The Day After

The Day After (1983)

Timing: 2:7 (127 min)

6.768/10
428

6.857/10
5296

7/10
20000

All about film

Video 0

Photo 6

Actors and characters

Release date

1983-11-20

Country

United States

Production

ABC Circle Films

Genre

Science Fiction, Drama, TV Movie

Budget

$0

Revenue

$0

Website

Director

Nicholas Meyer

Actors

Jason Robards, JoBeth Williams, Steve Guttenberg, John Cullum, John Lithgow, Bibi Besch, Lori Lethin, Amy Madigan, Jeff East, Georgann Johnson
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Edward Hume

Producer

Robert Papazian

Operator

Gayne Rescher

Composer

David Raksin

Artist

Audition

Ross Brown, Hank McCann

Editing

William Paul Dornisch, Paul Dixon, Robert Florio
All team (52)

• During the period of détente between the USSR and the USA (May-June 1987), the film "The Day After" was shown on Soviet Central Television (TsTV) in the same thematic block as the Soviet film "Letters from a Dead Man." Both films were shown after the "Time" news program (the American film on the first day, "Letters..." on the second), that is, during prime time.
• The film is quite realistic, but the scale and consequences of the disaster are nevertheless minimized, as stated in the text during the end credits.
• In 2013, the National Geographic channel, in a series of programs called "The 80s," mentioned, when describing the film as a significant event of the 1980s, that at least three directors had refused to participate in filming the film from a completed screenplay before Nicolas Meyer. They stated that they were not prepared to film such a horrific film.
• There is a documentary film in the USA called "First Strike," which tells about the possible beginning of World War III and actively uses footage of American military personnel from "The Day After."
• Nicolas Meyer clashed so frequently with censors and the US government regarding the film's content, especially the scenes of violence, that he left the project during editing and requested that his name be removed from the credits. He eventually returned, but vowed never to work in television again.
• Considering that breaking all the windows during an explosion and then replacing them all would be too wasteful, many windows were simply covered with black paper to give the impression that they were broken.
• Producers managed to obtain footage of test launches of the Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile. The Ministry of Defense prohibited the use of footage of the nuclear 'mushroom cloud' after the explosion, so the mushroom-shaped clouds were the result of work by visual effects specialists.
• The tank in which they created the mushroom cloud after a nuclear explosion was once used in the filming of the 1982 science fiction film 'Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan,' which was also directed by Nicholas Meyer. Dyes and other liquids were slowly poured into the tank, stirred, and filmed in slow motion.
• Some scenes with special effects, the creation of which was planned according to the original script, were never filmed because the film's duration had to be cut from four hours to two and a half. These included scenes of a nuclear explosion in Lawrence, Kansas, shown from a bird's-eye view, and an exchange of nuclear strikes between NATO and the Warsaw Pact countries in Germany.
• Having secured the full support of the city administration of Lawrence, Kansas, the filmmakers transformed the city for several weeks into the ruins and wastelands left after a nuclear war. Windows were smashed in shops in the city center, burnt-out car hulks were placed along the streets, the streets themselves were covered with garbage and debris, and large tent camps were built for survivors on the riverbanks. Over 2,000 residents of Lawrence (including students) acted as extras, each paid $50 on the condition that they shave their heads and portray someone dying of radiation sickness. To add authenticity to the footage, the extras were asked not to wash for a while.
• Director Nicholas Meyer wanted to cast actors completely unknown to the audience. The only one the audience knew was Jason Robards. Amy Madigan and Steve Guttenberg, who starred in Meyer's film, later became popular actors.