Missile Excerpts from the TV Movie "The Day After"
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- Опубліковано 11 вер 2021
- While not completely accurate in technical approach, the failure of the deterrence mission was shown in the made for ABC TV movie "The Day After" that premiered on 20 Nov 1983. The movie used scenes from the film "First Strike" to show the USAF detection and response to an ICBM attack against the U.S.
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I spent 4 years in SAC as a Minuteman II launch crew commander back in the 70s. This depiction of the launch actions is very accurate. Of course, they left out some of the classified details in processing the message, but, all in all, this was very accurate. Several times EVERY DAY we got coded Emergency Action Messages (EAM) that could have been real execution messages for nuclear war. As others have mentioned, we did NOT know whether these were tests/training messages until we had competed decoding and authentication procedures. That was the real test of your nerves. You never knew. I am sometimes asked if the launch crews would obey the execution messages. The answer is an unqualified YES. If the message turned out to be a valid and authentic message, keys would be turned. We believed that the EAMs would not be transmitted unless the U.S. was under attack and the sooner we got our missiles off the ground the sooner we could stop any further incoming attacks. While I count that as a valuable experience in my life, I do not miss the stress.
Thank you for your service!
I too thank you for your service. I was in AF ROTC for 1 year and at least one guy had a "missile slot" upon graduation. One thing I never got an answer to. Say you DID turn the keys - the missiles fly - and your site was NOT hit. You can get out. What are your orders? Did you have any training on infrastructure repair? Training on water filtration or food gathering? I would think that one of those would be the number 1 requirement after the "unthinkable" occurred.
Damn. Just wandering how long would it have taken from a real 'EAM' to the missiles going off, 5 minutes, 10, 15?
You lucky man! Was one of my dream jobs growing up.
Spent a few years in the Minot AFB Command Post in North Dakota, mostly controlling the squadron of alert B52s and KC135 tankers. When on duty, was the one to receive the message and decode it so we could launche the planes, if needed. What you see is what we practiced a few times a year. Never had to do it for real but was prepared to. Enjoyed my time in SAC. The highlight of my career! Was the first NCO certified as an Emergency Actions Controller in history at Minot AFB, ND, in the 80s.
These scenes still give me chills 40 years later
Pulled SAC alert for many years. Watching this always gives me the chills. We had exercises that you did not know if they were real or not until you decoded the message. The relief felt when messages were decoded can't be explained. B-52 Instructor Tail Giunner.
Thank you for your service. I can't imagine the terror you felt while listening for what might well be a launch alert.
I was part of the USAFE NATO nuclear strike commitment in The Netherlands 1997-2001. Those EAMs will get the blood pumping. I was at Andrews AFB during 9/11/2001 and we had 15 real world EAMs in under 5 minutes.
Glad you were there, elder. Those communist bastards knew better than to mess with our boys.
was at Ofutt AFB Neb. on 9-11. was told to drop trailer at the dock and unass the base. Had an SP escort all the way out. Never did find out who picked up the tlr or when.
may I ask you what were your orders after you did "the job"?
I was in college when this movie was shown on TV, I clearly remember watching it with my friends. The scariest part for me were these scenes. Imagine watching those missiles being launched, knowing that WWIII had started and return missiles were on their way towards us. I got the chills
How foolish we are to have such psychopaths as our leaders... our politicians are supposed to serve the people not hold them for ransom.
I live about 10 minutes from Langley AFB in Hampton Virginia. I was once asked what would I do. I said if I have time I am going to get as close to the Air Combat Command HQ building as I can and bring some beer. I have ZERO desire to live in a post-nuclear war America.
@@THE-michaelmyers Michael, I’ll join you my friend, I feel the same way. Could you make mine a Sprite please, I don’t drink alcohol…then again, there would never be a better time to start.
@@sdcoinshooter Maybe it is too late. It should be better to drink now!
We must be realists. Russia will never give up in Ukraine due to some very important geographic and historical reasons. This war is an existential war to the Russians. It has no "spiritual" relation, say, to the US Vietnam war or the Soviet war in Afghanistan and other cold war conflicts. They will never give up in this case. We need to cope with the possibility of a 10 years long war in Europe on the borders of NATO (and the USA). It will be an unreliable situation even to our (until today...) well succeeded philosophy of self deterrent thermonuclear weapons. This is a totally new situation.
Brasil
I was about 13 years old when I watched this the first nights it aired. Later, I was in the service and they wanted to send me to nuclear artillery school. Yes, there is such a thing.
This was terrifying as a kid in the 80s. I remember my parents deciding to let us watch it as a family so we could understand the importance of it. All that was talked about in school the entire week was this movie. They brought counselors in and everything to talk to classrooms. Crazy times
For sure. My parents wouldn't let me and my brothers watch it. So, I watched it at a neighbors house when my friend invited me to sleep over. My parents were right, they said I'd get nightmares and I did. This movie is still spooky. It's especially sobering that there's still a threat of this happening. It used to be a real concern that people talked about. Now it seems it's forgotten about since the iron curtain fell.
@@TheDesertRat31 In the 1980s, the combined nuclear arsenal was over 66 000 warheads, split between tactical battlefield/force and strategic force and city targetted weapons. Due to SALT and other negotiations, the global nuclear arsenal has reduced to about 14 000. This is still devastating, but not as terrifying as the unstable years of 1983-7. Be thankful - but be active to prevent this ever becoming reality.
Looks like we are talking about it again. Things are going back to a new Cold War with current administration.
