The world became aware of possibility of thermonuclear war when the Soviets successfully detonated an A-Bomb during 1949. With the arms race getting intensified, the paranoia and the fear were ramped up and things turned turbulent. Convinced that a nuclear war could commence anytime, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists started publishing Doomsday Clock, its quarterly, which offered a field day to Hollywood directors. Disasters movie offer a great collection at the box office and nuclear war would certainly fetch more recognition than the boring flood or earthquake ones.
Filmmakers were pondering about possible effects of nuclear exchange by 1951. Here is a timeline of nuclear war movies that hit the box office since then and have received worldwide acclaim for the message that they carry.
Five [1951]
Five [1951]
The story revolves around a group of survivors of an atomic war who ponder over future, present and past after straggling their way to a coastline in California.
Day the World Ended [1955]
Day the World Ended [1955]
This movie went into production a couple of minutes later it was reported that Stalin had a hydrogen bomb. The movie featured mutated monsters menacing handful of survivors On the Beach [1959] This is a science fiction based on aftermath of a Nuclear war.
Fail Safe [1964]
Fail Safe [1964]
This is a Cold War thriller movie which portrays account of a nuclear crisis. The movie revolves around the tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union which lead to an accidental thermonuclear strike.
Dr. Strangelove[1964]
Dr. Strangelove [1964]
This is a political satire black comedy which revolves around the nuclear conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union.Future War 198X [1982] This is a Japanese fiction movie based on the war novel The Third World War: The Untold Story.
The Day After [1983]
The Day After [1983]
This is a television film aired during 1983 and which was viewed by more than 100 million people. The film revolves around a fictional war between the Warsaw Pact and the NATO forces which escalates into a nuclear exchange between the Soviet Union and the United States.
Threads [1984]
Threads is a British Television Drama written by Barry Hines. It documents account of nuclear war and its aftermath on the city of Sheffield, Northern England. The plot revolves around two families when confrontation between Soviet Union and the United States breaks out.
Dead Man’s Letters [1986]
Dead Man’s Letters [1986]
This is a science fiction film with plot set in the town in which a nuclear war was caused due to failure of an operator to prevent the launch of a missile. The town gets polluted and destroyed with radioactive elements. The main character is played by a Nobel Prize winner who helps a small group of children and adults by staying in a basement of a former museum of history. Eventually he dies in the movie with the disappointment that science could lead to such a massive disaster.
The Sacrifice [1986]
The Sacrifice [1986]
This movie raises several philosophical questions about the futility of war, the state of mankind and the selfless love for family of an individual amidst nuclear attack
The Fourth Protocol [1987]
The Fourth Protocol [1987]
This movie revolves around a British agent who has been assigned the task of preventing the Russians from detonating a nuclear bomb next to an American army base camp in the UK
Fail Safe [2000]
Fail Safe [2000]
This movie is all about the tension building during a period when a US bomber gets an accidental order of dropping a nuclear bomb on Moscow
Mad Max Fury Road [2015]
Mad Max Fury Road [2015]
The movie begins after a nuclear holocaust has rendered the world into a desert wasteland collapsing the civilisation. The movie is based on survival theme after an apocalypse.
Author: Morning Napalm
I am a nuclear-themed movie fanatic and I have probably watched every single movie based on this theme. This does not imply that this is the end of everything. Every day there is something or the other discussed in the media pertaining to the use of nuclear weapons and this further propels a movie director to come up with an interesting concept surrounding the topic.