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The Day After

Play trailer Poster for The Day After 1983 2h 6m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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86% Tomatometer 14 Reviews 69% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings
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 (Jason Robards) maintains his busy schedule at the hospital, Denise Dahlberg prepares for her upcoming wedding, and Stephen Klein (Steve Guttenberg) 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.

Critics Reviews

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Jay Cocks TIME Magazine 11/22/2023
Under all the furor, spontaneous or manufactured, and the high urgency, real or prefabricated just for the premiere, is the film, a frail vessel indeed to bear the fate of mankind. Go to Full Review Tom Shales Washington Post 11/22/2023
The Day After will upset people. It ought to. Go to Full Review Scott Rosenberg Boston Phoenix 11/22/2023
It blends right in with the surrounding mediocrities on the TV schedule; and once you let it into your living room, it will turn off the lights, block the exits, and proceed to dismember your psychological defenses. Go to Full Review Chris Cobb Ottawa Citizen 11/22/2023
It is, in a contemporary sense, the most important theatrical program to be shown on commercial television. Go to Full Review Bill Carter Baltimore Sun 11/22/2023
To ask whether The Day After is a "good movie" is to ask a pointless question. Good and bad are not at issue here. The operative adjectives are "chilling," "disturbing," "depressing." Go to Full Review Marc Gunther Hartford Courant 11/22/2023
Remarkable television. Watching it is an unsettling, upsetting and uncomfortable experience. But, even if you rarely watch TV watch this. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Samuel B @SamWiseBeardy 10h As far as quality goes The Day After is pretty good. It has a clear compelling story and it avoids the cheesy writing and acting of other disaster movies. Jason Robard’s performance as Dr. Oakes, a man who lost everything but is still trying to run a hospital, is especially fantastic. However it may be the most depressing two hours in cinematic history. The pace is painfully slow and there’s no resolution or any kind of optimism to be seen. I know that’s the whole point of the movie and it’s meant to be a warning not entertainment, but 35 years after the Cold War has ended it no longer invokes the same emotion in did upon release. See more EMPEROR P @moviecritic503 Dec 30 this was a national event at the time a very good movie watched this when i was very young truly terrifying one of the best of that genre only bested by Threads 1983 See more Laura B 01/26/2025 The Day After is one of the best nuclear fallout films, and even by today’s standards it still packs a punch. The horror and terror of this Film is sure to leave a lasting impact on anyone who watches it, even those not worried about the effects of a nuclear fallout. The Day After has dazzling effects, Horrifying imagery, and some of the scariest scenes in any non- horror movie. See more hardy c 12/25/2024 The Reaganauts tried mightily in 1983 to derail this so-so film from being seen by the American public who would be the ones destroyed by a nuclear war with the USSR. But kudos to ABC for at least making the consequences of such a war (which many White House kooks insisted was somehow "winnable") palpable to a benumbed populace. As horrific as the film was, in actuality things would be much much worse. And yet we still have done nothing to remove the potential for such fiction to become grim reality. See more Thomas W @Enigma0999 08/15/2024 shows the lunacy of nuclear war at that time and gives a very realistic account. See more mark h 05/07/2024 Excellent movie. Its like Bethesda took a lot of inspiration from it to create the Fallout universe. Very good movie and stands up well for being 40 years old. See more Read all reviews
The Day After

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Cast & Crew

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Nicholas Meyer

Director

Jason Robards

Dr. Russell Oakes

JoBeth Williams

Nurse Nancy Bauer

John Cullum

Jim Dahlberg

John Lithgow

Joe Huxley

William Allen Young

Airman Billy McCoy

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The Day After

The Day After (1983) The Day After (1983) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis 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 (Jason Robards) maintains his busy schedule at the hospital, Denise Dahlberg prepares for her upcoming wedding, and Stephen Klein (Steve Guttenberg) 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.
Director
Nicholas Meyer
Producer
Robert Papazian
Screenwriter
Edward Hume
Production Co
ABC Circle Films
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (TV)
Nov 20, 1983
Runtime
2h 6m