Yep same for me. This movie was much more frightening to me than any horror film.
We all watched it as a family and afterwards we discussed the film. My Father being ex Royal Air Force told us of the possibility of such a war. This was 1984 and during the Cold War. Both Regan and Gorbachev watched this film and the British film Threads.
I just watched this and I feel sick. I live in the Kansas City area. I remember driving by those missile silos north of Warrensburg. Those particular ones have been decommissioned since the movie came out. The movie shows Kansas City incinerated and I was living in Kansas City when the movie came out. It had an extraordinary impact on us. Dear God, I hope none of this happens for real.
Wow, that sounds so scary to see your city/town in this movie! I hope nothing of the sort happens like this as well. But i dont hold much hope for the sanity of our leaders!
I was stationed there.. lived in Warrensburg.
I lived in KC at the time too. Scared the crap out of me.
I lived in Joplin and was going to college there at the time and my German Class went up to KC the day after this was shown. It was a pretty surreal experience riding our bus up there and back. The real creepy time was when we went by the old mining areas north of Joplin which are desolate gravel fields and piles of mine tailings. my German teacher, who had survived the bombing of Stuttgart during WW II remarked "It looks like the Day After." It wasn't the first time I felt that feeling. NBC had shown a special news documentary during the SALT talks in the 1970's featuring the Whitman missile field. US Intelligence estimated that each of the 150 silos in the field would receive two 20 Megaton warheads. That's 300 20 Megaton warheads going off. Missouri would be a plain of solid radioactive glass for millennia. The Day After was not gruesome enough. It would have been far worse if it actually had happened.
This movie, as well as the British "Threads" count for me among the short list of movies that can not possibly be watched twice. They are so well done, so terrifying and upsetting that they need only one watch to convey their extremely powerful message...
I’d just gotten out of the Army when this movie came out. For those of us in the military at that time, this was the reality we faced daily.
We faced this reality until the Soviet Union collapsed. I joined the Army in 87, got out in 98
Our targets on the M-16 ranges were little green men with red stars. We all thought one day it would happen
I do miss the Cold War,,,
@@marshalltravis3217at least things were predictable and stable.
The most terrifing movie of my childhood.
I was 15 when the day after aired in LATE 1983...it was a terrifying movie for ALL of us kids growing up in the 80's.
Check out the movie 'Threads' if you haven't already done so. Another terrifying flick on nuclear holocaust.
This was maybe the most scary but important film ever. Todays youth should watch.
There was a U.K. film called “Threads”. You should watch that one. A U.K. based film from 1984.
Then you should UA-cam “Protect and Survive” a government information film from 1976. The accompanying document is available on line. A 1986 cartoon, “When the Wind Blows” is very much another film worth watching.
There is always “A turtle called Bert” who will teach you to “Duck & Cover”.
All liberal women cheering for Ukraine should watch. Only the sight of their own annihilation will make their hysteria subside. Sadly
Today's youth wouldn't understand, big generation gap homie
Today’s youth are worried about the very real threat of getting shot in their classroom every day. They know real fear on a level folks over 40 never will.
Todays youth are making nuclear war videos on TikTok with rock music soundtracks!
When this movie came out I was in the Navy. Stationed at a sub repair facility. Slept just feet away from nuclear weapons. It was taken very seriously the work we were doing.
sorry for my ignorance about the subject, but what if the commandant of the vessel decided himself to launch that nuclear missile?
One man can’t launch nukes.
On submarines, it’s five men, including the captain who have to decode the launch messages and agree they’re valid.
If one man disagrees, the weapons don’t go.
thank u@@StrayCatOrwell
The Cold War was anything but "cold." We are again on the brink of a nuclear exchange with our nemesis the old Soviet Union alive and well in President Vladimir Putin. I appreciate your service Shipmate.
@@Travis1.980no! Excellent question. Thanks for asking.
I remember watching this movie the first time it was aired. I worked 3 rd shift back then and had to leave for work just after the movie finished. I remember standing outside on a beautiful fall night being so happy that all the horrors that the movie portrayed hadn’t happened and everything was ok..
Yes I don't think people today realise what it was like to live under the cloud of WW3, to be honest it has only receded, but it was a psychological burden to live with the threat when the Soviet Union was still an entity & the cold war was at it's height.
@@davidlittle7418
Sounds like you suffered mentally from what you referred to as the psychological burden of the cold war. You must of lived an isolated life with nothing else to focus on other than getting you tail blown off. What a wimp, lol
These official Air force personal following procedures, the scramble to the B-52, all of it makes the reality of what's about to take place all that more TERRIFYING
Yes, but more than likely after the church is removed.
The SAC scenes except for the crew outside the silo were filmed as part of a SAC dramatization in 1978. It's use in The Day After was VERY effective.
It was unauthorized I'm sure, but when my husband was an OCS instructor he would open the block on Nuclear Defence by showing the attack portion of this from the scene just before the alert to when the attack is over and the fallout is coming down. He said it never failed to produce a very shocked and attentive class.
My dad was given a ride by a guy after his car was destroyed in the tornado of 75 in Omaha, and they got to talking about how he'd just moved from New York. My dad grimly joked "Prime target number one." The guy replied "Son, you just moved to prime target number one," in reference to Offutt. While I'm sure that Cheyenne might've been a bigger target, it probably really didn't matter all that much in the end.
I lived just a few miles from Offutt. I remember asking my Mom about it. Both she and my Dad explained it wouldn't matter because we would never know in reference that we would be dead.
