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Threads [1984]


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Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review

Hideously plausible when first broadcast in 1984, this BBC TV docu-drama now seems like a terrifying might-have-been, although a great deal of what it says about the probable aftermath of a nuclear attack remains horribly pertinent. Scripted by Barry Hines (author of the novel on which Ken Loach's Kes was based) and directed by Mick Jackson (who later went to Hollywood with The Bodyguard and Volcano), at the time Threads seemed like a response to the American TV movie The Day After although it stands nobly on its own. Showing the after-effects of World War III on the United Kingdom by concentrating on two Sheffield families linked by an unplanned pregnancy, it illustrates the scientific, political, medical and social consequences of the severing of the many vital connective "threads" that support a Western society. Grim in a particularly 1980s way, this is a compulsive if uncomfortable watch and accomplishes a great deal without the distraction of spectacle, picking through all the melted milk bottles and firing squad traffic wardens to find the human horror at the heart of it all. --Kim Newman


Threads in our web of interdependency
Review date: 2008-10-22 Rating: 10 out of 10

This film is incredibly well made. The TV news reports in the early stage of the film build an atmosphere of inevitability, to the point where you're expecting the two-minute warning to happen at any time. The participants of the "underground administration" leaving their families adds to the foreboding. The imagery of the attack is quite shocking; in itself it demonstrates the horrors of nuclear war's collateral damage in a brutal and authentic manner.

I don't think the point of the film ends there. Right at the beginning, the narrative outlines the complex relationships between people, products and services in the context of industrial society. "A web of dependencies, connected by fragile threads". Having read material about the collapse of complex societies, this struck a chord.

The nuclear war provides the catalyst for societal collapse; the efforts of the unprepared "underground administration" being the last-ditch attempt to maintain an overall authority. When it dies, it's just down to the armed police on the streets.

The scenario seems to assume that civilisation across the whole world is lost, as there are no aid efforts from anywhere else. The survivors have to fend for themselves, with very little in the way of technology or communications to help. It's this aspect of the film that I found gripping, because nuclear war is not the only catalyst for societal collapse.

With our civilisation being utterly dependent on the plentiful supply of cheap nonrenewable fuels, whose availability is diminishing, this film is as relevant as ever, nuclear war or not. Check out Heinberg's book "The Party's Over", Diamond's book "Collapse", or the DVD, "End of Suburbia", for more insight.


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Reviews


Best Horror Film of All Time?
Review date: 2008-09-16 Rating: 10 out of 10

There will be a re-release of this film in 2009, digitally remastered with extras including behind the scenes photo stills contributed by film crew and members of the public who played extras, also a 'How they Blew Up the old Sheffiled City Council Headquaters featurete!

Other news - the film and the story is to be re-booted with a biological weapon storyline replacing the Nuclear one, due for limited cinema release in 2010. The new film will also be shot in South Yorkshire in a realtime 24hour style format. Well, is was only a question of time wasn't it?

The team who brought us 'The Last Train' are involved and private pre-release press that I found on a certain website states that it will be more scary than the original! We'll see!

NOTHING can prepare you for this film
Review date: 2008-08-31 Rating: 10 out of 10

I read all the reviews with the idea of softening the impact of this film, as I am one of those of nervous disposition, but I needn't have bothered. I have watched bloodfest films before now, Freddie Kruger etc. That was nasty, but not real. What makes Threads so horrific is that it could be real, and it nearly was in the 80s. The thing that stood out for me was the sound of the siren. I heard it for days after.When I watched the strike I reacted physically; I felt faint, I shook, I felt sick. But I am glad I watched it. Word of warning - DONT watch it at night, dont watch it if you suffer from OCD or depression, and yes, read the reviews, because it wont shield you from the horror of the film, but you will feel that you are not alone in your feelings of sheer fear and horror when you do watch it.

Possibly the bleakest vision of mankind's future
Review date: 2008-07-01 Rating: 10 out of 10

Just a couple of points to add to the the other excellent reviews...

1. The special effects department used photos of Hiroshima and Nagasaki survivors as the basis for their reconstructions but they had to tone it down for television. Radiation burns look worse in real life.

2. There used to be a book available that predicted casualty figures based on most likely attack patterns. Liverpool was demmed to be the best place to live in the event of nuclear war because its inhabitants had only a 0.04% chance of serious injury. This was because they had a 99.96% chance of immediate death.

SCARY STUFF
Review date: 2008-06-05 Rating: 10 out of 10

Even though this film is over 20 years old, the realisation of a total nuclear bomb strike on Great Britain and the effects of the aftermath are extremely realistic and scary. I watched this film with my Mum when it first came out and I was terrified. I recently purchased this DVD when it came out. I didn't think it would still scare me but it does. Much more realistic than the tamed down American version ''The Day After''. Set in Sheffield it keys the events leading up to the attack and around the lives of 2 families and a bunch of Council workers and how they all deal with events before and after the attack. Not for the faint hearted.

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Reece Dinsdale
Rita May
Karen Meagher
Nicholas Lane
David Brierly

Creators:
Karen Meagher (Primary Contributor)
Reece Dinsdale (Primary Contributor)
Andrew Dunn (Cinematographer)
Paul Morris (Cinematographer)
Mick Jackson (Producer)
Graham Massey (Producer)
John Purdie (Producer)
Peter Wolfes (Producer)
Barry Hines (Writer)

Director(s):

Recording label: Cinema Club
Manufacturer: Cinema Club
EAN: 5014138302177
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: PAL,
Release date: 2005-09-05
Number of discs: 1
Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
Audience rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 112 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1984
Language: English (Subtitles For The Hearing Impaired)
Language: English (Original Language)

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