since the 1980's!
Miss65boo 5 months ago
And God bless Stanislav Petrov...
SCE2AUX 5 months ago
Fact of the matter is that we (the US) are going to be staying out of other people's business whether the rest of the world likes it or not. With the insane spending, the economy can't handle it - and frankly the rest of the world has proven that it's not worth the trouble. I hope South Korea can handle an invasion from the North if Kimmy launches one.
SCE2AUX 5 months ago
Trying to get to Joplin for safety.....awkward.
Zoopoe 6 months ago
It's funny watching the people stand in line at a single pay phone. We forget how good we have it with cellphones today. Nowadays, we'd be texting our goodbyes like "Rsns nuking us. FML."
MasterJediDude 6 months ago 2
@MasterJediDude I love the comment, but one thing you have to remember. If this happened today, everybody and there mother will be on there phones! It will overload the system, I think it would be funnier if the people got a busy signal. There is no fool proof system.
citchyruzz 4 months ago
@citchyruzz You've got that right! LOL
MasterJediDude 3 weeks ago
Do you know what crazy is? Crazy is not staying out of other people's business.
hmasna 7 months ago
I love the expression on Robards' face at 7:45 - as if he's thinking, "Okay, that's it. I'm putting a stop to this bullshit *right now!*" His interaction w/ the guy in front of him in the line for the phone is one of the more human moments in the film to me.
snidelywhiplash 7 months ago
who wuld seriously be working the checkouts when your about to get nuked, if i worked there, id be like, "fuck this" and grab and run
hitlersinmyhouse 8 months ago
"You going to Joplin?"
fictionalfigment 8 months ago
Your aded commets are a nice touch.
johneamer 8 months ago
3:38 I didn't know Arthur Ashe did acting work.
Akira625 9 months ago
1:37-1:40 - Most ironic two lines of the whole film. Dude had no idea how right he was.
whall006 9 months ago
The lines outside of the phone booths did make me a bit nostalgic. ;) Funny, how current technology makes us all feel so "connected," but in a crisis, it is no more dependable. Look what happened on September 11th; even in my little podunk hometown, many miles away, we had extensive communications outages (hard-wired lines, cellular, internet).
HippyWitchGal 10 months ago
The guy who says "somewhere in the upper atmosphere" is priceless. Funny and scary as hell at the same time.
ashland1977 11 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
that fuckin broad with the curly hair is fuckin dumb has a big mouth and is extremeley uuuuuggggllllyyyy
MegaBloodbath666 1 year ago
@MegaBloodbath666 Wow. Just....wow...
lothartheterrible 1 year ago 5
@MegaBloodbath666 Was that really necessary?
coasterdad1971 10 months ago
@MegaBloodbath666 You have little input into this subject. Watch the movie, and be quiet.
Crussman499 9 months ago
@MegaBloodbath666 Judgemental, a little!
MrsLoriKLoPresti 3 months ago
its mahoney!
catklyst 1 year ago
why are they paying for things once that nuc hits money is worthless
jonbobbie 1 year ago
Nuclear war is useless, it's a loose loose situation. Almost all grocery shelves would be cleared within less then a week. That's if you could even get money to pay for it as most banks will have closed along with ATM's.
And that's before the shit hits the fan or the 2 year long winter.
poodtang1 1 year ago 5
@poodtang1 This is assuming there was a week's warning.
lothartheterrible 1 year ago 6
@poodtang1,
Like "Joshua" (the supercomputer) said in the movie "WarGames" --
"A strange game. The only winning move is **NOT TO PLAY.** "
knightryderrwn 6 months ago
@poodtang1 i'm pretty sure money currency would be useless.
Freepepsi42 4 months ago in playlist Nuclear Holocaust Theatre
@Freepepsi42 It would. In the aftermath of a nuclear conflict, the barter system would again become prevalent; food and fuel would truly be worth their weight in gold.
lothartheterrible 2 months ago
This is so strange! Why do all the characters seem so nonchalante about things "The Russians have invaded West Germany" and they carry on as normal. I'd be shitting myself. Hell even the Kosovo War in 1999 got people more bothered than these people are about World War 3!
shahideurope 1 year ago
@shahideurope Denial? Simply refusing to believe they would actually through with it and really push all the buttons?
lothartheterrible 1 year ago 3
@shahideurope Hear you, but even today, we see some pretty frightening headlines and a majority of the folks I encounter daily could care less (or at least it seems that way). Sadly, folks are even more desensitized now than ever.