@@crkelle it doesn't matter any more. They have enough missiles to hit all our cities three or four times plus the missiles area too.
When my dad retired from the US Army in 83, we moved to Omaha because this is where my folks grew up. So my seventh and eighth grades, plus high school had me wondering more than a few times as I went to sleep whether or not I would wake up the next morning or if it was all going to end in a fireball that night. It was an interesting feeling to have.
I also remember when I believe it was Channel 6 had a simulation about Omaha getting hit by a nuclear warhead as you see a mushroom cloud behind the Woodman tower. That was nightmare fuel all by itself even before "The Day After" aired.
@@darrellhall6622 While you are right, they dont have the means to send more than 80 at a first strike. (according to a discussion thread on TDLR Europe News; and said by people who suggest they have professional knowledge) Obviously, take everything with a grain of salt! but by how incompetent the Russian military has looked thus far, and by some accounts of people I KNOW personally who served in Russian military, it is likely fairly accurate.
I was always told Cincinnati, Ohio was a prime nuclear weapons target because of the General Electric (jet engines) and Cincinnati Milacron (machine tools) plants.
I can still remember watching this move when I was 12. It gave me goosebumps back then and it just gave me goosebumps watching it today as a 52 year old man. I hope and pray to God this never happens.
Exactly same for me.
Same. Stressed me out.
Same for me. Even, when I was a kid, I had nightmares about that..
I was 18 and expecting my oldest child when I saw the movie. I was sick for weeks and even sicker when my son was born. Praying nothing like this would ever happen. Now, I'm a grandmother, and praying it never happens.
Fun fact: Nicholas Meyer claims he suffered severe flu-like symptoms throughout the making of this film. When doctors could find no reason for his illness, they eventually determined that Meyer was actually suffering from severe clinical depression, which Meyer attributes to having to face the horrors of nuclear war in such depth.
Well, if he'd have been able to play the fallout games he woulda known nuclear war is a lot of fun and you can walk around with a big iron on your hip looting mail boxes for centuries old boxes of salisbury steak.
I’ve been a registered nurse for 34 years doctors do this all the time when they cannot diagnose or find out what’s wrong with the person they simply say it’s in your head. Most times it is not.
@@Anarchist86ed?
Dude you just making up stuff
@@inthedarkwoods2022 the producers also had to lower the power of the nuclear weapons portrayed ..they said if we went with the real power of the bombs there would not be a story left to tell
That scene with Jason Robards driving on the highway when all the car engines died and then suddenly the distant detonations began, is the scene I always remember most. Quite a movie on the subject of nuclear holocaust for sure. This one and the movie 'Threads' are both frightening examples of nuclear holocaust.
I found that section of Kansas highway on Google Maps. A friend of mine has a farm and from the highest hill on it, there's an air force base you can see in the distance.
@@RideAcrossTheRiver
I believe it was a 4 mile stretch on K-10 between Edgerton Road Exit and the DeSoto Interchange at former K-285 (now Lexington Avenue) that was used for shooting highway scenes representing a mass exodus on interstate 70.
@@TS-wh4ey I think of that scene when I look down at the air force base maybe 15 miles from the farm. I'm sure it's marked for a 500-kT.
@@RideAcrossTheRiver
No doubt all visible military installations are marked targets and if it ever happens at least you'll never know what hit ya and that's probably the best way to go instead of trying to survive the aftermath and suffer a slow agonizing death from nuclear fallout.
If I knew I had about 30 minutes before the detonations begin, I'd probably loot me a case of beer and drive directly to ground zero. Obviously I wouldn't be able to drink the whole case but I'd sure chug a few down before I got blasted. 🤣
@@TS-wh4eyWell, an airburst of 500 kts at 15 miles won't even break your windows, much less a surface burst. If you have a decent shelter and/or what there is of fallout (very little for an airburst) doesn't head your way, you should be fine. Unless of course you happened to look in the wrong direction at the instant of detonation; that would be bad for your eyesight. But in general that attack would be very survivable.
I remember watching this movie as a child. The second half with no commercials, after the blast. It was terrifying as child. And I think its what made GenX cynical "slackers" with the "whatever" attitude. We all expected to die in a fireball before we grew too old.
That might be part of it. I think it also has to do with Gen X attempting to make a difference/change things and being shut down unfortunately.
I was 24 when this movie aired. It really did affect many people and in a positive way. Yet, here we are 40 years later and, perhaps more than ever, facing the same thing.....Have we progressed at all?
I was 15 when I saw it, and I feel the same way you do, man..... . Humanity is led by men that are so used to having nukes around that they forgot all about Hiroshima and Nagasaki. All this stinks to high heaven.
No
Almost, totalitarianism is right on the horizon...I see 'hackable' humans in the near future
Human 2.0
Russia is still an asshole that threatens the rest of us with nuclear death? No Russia has not progressed at all.
Depends on your definition of "progression". If you think we're worse off in terms of all out nuclear war than the cold war, we're not. Putin can saber rattle all he wants but he's not insane. Even if he was all his elite aren't and would stop him before he could start an unwinnable war that would lead to all their and billions of others deaths. Are we at a higher risk of an independent, non state aligned rouge single attack? Maybe...
As horrific and tragic (and hopefully never happens) as that would be...
This is something else entirely.
This movie depressed Reagan so badly he told director Nicholas Meyer that in no small measure that his watching this film played a factor in regards to summit talks with Gorbachev.
Bullshit.
Whoa! Did not know that.
