Best "Nuclear Nightmare" movies of all time [Archive]

Doc Safari

07-25-16, 15:57

My list:

1. The Sum of All Fears

Ben Affleck, Morgan Freeman. A long-buried nuke from a Middle East war is dug up and nearly leads to World War III. Full of suspense. We watched this one over the weekend and I never get tired of it.

2. The Peacemaker

George Clooney, Nicole Kidman. A Russian general sells a nuke on the black market to extremists. This one has more action than Sum of All Fears, with several cliffhanger moments.

3. Broken Arrow

John Travolta, Christian Slater. SteyrAUG hates this movie but it's one of the most action-packed movies I've ever seen. An air force pilot decides to steal a couple of nukes, and his co-pilot has to try to get them back. It's basically a western with modern sets and story line, and it's definitely a rollercoaster ride of action and suspense.

4. Dr. Strangelove

George C. Scott, Peter Sellers. It's more lighthearted and satirical than most Cold War movies. It's another World War III plot with some humor and definite insanity.

5. On the Beach

Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner. A lone submarine explores survival options after a nuclear war has pretty much ended life on earth. There is an overwhelming futility that you get from watching this. Maybe that was the point.

Honorable mention:

The Road

Viggo Mortensen, Charlize Theron. Although it's never specifically stated in the film that a nuclear war has devastated the Earth, it's implied. This movie is the 'nightmare scenario" of life in the aftermath of some sort of worldwide catastrophe.

ColtSeavers

07-25-16, 16:15

Wargames

Spies Like Us

Can't remember the name of the book (turned into movie) about a submarine that survives nuclear holocost as well as the slow death of surviving people in (I want to say) Australia?

Firefly

07-25-16, 16:16

Threads. I watched it on a rare snowy day, alone. It was beyond depressing.

The Day After. I saw it as a kid and it was pretty depressing.

As the Wind Blows. It is a British cartoon I saw a while back. It was likewise depressing.

Miracle Mile. That was a mind screw.

By Dawn's Early Light. Powers Boothe and James Earl Jones and Rebecca De Mornay when she was worth a damn. It wasn't eerie as much as interesting.

WarGames. Well...enough said.

I give an honorable mention to Team Yankee, that was quite a book. 1980s WWIII Tank combat. I just liked how that one guy went from being a screw up to a hardened killer of Communism.

Firefly

07-25-16, 16:16

ColtSeavers

07-25-16, 16:17

On the Beach
Thank you!

Wow, was even in the op..... my bad.

jmp45

07-25-16, 16:19

Five
The World, The Flesh and the Devil
Panic in the Year Zero

alvincullumyork

07-25-16, 16:23

Mad Max

/thread

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Doc Safari

07-25-16, 16:32

Can't remember the name of the book (turned into movie) about a submarine that survives nuclear holocost as well as the slow death of surviving people in (I want to say) Australia?

On the Beach like everyone said. I'm curious as to whether the book was better than the movie.

titsonritz

07-25-16, 16:37

Fail Safe

ColtSeavers

07-25-16, 16:41

On the Beach like everyone said. I'm curious as to whether the book was better than the movie.

Truth be told I've never seen the movie, only read the book growing up and knew it was also a movie. I actually remember also watching it (or a complete rip-off of it) on TV not too long ago. ETA: Found it: http://m.imdb.com/title/tt0219224/

It still haunts me.

snowdog650

07-25-16, 16:49

Threads.

Without question.

SteyrAUG

07-25-16, 17:06

Check out the 2000 remake of "On The Beach" with Armand Assante and Rachel Ward.

ETA: looks like ColtSeavers has seen it. It was kind of rough. First film since "The Day After" that really made in impact.

As before, "Broken Arrow" sucks, and "Sum of All Fears" is the worst raping of a Clancy novel ever.

I wouldn't really call "Dr. Strangelove" a nuclear nightmare film so much as a dark comedy. Loved "Spies Like Us", great Cold War comedy and Vanessa Angel was stunning.

War Games scared me a little because around the same time it was actually done.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/11/tech/computer-hacker-essay-414s/

chuckman

07-25-16, 17:10

Doc Safari

07-25-16, 17:12

As before, "Broken Arrow" sucks, and "Sum of All Fears" is the worst raping of a Clancy novel ever.

I wouldn't really call "Dr. Strangelove" a nuclear nightmare film so much as a dark comedy. Loved "Spies Like Us", great Cold War comedy and Vanessa Angel was stunning.

I guess I shouldn't have included Broken Arrow as a nuclear nightmare movie: it's more action adventure with a nuke theme. The first time I saw it I had been reading up on some real nuclear close calls and the movie just put a lump in my throat. Once again you are totally wrong that it sucks, though. It's been one of my favorite movies since it came out. And I"m not a John Woo or John Travolta fan by any means.