HippyWitchGal 10 months ago
@shahideurope you think people would be like you but most would carry on
urantiruslan 7 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
@urantiruslan I doubt it, look at 9/11, were people in New York calm?
shahideurope 7 months ago
You think that staying out of the worlds business will keep you from being hit by nuclear weapons? And you think man hasn't learned this? Oil has kepts us overseas and made us very unsafe. Heck resources in general keep us in contention w/ other nations. Even if WW3 happens on the other side of the globe...America will feel the reprecussion. Nuclear winter, lack of oil, food, changed weather, and invasions will be enough to bring us down with them.
vidfreak56 1 year ago
Threads is an excellent movie. Both that movie and this are thought - provoking and frightening............
JohnCKimbrough 1 year ago
GET HOME!!
DartsRme312 1 year ago
Wow, very informative. Thanks a bunch. :)
native4life4eva 1 year ago
That actor has a strong resemblance to the wrestler Curt Hennig/"Mr. Perfect".
themightycelestial 1 year ago
@Morgethein
wasn't that the stupidest? my boss at work--my boss!--bought all kinds of freeze dried food, gold and of course guns.
nada.
it was pretty hard to respect his leadership if he is so gullible and easily paniced.
jen8933 1 year ago
But if the missies haven't been launched and the Leaders are supposedly trying to call it off, why are people being told to shelter and why is Moscow being evacuated?
Rockyfan10060 1 year ago
Many cities will not be touched by damage, but that's not really going to matter when your starving. After all the grocery shelves have emptied. Even if the trucks are running there wouldn't be much to bring in after most of the plant and animal life on the planet has died from the nuclear winter.
I beleive this is what Churchill meant when he said "the living will envy the dead"
poodtang1 1 year ago
You know what crazy is? Crazy is not staying away from other people's business... It's so so true. Americans IMO are the most friendly and warm people in the world, but their government been keep making enemy left right front back up and down. Why? Because they just can't stay away from other countries' business. Wonder why 9/11 happened at the first place? If you leave them alone, people won't attack you for no reason.
IIIL47v 1 year ago
Has anyone by chance seen "Threads"? It's been described as making this film look like "A Day at the Races", acc. to Wikipedia. Just wondered if anyone has seen it, and what its really like.
professor501 1 year ago
@professor501 Yes. It as every bit as bleak and terrifying as it is described. Have a look for yourself; it's on YouTube. Search for "Threads 1 of 12 FULL MOVIE Nuclear War". You won't forget it.
lothartheterrible 1 year ago 2
@professor501
there was another one that showed on u.s. teevee several years ago. i cannot remember the name but there was a family in a sm. town dying of rad. poisoning.
at one point the woman kissed the priest. they took in an orphaned japanese american boy.
jen8933 1 year ago
@jen8933 The film is called Testament, and it's available on YouTube, although the film quality isn't very good.
jolpenrose 1 year ago
@jolpenrose
thanks, i just finished watching all of it.
poor sound quality but it has been transfered for 30yrs old tape to dvd so there is a helicopter noise thruout...still worth watching.
jen8933 1 year ago
Missouri had a chain of missile bases up and down the state as well as at least one major AFB the whole rethoric was to put missile bases in middle of nowhere places what they didnt bargain with was people and places springing up.
And the varying Megaton yields of Nuclear Weapons.
Hauntedman1 1 year ago
har de har!
they're about to be bombed and the ppl at the store are still at the job?
nope.
they'd go to the back room, get as many supplies as they could carry and boogie out of that burg.
jen8933 1 year ago
"Why would they want to launch something at the middle of nowhere" ignorant twat they would chain nuke missouri lol.