It's a bleak films... Along with it's companion Threads.
More idiots have nukes in 2923 than back then!🙄
Jman
Maybe our current crop of Neo-Cons should also watch this?
I grew up close to a SAC Air Force base and married a Tech Sgt who was stationed there. After he retired we moved back to Spokane and this movie is a grim reminder that there are nuclear missiles all over Airway Heights Washington that could be deployed at anytime. It kind of gives me the willies.
Why would there be nuclear missiles in Airway Heights?
@@slickx45 because Fairchild is located there and it's a SAC base.
@@psychedelicpython The Atlas and Titan I missiles where deactivated in 1965.
It’s pretty incredible to think that there are basically a bunch of underground nuclear tipped rockets 🚀 scattered all over the NW United States. And back in the 80’s they were in the Midwest as well.
Fairchild no longer has missiles. It doesn't even have bombers anymore. The only unit of note at Fairchild these days is 92nd Air Refueling Wing. This could, in theory, still make Fairchild a target in the event of nuclear war, so the bombers at failsafe positions can't refuel, but ICBMs and SLBMs are the bigger threats these days.
Damn. A young John Lithgow.
He had just gotten as Oscar nomination for THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP (ironically, in a role as a transgender woman for which he'd probably get cancelled today).
It's really weird seeing Steve Guttenberg in a dramatic role. In a way, the POLICE ACADEMY movies were the best and worst things that ever happened to him.
Yeah that was john in his salad days.
This video brings back memories of serving in SAC and working around B-52's on the alert pad
we had B-52s in the air constantly for 40 years
OPSEC…!!! OPSEC!!!!!!!!
This movie aired closer in time to the introduction of the B-52 than to 2023. And it's still flying!
I was in West Germany when this came out so I didn't see it on AFN. Our tank unit was about an hour from the Eastern border and we knew exactly where our position was to be in case the "balloon went up." We were basically told to hold the line as long as we could. Hopefully, till the forces got there from the states. Glad we didn't have to test our training but we were ready.
Did you ever hear about 7 Days to the Rhine ?
I wish they’d remake this movie. I think a lot of people today need to see it.
Wouldn't be taken as seriously as back then.
This movie should be remade as a full blown box office movie that goes to theaters. This truly is a movie that every American should watch.
Or read the book.
Combine aspects of this movie with the British version of the movie, Threads. Threads was a more horrific portrayal of a nuclear war.
@@Michael-cf9cj
Exactly. The escalation and launch scenes of The Day After combined with the aftermath of the nuclear exchange in Threads would be definitely a blast. No pun intended.
John lithgow needs to be in it again too
@@TS-wh4ey The best to have is a rerun of the remasterded film, or a TV series.
@@danyleon4870
A mini series, such as a 3 night episode event, would be able to add more content to a realistic story of two superpowers engaging in an all out nuclear exchange. Much more could be added to the breakdown in dialogue and the escalation leading to what finally triggers both sides launching their arsenal. And then more could be added to the detonations and destruction scenes that is what certainly gets the most attention from the viewers. You figure those other movies are decades old now and them detonation scenes were mighty scary then, well imagine the advanced methods that filmmakers have now that could really bring out the horror. And finally there could be even more angles of realistic survival in the aftermath of what's left of a world plunged into nuclear winter. During the launch scene, I'd like to see cruise missiles launching from boomers as much as land based silos. Nevertheless, filmmakers should produce a whole new combined version of them nuclear holocaust movies that were a wake up call to the reality of what it would be like produced decades ago. And now you got 4K Ultra plus QLED and OLED tv that would be an awesome viewing experience.
Went through many simulated missile launches onboard the Polaris submarine I served on. We were even told once that it was not a drill and we carried on with the procedure right up to the point before actually launching our missiles. We were always ready out there and played for keeps.
man, i imagine what passed through your mind when you were told it was not a drill 💀
I was serving on SSBNs when this movie came out. I can confirm your experience that the crew does not always know that it is a drill until a certain step in the launch procedure. Serious business for a bunch of 20-something year old men.
I have a friend that was a Bubblehead for a lot of years. He never talks about this, just about being a mechanic 🛠️ and a drunken sailor.(probably for a diversion)
I have spent most of my life living near prime targets. I am almost 65 years old. Saw this movie when it came out. Bought a copy when I could. Being from a military family I think is different. You live with the possibility of war and death. Like WARSAW pact kicking off in Europe, pouring through the Fulda Gap in Germany. We had drills a couple times a month at school where we would get on the floor under our desks to protect us. Being on base when an alert sounded. Gates closed, no entry or exit. Just sit in your car. Guys running around with their weapons. Sometimes aircraft taking off one after another. When Kennedy was killed my dad came home grabbed his gear disappeared for a few days. It was a way of life. So this movie while entertaining didn't really affect me.
My dad was stationed in Germany (before I was born) when JFK was shot. They got the alert, jumped in their mechanized artillery, and hauled ass for the Czech border. After digging in and watching the border for about a week, they went back to barracks. Can't imagine what he was thinking in that first few minutes....
@@pablod6872 I have read it was a DEFCON 2 alert in Europe. Never asked Dad. They weren't sure if there would be an attack.Better ready than not.
@@pablod6872 Something that isn't really talked about is the posturing between the USN and the Russian Navy during the Yom Kippur war in 1973. Israel was desperate to replace lost equipment and aircraft. Russia tried to stop it by bluffing. Got a little intense briefly. Once the Russian realized their navy lacked effective air support it went quite and resupply continued. That's a good war to study. One thing stands out besides tactics and logistics, the psychology of war.