I included Dr. Strangelove because I thought the satire did nothing to negate the frightening undercurrent that this could really spiral out of control and result in a nuclear showdown. Maybe I reacted that way because I saw it as a teenager and that was the first time I'd really thought of such a thing. For some reason, I could really see the politicians being so stupid as to let things get all the way to pushing the buttons and launching the bombers. THAT aspect still sends chills up my spine: that our nuclear arsenal is basically in the hands of people who aren't any better than the average person.

Since I've never read a Clancy novel, I can't argue the point that Sum of All Fears is not like the book. I'm judging it solely on the movie's merits.

Doc Safari

07-25-16, 17:14

Special Bulletin. Shit kept me up at night for days. About terrorists bringing a nuke aboard a boat in Charleston harbor, the Dept of Energy guys couldn't diffuse it, and BOOM!!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Bulletin

I remember that one. I should have included that one. I would not be a bit surprised if that one actually happens in the near future.

Firefly

07-25-16, 17:34

One I forgot to mention was Testament.

It's a very slow movie but once it reels you in, it's pretty sad.

The only thing you see is a flash and one of those EAS alerts. Then the EMP. So this woman and her kids try to make do but the fallout sends radiation to their town killing the very young and very old.

Another one was this old Twilight Zone remake. This woman discovers she can stop time. She's harried and overworked. So she stops time and takes it easy before resuming time.

Then one night, air raid sirens go off, the news guy says "Oh no...this is it. We're all gonna die!" her kids run screaming into her room and she huddles them with her husband preparing to die and she screams "Time Out".

Time stops and she goes outside to see a missile just about to fall.

So....now everything is frozen and once she restarts time, it's going to blow.

Doc Safari

07-25-16, 17:35

Speaking of EMP movies: has anyone seen Amerigeddon?

The_War_Wagon

07-25-16, 18:48

Special Bulletin. Shit kept me up at night for days. About terrorists bringing a nuke aboard a boat in Charleston harbor, the Dept of Energy guys couldn't diffuse it, and BOOM!!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Bulletin

It was good stuff - I was 16 then, and the Commies were on their last gasp - made for great theater.

Red Dawn was also post nuclear - we just didn't SEE any of the warheads going off!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Qc8jJ0TjSY

ColtSeavers

07-25-16, 18:50

Testament, I think I might have seen that one. When the white flash/blast goes off, is the family huddled together in their living room? I remember that scene (as well as some others) from a movie but can't place them together (if they even go together).

Amerigeddon, I have not seen it myself.

Alex V

07-25-16, 19:07

The Divide

Because of this movie I am no longer allowed to pick what we watch with our friends on movie night. :-(

SomeOtherGuy

07-25-16, 19:53

Film: A Boy and His Dog. Apparently based on a short story by Harlan Ellison, I've only seen the 70's film. It's a low budget, seriously warped and depressing film. Has some interesting perspectives, such as women being in short supply because they were in cities that got nuked, while men were away with the military and more of them survived. It's weird.

Not a film but worth mentioning: Fire Lance by David Mace. This is a novel that's apparently out of print - it came out in 1986 and apparently was last printed in 1989. Somewhat like Tom Clancy, good cold war fiction. Seriously depressing but doesn't seem unrealistic. Some of its predictions of military tech seem to be coming true.

https://www.amazon.com/Fire-Lance-David-Mace/dp/0441235883

Bulletdog

07-25-16, 20:04

How has no one mentioned "The Terminator"?

1. Terminator. Best of the best here.
2. Mad Max. I liked the sequels too. As a teenager I thought Tina Turner was the hottest 50 year old I'd seen. The first two were just gritty and nasty.
3. War Games. I was learning DOS at the time, and this scenario genuinely scared me.
4. A Boy and His Dog. Quirky, but it really stuck with me.
5. The Road. Seems the most "real" as least as far as my imagination can carry me. The cannibalism aspect is frightening any way you look at it.

SteyrAUG

07-25-16, 21:38

I guess I shouldn't have included Broken Arrow as a nuclear nightmare movie: it's more action adventure with a nuke theme. The first time I saw it I had been reading up on some real nuclear close calls and the movie just put a lump in my throat. Once again you are totally wrong that it sucks, though. It's been one of my favorite movies since it came out. And I"m not a John Woo or John Travolta fan by any means.

It sucks.