Hauntedman1 1 year ago
@Hauntedman1
that bit must be done for info to the viewers'.
i was well aware when i lived close to an army depo which is chock full of aging nerve gas rockets. i'm aware now that here in sunny socal i'm smack in one of the juciest targets for any kookoo crim with a country (kim jung il).
jen8933 1 year ago
wow image this i work at a groecy store sales way way up lotto
Iceaberg17 1 year ago
@Iceaberg17
how long do you think you'd defend the registers when you have your own family at home. or even just your own self to worry about. you still going to stock shelves for mr. boss while the bombs are dropping?
jen8933 1 year ago
@lothartheterrible : I gotta say, I do reallyt do dig the pop-ups. The info is interesting. As for the fucktards that ca't see past it, tell them to pull out their own fucking VCR and RCA cables (which it seems you have done) and upload it themselves!
dariodepiante 1 year ago 3
@dariodepiante It's actually off a DVD; when I uploaded this in 2007 I had to compress the shit out of it otherwise the clips would have been much shorter; YouTube have since upgraded their servers but I don't feel like re-doing it. As far as the annotations go, people could simply click that little "turn off annotations" icon, but that would rob them of the chance to show the world that they are whiny pissbags.
lothartheterrible 1 year ago 12
@lothartheterrible
thanks for doing all the work you have done to bring this to total strangers.
thanks bro.
:)
jenny
jen8933 1 year ago
I like the way people think there will be a warning of any kind......no there wont!!!!
purplefurball 1 year ago 2
@purplefurball
it will be like that when the asteroid hits.
i really wish i had forewarning so i could get a twelve pack, some good hash and a beach chair so i could enjoy the show.
gonna go anyhow. why be at work at the pig shit shoveling factory. take a vacation, your last vacation.
jen8933 1 year ago
hmm able archer, that was good, see c4 gb
markstar777 1 year ago
Wow, isn't that Max Grogan from the Last Starfighter??
trevinboy 1 year ago
@trevinboy If you mean "Alex Rogan", then, well, no; that was Lance Guest; this guy's name was Jeff East.
lothartheterrible 1 year ago
@trevinboy
if you can find it read the book the last starfighter. the movie was good so is the book--bit different but very readable.
jen8933 1 year ago
Wow talk about "food for thought" on minute 6:06.
trevinboy 1 year ago
wow just imagine the 80's no cellphones yet in case of an emergency people had to line up on the telephone booth God bless the guy who invented the cellphone .
amugani 1 year ago
@amugani
wow.
you are so - i don't want to say stupid ---- uninformed.
jen8933 1 year ago
The fact that all those people are taking such huge amounts of food is madening to me... Then again, the closest to an Atomic Attack film Ive seen is the TV Show "Jericho".
Pikman01 1 year ago
3:10 You're damn right you're not going to graduate in January...so it's worthless.
TechVideos2566 1 year ago
6:03 "That's...n'awful lot of bullseyeeeeeeeeeees." LOL!
geoffck6969 1 year ago
I also heard that ABC had a discussion after this film to calm people down. Is This True?
MrBennetzen 1 year ago
@MrBennetzen
Yes look up The Day After ABC on Youtube and it's uploaded. A panel hosted by Ted Koppel.
mnaz21 1 year ago
There were cellphones around in the 80's, though they were so big, if people see you using one they might think you're trying to call in an air-strike or something. :)
Akira625 1 year ago
At this time, Russia invading West Germany would have been REALLY bad. That's almost a guaranteed war with the Russians. Do you guys agree? Do you think a Nuclear attack would have happen?
ShadowGunner82 1 year ago
I was reading about the "Able Archer 83" incident in Wikipedia (where else?) when I came upon this movie. Chilling times, but are we truly out of the woods yet?
Uneasy silence at 6:07 - 6:12.
tojiroh 1 year ago
i saw this when i was 11. never forgot it. it's one of those movies that you will never forget about. and this scenario could still happen
mervin352 1 year ago
3:43 perfect afro
wade2341 1 year ago
Jeff Goldbloom? Fantastic!
ginny7676 1 year ago
FYI, the barber doing most of the talking is Jason Robards brother. And the reason for this movie being made was to disprove a study that said that Lawerence KS would be the place least affected by a nuclear war.