Think I know what you mean.. I grew up with an Air Force dad, lived on Minot AFB, ND, and spent several years in West Germany with armed guards on our school buses too.
Kind of a strange thing to get used to, living on the potential front line.
Like you John I live at a prime target on Portsmouth England because of the Royal Navy. It is quite a frightening thing to think that we in Portsmouth are no 1 or 2 targets for President Putins Nuclear Missiles. Twice a year the Nuclear Sirens get tested in the dockyard and believe me my friend it is quite an eerie sound.
Approximately the 5:00 mark, great shot of a ripple launch of a pair of Minuteman II ICBMs from Vandenberg AFB CA. To my knowledge, a simultaneous launch like that has only been done one time. I believe these sorties were launched on a key turn from a single missile crew on an Airborne Platform. ICBMs launched from Vandenberg fly across the Pacific Ocean and the dummy inert warheads impact on Kwajelin Atoll which is the terminus for the Western Test Range.
Ty for info!
I believe the duel MMIII launch was Glory Trip 119GM on 21 Dec 1987. I am pretty sure the ALCC turned keys on those two missiles. The missile crew sequence was filmed at Minot AFB, ND. A DOV crew (Evaluator - Orange scarf) relieves a DOTI (Instructor - Yellow scarf). Brought back memories.
@Michael Doonan At Malmstrom, Instructor Crews wore black scarves - DOV wore white ones. Spent over 2.5 years in the Instructor Shop. My 10th Strategic Missile Sqadron scarf is in my retirement shadow box. Our Squadron nickname was "The First Aces". It is bright blue with a small Ace of Spades playing cards superimposed on it.
@tomp8094 Those were interesting color selections! Good guys wore Black. At Minot, Sqdn's wore Red(740), Green(741) and Blue(742). Was in CDB-54 class at Vandyland in 1978. Participated in GT-73GM in Feb 1980 and was on Alert both times in June 1980. Wore Green for 2 years and Yellow for 2 years. Glad I was young and single. It was a highlight of my career, but working for SAC was "challenging". Thank you for serving underground.
@Michael Doonan Yep - the iron fist of Strategic Air Command. I'm sure you've seen drawings of the Command Crest holding a pair of male testicles vs the official one holding lightning bolts symbolizing the worldwide nuclear striking capability of the Command. I enjoyed my time on crew and wouldn't trade the memories or the commeraderie/bond I felt with my fellow missileers for anything. Peace ... is our Profession.
I saw this movie as a kid and now, at 51, it has affected greatly. Now I truly understand the implications.
There was a programme on British tv called threads about nuclear war
Threads is just as terrifying as The Day After.
The BBC digitally remastered it and released it on DVD a couple of years ago. The first disc is the main film (which is still brutal to watch). The second disc has the live debate show from BBC1 that came on after the film had been shown. There is also documentary about how they made they made the film.
"Threads" was better.
@@172Break I'd love to see a documentary about the making of that film. It is still seared into my mind, probably one of the best films ever made esp on a budget. The visual effects might have been terrible but even if Michael Bay had made it his work wouldn't have held even a candle to it.
Threads is nothing like The Day After. The Day After was a disaster movie with a Hollywood director and Hollywood special effects. Threads was a window into another timeline, one where Andropov got bored and decided to invade Iran, and it all went from there (though I question WHY the United States decided to intervene in Iran, given that the revolution and hostage crisis had just happened a few years prior; would Reagan really risk losing his base in an election year just to humiliate the Soviets?).
If you want to know how close we came, one of the closest is known as Able Archer 1983.
The seamless integration in to the story flow of of Air Force informational videos really adds to the verisimilitude of the film.
This movie gave me nightmares for many years.
It's neat how fast they were in the silos.
This movie should be updated and remade. It served a purpose back then and the need remains today.
Very professional. Congratulations for such a smooth operation. Now sit and enjoy the biggest show on Earth.
Went to college at UCSB, we could see the test launches from Vandenburg AFB is you were out and looking right way. One day with an AF brat who had been inside the launch sites - they did the one at that time; two missile launch test. My friend's statement - 'they have never launched two at the same time' made the next 30 minutes rather tense.
It's strange, but when this aired and I watched it, I was 12, but it didn't disturb me. I remember kids being upset at school afterwards. I didn't understand why, because it was just a movie.
You have to be pragmatic about it. If it happens for real, there isn't much you can do about it, so getting all upset about it won't help. Whether a 12 year old can be pragmatic is another issue.
When this movie was broadcast I was living at Grand Forks AFB. When "War Games" came out I watched it in the base movie theater. There were alert bomber and tanker crews in the back of the auditorium (in case they had to get out to their SUVs quickly). The moment, near the end, where the big white dot appears over GFAFB was fairly weird, although there was applause in the room.
We had plans. If things got tense, we had a big box on wheels that contained everything we needed to do our unit's job. We would load it on a school bus and ride off to a gather point well away from the incoming missles and bombs. Then we would "reconstitute" the air base wherever we could. I assume there were some key locations in the plans (not shared with little old me). We did have a plan to use I-29 as a runway.
See, the birds on the alert pad would be out and up right off. But 2/3 of the aircraft were not on alert, yet they were (mostly) ready to fly. Crews would be sent to them, and every effort made to get them off the ground before hell arrived. Those unarmed birds would circle in a "safe" area until we got the base reconstituted. And who knows? The Russian missile targeted on GFAFB might have blown up in the silo, or in the air, or the magnetic fields over the pole might have scrambled the guidance. Shoot, even the payload could have malfunctioned, and the base would have survived.