I included Dr. Strangelove because I thought the satire did nothing to negate the frightening undercurrent that this could really spiral out of control and result in a nuclear showdown. Maybe I reacted that way because I saw it as a teenager and that was the first time I'd really thought of such a thing. For some reason, I could really see the politicians being so stupid as to let things get all the way to pushing the buttons and launching the bombers. THAT aspect still sends chills up my spine: that our nuclear arsenal is basically in the hands of people who aren't any better than the average person.

Great movie, just not terrifying.

Since I've never read a Clancy novel, I can't argue the point that Sum of All Fears is not like the book. I'm judging it solely on the movie's merits.

In the book, Islamic terrorists find the lost Israeli nuke. Changing the protagonists to neo nazis was just insulting, especially since it was not long after 9-11. And part of this was due to two years of lobbying by CAIR crying about Muslim "bad guys" in movies.

SteyrAUG

07-25-16, 21:41

The Divide

Because of this movie I am no longer allowed to pick what we watch with our friends on movie night. :-(

I actually sorta liked that one. Had flaws, but still decent.

Firefly

07-25-16, 21:55

Keepimg with the theme of sorts....the Dead Zone was kind of morbid.

What would you do to prevent a nuclear launch?

Same with Crimson Tide. Technically both Denzel and Gene Hackman were right AND wrong.

Speaking of Denzel, I loved Book of Eli. Saw it in theatres, have it on Blu Ray.
It was far more uplifting than The Road. I could only watch The Road one time.

But at the end when they are printing new copies of the Bible, it is uplifting.

Whether one is religious or not, religion can be used to form cults and control people. But if everyone has a Bible they can decide for themselves.

And that one line where he says "People kill each other now for things we used to throw away"

duece71

07-25-16, 23:54

The day after, terminator, the book "one second after" by William fortschen. It's a book about an EMP strike on the US. Quite chilling detail about the unraveling of society. Mad max of course.

Vandal

07-26-16, 00:35

The movie was alright but The Sum Of All Fears book has stuck with me. Otherwise 13 hours, based on the Cuban Missile Crisis is a favorite for me too. I think they did a good job of showing just how close it was.

Endur

07-26-16, 00:56

Not all will necessarily be nightmarish.

In no particular order:

- Terminator 1 & 2
- Mad Max series
- The Book of Eli
- The Road
- The Peacemaker (I do not like Clooney at all but this is a decent movie)
- Broken Arrow (Cliché Hollywood action but an entertaining movie)

Honorable mention:
- 24 (Not a movie but still awesome for the impending doom factor)
- Jericho (Another show but still good)

SteyrAUG

07-26-16, 02:10

Moose-Knuckle

07-26-16, 04:46

Here you go . . .

The quintessential SHTF movie & television thread. . . (https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?84164-The-quintessential-SHTF-movie-amp-television-thread)

It's been a while since I updated it, seen many more since the last time.

Alex V

07-26-16, 06:15

I actually sorta liked that one. Had flaws, but still decent.

I liked it too but my friend's wife was horrified lol. So my movie picking privelages have been revoked.

Eurodriver

07-26-16, 06:56

2. The Peacemaker

George Clooney, Nicole Kidman. A Russian general sells a nuke on the black market to extremists. This one has more action than Sum of All Fears, with several cliffhanger moments.

Absolutely #1 favorite movie of all time.

Came out right when some Yugoslavians moved in next door and I would sit in my backyard with binos in camouflage at night pretending I was doing espionage. (I should point out here that I am nowhere near as old as most of you...)

Of course, one day they saw me, and we've been friends ever since. Kako si?

vigilant2

07-26-16, 07:28

chuckman

07-26-16, 07:54

Easily"Threads". Can't believe no one mentioned"By Dawn's Early Light" in my opinion one of the most tense realistic nuclear war movies, particularly from the military standpoint.
I thought" The Sum of All Fears" was a joke , terribly disappointed.

I stand corrected, Firefly mentioned"By Dawn's Early Light".

I had to read the Wiki page about "By Dawn's Early Light." I remember it now, and I recall it was very, very chilling. I remember the scene with James Earl Jones looking out the cockpit window at the pilot of the other aircraft as they get ready to ram each other.

No.6

07-26-16, 21:06

Not a nightmare, but definitely tense: The Bedford Incident

Whiskey_Bravo

07-26-16, 23:26

I liked it too but my friend's wife was horrified lol. So my movie picking privelages have been revoked.

I actually liked this movie as well. I was lucky though, my wife picked the movie. If I would have I never would have heard the end of it.

chuckman

07-27-16, 07:59

Not a nightmare, but definitely tense: The Bedford Incident

I just saw that a couple months ago, for the first time. Kind of a cross between The Caine Mutiny (with the paranoid, hated captain) and Catch 22. It was a good movie, came out at the height of the Cold War (which I am sure made everyone feel comfortable).