Zoomer30 1 year ago
Historical Context: Ronald Reagan. Geriatric Soviet leaders in somewhat uncertain touch with reality. MANY more ICBMs (on both sides) than in 2010. UNCOUNTABLY more conventional forces, some within only a mile of each other, facing off across the artificial German border. Effective, mostly centralized propaganda means (no Internet/YouTube). Failing Soviet economic system that may have led to a "use it or lose it" situation for their military. Primitive US-Soviet communications. Ronald Reagan.
50zcarsman 1 year ago
4:03 Say it ALL.
ednuttah 1 year ago
You can see the top of my mom's head at 8:28, and you can see her at 8:43 pushing a shopping cart. She has blonde hair and is wearing a blue and white plaid shirt.
Kolfritz 1 year ago
At least young Clark Kent got laid before he was vaporized!
josephhatchett 1 year ago
If you haven't, you should take a shot at commentating some of the other Cold War films. I'd like to get your impression of Countdown to Looking Glass or The War Game.
SteelHyaena 1 year ago
Good Lord, that poor guy has to try and walk from Harrisonville to Joplin, that's a LOOONG way!!!
RedbeardNC 1 year ago
I had a crush on Jo Beth Williams when I was younger. :) Ok, I still do.... lol
marathon1974 1 year ago
@marathon1974 So did I. She was appealing in that buddy next door's hot mom kind of way....
lothartheterrible 1 year ago
@lothartheterrible Eh, she did have a nude scene in "Teachers"...I'm not exactly turned on by nude scenes, but if you ask me, JoBeth Williams wasn't that hot. She is a great actress, though.
TechVideos2566 1 year ago
@TechVideos2566 Hmmm....see, I also thought Bailey was a lot hotter than Jennifer on WKRP. It's that whole "average girl" kind of thing, I suppose.
lothartheterrible 1 year ago
@lothartheterrible ...yeah, I can certainly agree with you on WKRP. Average girl appearances are just me, I guess.
TechVideos2566 1 year ago
@marathon1974 she was hot in poltergeist too!!!
BeastSting 1 year ago
That was VERY TELLING! This had to be before or during the Reagan Admin, but the line already is hinting to going for the oil in Mesopotamia. FEMA is alerting people to brace 4 a possible attack. Hints r being dropped all over this movie. They even referred to a ship bieng hit in the Persian Gulf. Art predicts life maybe?
docmechanic 1 year ago
I am enjoying this. Thank you!
koreamy 1 year ago
did they have the emergency alert system?
radicalone71 1 year ago
@radicalone71 It was called the Emergency Broadcast System and it was a joke.
lothartheterrible 1 year ago
@radicalone71 They still have it.
cmoursler3 1 year ago
That's probably when I'd be really scared...hearing on the radio that they are evacuating Moscow. That can't be good.
marathon1974 1 year ago
If my mom was in that grocery store, she'd probably try o use some coupons.
biloxisean 1 year ago 2
4:05
"talking about oil in saudi arabia"
sad because it is true.
alphamone 1 year ago
@alphamone prophetic as hell isnt it?
chocolatethunder1968 1 year ago
if the world is coming to an end....why would anyone waste valuable time standing in the checkout line at the grocery store!? I'd be runnin for the nearest liquor store!
gowestward1 1 year ago
Indeed Abel Archer 83 managed to develop an excellent PSYOP back then...
PsychotronicWar 1 year ago
guy @ 3:00 sounds just like Dennis Miller. SO ODD.
foxhanson 1 year ago
I thought I was the only one who noticed that!
mongoose704 1 year ago
i just steal the stuff. no sense on waiting in line lol
johnap1988 2 years ago 3
I'd jump on that doctor if I heard the warning!
gweflj 2 years ago
8:33 xmas shopping
adamdd09 2 years ago 4
right!
virtualpilot31 2 years ago
(4:37)"uhoh conservative"...
crustyshirt 2 years ago
i saw this movie on satellite a couple years ago. its amazing when the nuclear missles fire from beneath the earth in the middle of kansas. they are huge.
mongoose100989 2 years ago
I was in NY on 9/11, and let me tell you cell phones are worthless.
patrickbad 2 years ago 22
@patrickbad Ditto!