@@mplsgordon2 a well written note, thnx & thnx for your service. i was in the WiANG, 86-02, supporting the A-10 & then the F-16 as a Munitions Sys Spc. Crazy days, indeed. Right now is far crazier. Hang on to yer hat
I always thought that this movie should be shown to every grade nine class in the world, followed by a screening of Schindler’s List.
Anyone with any sense who lived through these times realized the reality of nuclear warfare between the United States and Soviet Union. A movie was only required for illiterate fools.
Keep in mind that when the Soviet Union stood down, so did the United States. It was, unfortunately, the best available strategy.
My leftist friends, of course, preferred unilateral disarmament. They said, with the same confidence they predict disaster from climate change, that EVERY arms race ended in war. That proved to be a mistaken notion of course, but leftists are never held responsible for their errors, mistakes and foolishness.
@@SeattlePioneer here today Russia , China , are partnered and we do not have enough nukes to retaliate or first strike without them wiping us out after . We are outgunned and the world with our nation is unraveling .
Our military light was only thing keeping dollar as reserve currency afloat this long .
@@gcaplan1
Ummm. Perhaps the greatest foreign policy achievement of Richard Nixon was dividing USSR and China. Biden's greatest foreign policy disaster may prove to be driving them together again.
In my view, it is very likely that the United States could easily destroy Russia and China in a nuclear war. We seem to have the ability to do that even without fighting wars.
And military power backstopped the economic and political power that allowed the American World Empire to dominate the world since WWII. The current efforts to undermine Russia over the Ukraine war and undermine the Chinese economy illustrate the reality of that power, although in neither case is a victory for the American World Empire assured at this point.
@@SeattlePioneer interesting perspective , I always said Nixons greatest sin in retrospect was the bridge to China . Never viewed it as a way to decouple from soviets . I’m 39 so my knowledge of that era was not lived through .
Not saying I agree with your view yet but I will think on it and may agree eventually .
I think USA could win conflict if we had smarter leadership . As of now the president on down are kooks worried about gender and race in military more than how to kill people and break things . Even economic war will be effected by people worried about violating their college indoctrinations .
Schindler's list always seemed like an apology for not opposing the fascists before they take over. If you want to see that in the modern age, see modern day Ukraine.
Zelensky is under the gun, and Russia is under the gun of Putin.
Good film. I ww
Thank You for Your Service from a Former Cap Cadet Air Force Auxiliary 1980
Fun Fact: The Brig Gen (Clarence R. Autery) in Looking Glass was an actual USAF SAC officer, and he retired as a Major General. He passed away in 2010. RIP, General.
That movie scared the shit out of a lot of people, myself included.
Those would of been one way flights in those B-52’s, but I guess it beats the alternative.
It’s worthwhile to note that in a real scramble those B-52s would more than likely not get far before being destroyed by incoming nukes. The crewman sprinting toward the planes were sprinting for their lives. “Get airborne, get airborne now, and fly as far as you can away from base.”
@@Bootmahoy88 Because it takes half-an-hour to get airborne?
To get a squadron airborne yes. Thirty minutes is conservative. Start all 8 engines, taxi, take off x 12. Most bases had more than one squadron too. The tail end Charlie’s would have trouble getting clear in 30 minutes - 15 if it’s SLBMs incoming.
@@Bootmahoy88Someone told me that the pre-engine start cockpit check list on a B-52 was 450 items and could take 90 minutes to get through.
@@davem5333Aren’t there shorter checklists for when shit is real? I remember when on 9/11, two fighter pilots were ordered to intercept one of the hijacked airliners. The junior officer ran to her jet and started going through the long, standard checklist. Her commander looked over and radioed “WTF are you doing? Get your ass up there!”
How terrifying this movie is and just how relevant it is in today's world.
Spent my first three years in SAC, whenever the klaxon went off, we never knew if it was actual,except a couple of occassions when the "ORI" team was found out on landing at the base!! Long live the USAF, SAC we miss you!!🇺🇸🇺🇸
The comic Bloom County had a strip made soon after this. A character simply plods away from the TV, walks outside, and looks out at a meadow, thinking "phew!"
I remember that book. Used to stay up all night reading those comics. It was Opus the penguin.
I wanted this on TV as a kid and was very unnerved by the reality of the possibility that it could really happen.
Great video. Thanks for posting this. Have a nice day.
Watched this movie when it originally aired when I was a kid. Scared the hell out of me.
Rewatching theis clip brings tears to my eyes because, as a whole, the world is so close to the reality of total inhalation with this exact scenario. 😢😢
brings memories of my Air Force days when I commanded a Minuteman II control center.
Thank you for your distinguished service!
II or III?
@@RideAcrossTheRiver I was there for the transition from II to III
You must have been grateful to never have to use those little brass keys in the big Red box.
Still the scariest movie I've ever seen. I'm told "Threads" is scarier, but I haven't seen that.
I have. "The Day After" gave me nightmares as a teenager, but it's sugar-coated Disney in comparison to "Threads".
'Threads' focuses alot on the aftermath of an all out nuclear exchange. A realistic insight to the slow horrible death anyone will suffer that survives all the blasts.
Threads is terrifying. This is a laugh a minute comedy in a comparison
“Threads”is one of those movies you’ll only want to see once in your life because it is that terrifying.
There is another British movie called “The War Game” that was almost as scary as Threads. It was banned by the BBC when it came out in the mid-late ‘60’s.
Check both of those out, if you dare
@@irvan36mm Yeah. "The War Game" is terrifying because its an extrapolation on what Britain suffered during WW2, scaled up for the massively increased bomb yield.
Great movie, Peaceful greetings from Germany
This came out when I was about 10. My friend and I watched this and Threads, they were showing back to back. A somber, yet disturbing feeling ensued for the following weeks.
~6:06ff. Only John Lithgow playing a physicist understands the consequence.
😂
one of the most terrifying movies I"ve ever seen. I was in SAC when it was broadcast and it scared the living shit out of me. My girlfriend's family kept asking me "is this real? Is this realistic" and all I can say was "yep. Heaven help us, yes"
The last thing you'd ever want to hear, especially in that scenario: *"This is not an exercise."*
🤣🤣🤣
After you watched this movie, the take away was you pray you never saw this in real life. It was encouraged at my school to watch this movie, when it aired on TV.
What makes this movie more scary than most doom and destruction movies is it has a real chance to one day happen.
I was young when I saw this. I had a neighbor who was ex-Navy who said the superpowers wouldn't do a first strike on the U.S., the Soviet Union or Communist China because of ballistic missile submarines. No matter how carefully a plan was made, those were the wild cards and mutual assured destruction (MAD) would happen because of them. He said the real problem would be terrorists with nukes.
Or an idiot like we have now in the White House!
It's about time to air this movie daty and day out on every media, TV channels, movie theaters all over the globe.
We were on a U S. Air Force base in Illinois when this was broadcast. I was the only one out of the four of us that dared watch it. It was scary.
The allegorical horse really gave me the chills as a child.
Very few picked that up. Took me awhile. Good instinct.
@@shihanuke3683 Never did till now either!
Death Rides A Pale Horse.
@@701CPD Sure does but it takes a while for 2 + 2 to equal $ with me. Thanks!
While that spooked me I think the crows taking flight hit me more, the quiet then the launches.
when you see this, mark the time. you have 25-30 minutes to live. that's the amount of time it takes theirs to hit us.
Never ever forgot watching this on ABC... had nightmares for weeks.
I was stationed at Elmendorf AFB inAlaska 65-67. The alert buzzer went off at least once a month.Since I was in missile maintenance,I convoyed conventional and Special Weapons to the flight line for loading. One the F-102s took off loaded to forward sites. We wondered about that.
stark and frighteningly realistic, the early denial and panic, the mushroom clouds from a distance and the hell on earth we give ourselves. hopefully it caused 'sober second thoughts' in the right places about the abject insanity of MAD.
The seeds of extinction are sown!
Humans are quite clever but lack wisdom!
I doubt. People have become extremely dumb and complacent
>
There was another strategy you could recommend that would have been better?
As a USAF Security Policeman, I had the misfortune of serving as a Missile Cop in the 741st MS, 91st MW at Minot AFB ND 1995-97, and that Building looks nothing like any MAF that I ever stayed at.
Also, that helo, at the very least, is a UH-1N (although it is more than likely a Bell 212 or similar), and the ABSOLUTELY WRONG AIRCRAFT. When I arrived at Minot, our helos were HH-1Hs, and they were replaced by HH-1Ns in 1996 or so.
In the early 1980s, when this was filmed, the UH-1F (which used the same GE T-58 as the Sikorsky HH-3 instead of the Lycoming T-53s used on other UH-1s) was being used as the Missile Field Support Helicopter.
UH-1Ns however were used at Hill and Vandenberg AFB at this time, and I believe the MAF/LCF we see on screen is one of the Vandenberg ones, of which there are no sleeping quarters attached to them, and is essentially just a security facility topside with a garage (been a few decades since I looked at the CDCs or was actually at Vandenberg so memory is a little spotty), but it is a Minuteman Launch Control facility of some sort, it's just not built to be manned 24/7 with people sleeping there. I know during test launch prep/post launch, security personnel are there 24/7, but they're not staying the night, but headed back to their dorms/homes every night. How things go in between test launches when the LFs are being cleaned up and refurbed for the next missile test, I don't know.
Did you serve with a Michael Wigger back then? He had the same job and is a friend of mine.
It's called a movie. 99% of the population haven't been in the military and don't know the difference.
I suspect they didn't get a lot of cooperation from the Air Force for this movie.
Ever meet any clowns?
This movie scared the crap out of me in 1983!!!
The commander on the doomsday plane was Maj Gen C. Reuben Autry, my boss at one time in the private sector.
That’s awesome! Thanks for sharing that info!
"The Day After" is a mighty powerful and disturbing film.
Watch Threads, genuinely terrifying
@@joebloggs8422 Right???
@@PlasmaCoolantLeak ??? No idea what you’re trying to say
@JoeBloggs...Ehh, pretty sure they're agreeing with you...
@@codymoe4986 probably. Threads is one horrible film though
O filme mais impressionante já rodado sobre o tema. Ainda hoje, revendo essas cenas, lembro a sensação de medo e angústia que causou. Nunca o mundo se livrou dessa ameaça, mesmo tendo passado três décadas do final da Guerra Fria.
This is the first time I’ve watched clips from it since it aired…
“Gripping” is an understatement…and I have a military background.
Saw this on tv when was fifteen, scared the crap out me.
It's 2023, and the reality of this is not fiction anymore.
It wasn't fiction then.