PoliticalPars 1 year ago
screw paying for ish. I'd be robbin and stealin
Ragnarok691 2 years ago
@Ragnarok691 And you'd probably be executed by firing squad. Undoubtedly, this type of threat would force the white house to instill "marshal law".
clinicallydiagnosed 1 year ago
was that arthur ashe reading the news report at 3:45?
grips187 2 years ago 2
LOL @ the cashiers... modern day string quartet of the Titanic? LOL
jostd48 2 years ago
LMAO
kompa9 2 years ago
Bureaucracy abides!
HijodeNeton 2 years ago
a lot off innocent people,soldiers have to die in wars,while they are always started by some powerfull morons who think they are the truth,the land belongs to them,to their people,it should be better ,that generals and persidents, did the fighting on their own,off course,we wouldn't sell many weapons then
a090006 2 years ago 4
7:30
When kids still obeyed their parents
jm04206 2 years ago 3
"wonder where were going to be next week"
"probably in the upper atmosphere"
umahuma4 2 years ago 4
3:45 I just love how people who know nothing about the military nor a military situation try to talk about what we are going to do military wise..just love it..rofl..
ether150 2 years ago
I like it when I'm allowed to make my own opinions while watching a film, er, I believe it's called Freedom.
locheelad2 2 years ago 11
great a war started near me in the movie, i went to that store that day also!
coolykid443 2 years ago
They still use the warning tone at 6:29 for the Emergency Alert System. I've heard it on tests of the system on radio stations and when the cable provider tests it (it even interrupts DVR recordings that you're watching!)
wilek209 2 years ago 2
makes sense that it would interupt DVR recordings, as many disasters can sneak up on you quite quickly without giving very much notice.
alphamone 1 year ago
True, no cell phones, but those barber shops are pure Lawrence, even still.
sovietjoybuzzer 2 years ago 2
Gotta get chilled at how quiet it got when he reminded them of the air force base.
SpartanB146 2 years ago
Look at 8:50. That kid has a "WHAT THE FUCK MAN." look on his face looking at the people buying shit behind him.
traingp7 2 years ago
Why the hell would the US plant silos all over the breadbasket of the US?? Way to go, make the farms a target, that'll insure no food production after a strike. Idiots!
jackoflava 2 years ago
With the likely saturation of warheads from a full scale Soviet strike, it won't matter where our silos are vis a vis the farms. If the bread basket isn't incinerated, it'll either be irradiated from the fallout or die from nuclear winter.
USSManhattan 2 years ago 3
they put the silos where the ground is most stable, as in where the nuclear weapons are least likely to be disturbed by earthquakes. funny how the planners of the nuclear silos are actually smarter than you despite your loud protestations to the opposite. moron.
jlo1226 2 years ago 3
I asked that question a while ago, like why don't they put them in Alaska due to its proximity to asia, and that is the reason they are in the midwest. Harder to hit with subs and bombers.
radioactiveshoes 2 years ago
well,jackoflava, military strategists wanted to locate silos asfar aspossible from oceans,and from soviet ballisticSubmarines! but,of course,enough close(maximum 10000km) to Soviet bases. So the unique locations were Oregon,California(portArguello) and nothern-central US.
anisocoro 2 years ago
its a nice idea, but all radio nets would be useless after a hydrogen exchange, certainly civilian ones. The ionisphere completely screwed and unhardened FM or sideband would be screwed.
I do prefer Threads, but TDA is a brave and nobile effort on the part of American Artists. Respect.
5000433 2 years ago 2
Mobile phone networks would be cut very early in a real crisis. In the UK, where Im from, in the 80s ordinary phones would have been cut too. That provision undoubtedly still exists. It may be the same in the US.
5000433 2 years ago
I could see that people would try and create a shelter in the church first - before their homes. Our church was 7 miles out of town, this one reminded me of it.
John Cullum (1776, Northern Exposure; Broadway) at 7:22 tells his boy to line up "milk jugs" then you see them - they are 8 gallon "milk cans" - I know, nit-picky of me, but it bugged me. Being born and raised on a farm - stuff like that stands out. John Cullum did a great job in this role though...
murphicus 2 years ago
Nurses in "traditional" garb - wow.