Was 12 when this came on. Have this in the mental Rolodex since then. Same a Jaws. Saw that in the theatre and to this day still feel there’s a shark around
Remarkably well done,to this day....
4:50 and 5:03, both from Vandenberg AFB, California. I was stationed there, and recognized them.
I remember watching this TV movie. It was a very powerful movie. So powerful that then President Reagan changed his approach with the soviets on Nuclear Arms Treaty
I don't think this movie scared Reagan into changing any approach. He continued to stand firm and ratchet up the heat on the Soviets. That despite enormous pressure from Europe and even inside the US for nuclear freeze and even nuclear disarmament. To me the most compelling explanation of what ended the Cold War was Reagan prove to the Soviets that they could not match us, and then the scientific community talking about nuclear winter. Apparently that really got Gorbachev and Regan's attention.
@@fredkitmakerb9479 The Reagan administration admitted that Mr. Reagan was profoundly affected by this film where he had a private showing in the White House. The Reagan administration admitted that the INF treaty came from Reagan being upset by this film. Reagan also tried to negotiate the total ban and disarmament of all nuclear weapons and would have agreed with Gorbachev to ban all nuclear weapons except that Gorbachev coupled STI which Mr. Reagan held on to , again due to this film. Thatcher was upset with Reagan for almost agreeing to ban all nuclear weapons because of the deep and justified fear that this film caused Reagan.
I remember watching this on TV when I was a kid it was disturbing for sure. But I lived only a few miles away from Offutt AFB at the time, we knew that enough warheads were headed our way if something started there wasn't a hole deep enough.
I love the way the landing gear on the B52 retracts, like a huge bird of prey pulling its talons in
3:39 I like how it says "Gently" on the key console. If you're gonna start a nuclear war, do it gently.
Break the keys, the birds don't fly. And you probably would have time to find some pliers to snag the key to turn it before you were vaporized.
A movie made in troubled times, and being watched in troubled times.
FFWD 40 years, Joey and Putin are playing nuclear checkers presuming someone would actually win.
Putin's the drunk who just lost all the bar fights, threatening to kick everyones' ass. Nobody's buying it.
NATO/USA are pushing us closer to this point not Russia. All this could have been avoided in Ukraine had NATO/USA encouraged Ukraine to abide by Minsk agreements. Wests narrative couldn’t be farther from the truth.
Biden has said to Putin "don't do it."
Joey !!!! good one 😂
Biden ain't no warrior what he know about war ! Putin is a warrior type as is the russian general mindset. We need an alpha male as President.
Where are you when we need you ! I don't think Trump would let them "flex their muscles" so explicitly.
For all I know Biden is in on it to have a nuclear war.
@@RideAcrossTheRiverLike even a 5 year old bully on a school playground would be even the slightest bit intimated by Biden. The man can barely walk, let alone put two coherent thoughts together
Just waiting on this.
i remember at school in the late 70,s in the uk showing a similer thing and at around the age of 11 been frightened about nuclear war for the first time
Every morning, after coffee and a few donuts and such, I confirm that this is not an exercise.
Well done! keep up the splendid work!!
" The only way to win, is not to play the game."
"Hello... Joshua."
How about a nice game of chess?
Brings back memories of being on a Titan II crew back in the early 70's.
Fun fact: in the 1960s and 70s USAF nuclear missile sites were all over the country. Heavy concentrations in upstate NY, central Missouri, eastern Colorado, and the northern great plains. Today there are just three USAF missile bases left: Malmstrom AFB Great Falls, Montana; FE Warren AFB Cheyenne Wyoming; and Minot AFB in Minot North Dakota. Minot hosts a B-52 wing but the other two do not even have in-service runways. All of our ICBMs are within 150 miles or so of these three bases, well scattered out.
@6:10 Flounder will be running back to Delta House to joint Bluto, drinking as much as possible before the Russian missiles arrive.
He hurled right after.
Or wondering how he got assigned to Earth from Babylon 5.
Imagine the old fossil in the White House having to make a critical decision.
Gone with my wind by The Dead Kennedy's was never more true today.
They'll just tell him, " just tell them the codes, dumbass"😅
I watched this film with my grandpa one day when I was sick with the flu and had to miss school I was a 7th grader but granted I was born in 1991 after the USSR collapsed and didn’t know much about this movie. My grandpa served in the US Army as a Vietnam Vet and he told me the scariest job in the whole military is not the guy with a gun because anyone can shoot a gun, but the individuals who have to turn the keys and push the button. Watching this film and the aftermath and the effects of Nuclear War are no joke and we must hope that this never becomes a reality.
This movie aired when I had just turned 10 and it scared the ever living crap out of me back then. Keep in mind we were still in the cold war at the time.
Visualize the Titanic frantically sending a series of flares while sinking, and the captain of the nearest ship 🚢, after receiving the distress code on morse signal says, "Let it go. They are celebrating. "
If you work at the B-52 base and are not flight crew.............. the bombers take off you would know that it is not a drill......
"AT THAT MOMENT HE KNEW HE FU**ED UP" 🤣🤣
utterly terrifying.
Between the US and UK, 1983 was a crazy year for nuclear disaster porn
Is it weird that I feel nostalgia for a time period when I was an elementary school student absolutely terrified of nuclear war? I couldn't even watch this movie until well into the Glasnost era. (I didn't see THREADS until earlier this year!)
1983, when we really seemed to be on the brink of WW3, was also one of the best ever years for pop music. Always wondered if there was a connection there.