It's all scrubs now, with no little white hats!
Thanks for posting this.
rennyminou 2 years ago 2
@rennyminou
i was in nursing trainging in 80. white starched cap, white 'nurse' shoes (no trainers at all!) white stockings, white dress or pants suit.
sexy;)
jen8933 1 year ago
this is really kind of scary.
when he mentions his kids in a camping trip and he has no idea what to do
hellfreak007 2 years ago 2
In response to your video description, cell phones likely wouldn't have done much better. The volume of calls would likely overwhelm all the local towers and nobody would be able to get through. I live in a part of the U.S. frequently hit by hurricanes and that often happens in the immediate aftermath.
lsudolemite 2 years ago 2
Where in the description did I say anything about cell phones being "better"? I made the observation because in today's society, one would be highly unlikely to see a line of frustrated and frightened people lined up at a pay phone.
lothartheterrible 2 years ago
What's with the attitude? I'm not trying to somehow debunk what you're saying, just giving an observation of my own.
lsudolemite 2 years ago
You're seeing attitude where there isn't any; it was merely a statement. I understand, however, that intent is easily misread in situations like this; words alone do not convey emotion all that well. Beside all that, what you said is 100% true; I have friends in New Orleans and after Katrina I may as well have sent messages via carrier pigeon because there was no way of getting ahold of them otherwise.
lothartheterrible 2 years ago
No offense intended. You're right, it's an anachronistic, yet disturbing, image.
lsudolemite 2 years ago
Indeed.
lothartheterrible 2 years ago
There is one way; HAM radio. A modest station could be set up using a 12 volt battery and a decent antenna could be mounted just about anywhere.
In fact, jsut over the fourth of july weekend my friends and I set up a station in the north woods of MN and made contacts in Florida, Texas and South Carolina, all completely "off the grid".
Binky40SW 2 years ago 2
Feasible enough, if one of your contacts had a set of their own. It might pay in the long run to purchase one for just such an occasion.
lothartheterrible 2 years ago
or CB band
Guynumber7 1 year ago
@Binky40SW: Pretty interesting. I guess that would be quite useful should a nuclear bomb ever go off somewhere in this country.
JohnnyDart76 1 year ago
@JohnnyDart76 There's a very real concern among some of the top brass in the US military that some third world shitpot dictator could launch a High altitude EMP attack, setting the US back to the 1850s within seconds.
Interestingly, "tube type" radios (the big ones, roughly the size of a large microwave oven) are almost impervious to EMP effects. WIth a modestly equipped station, an operator could become a very valuable commodity in his community.
Binky40SW 1 year ago
@lothartheterrible
that's true but they would still likely be unuasable due to the electronic pulse.
jen8933 1 year ago
@lsudolemite
wasn't there a cell phone clog during the 9/11 disaster?
jen8933 1 year ago
@jen8933 I'm sure so, probably mostly in NYC and DC at the time. Elevated cell traffic in general across the country, but probably not enough to cause major service problems outside the Northeast.
lsudolemite 1 year ago
LOL can you imagine???
... scary stuff
LcoolJfiveoh 2 years ago
3:20 - Is that the Great American Hero??
jenean94 2 years ago
No; that is Jeff East. The Greatest American Hero starred William Katt.
lothartheterrible 2 years ago
Last trim as a free man.Lmao, you could decifer that in more than one way.
SpermCannon 2 years ago
"I wonder where we're gonna be next week?"
"Somewhere in the upper atmosphere"
rofl
Sleepy1988 2 years ago
I don't get it; why do you find that funny?
lothartheterrible 2 years ago
It's black, cynical humor.
Sleepy1988 2 years ago
Okay, I understand. Forgive me for the misconception, I'm accustomed to comments that are left by the lowest common denominator. In that sense, yes; it's quite droll and sounds like something I would say.
lothartheterrible 2 years ago
8:34 *ucking checkout operators!!!
ZwolfZki 2 years ago
4:02 - saudi...
ZwolfZki 2 years ago
BTW the annotations are a nice touch. I remember the old Emergency Broadcast System.
mongoose704 2 years ago