This movie really scared us back in the 80s

What was the most scary was the message at the end that a real nuclear war would be much worse than what was shown. That was probably because the producers were pressured into removing some very realistic scenes during the bombing considered too graphic. It was only revealed 40 years after the Cuban missile crisis in 1962 that we came much closer to war than anyone knew back then.

I was 8 when this aired, almost 9. We watched it. I remember sitting on the floor in the living room, watching on a gigantic floor console model television. I was a pretty aware child. I watched the news, I read the newspaper, I read the dictionary for hobby. This movie was one of the most defining moments of my childhood. It scared me like nothing before. I still remember it to this day, and remember the Cold War in general and the overall fear of nuclear war at any time. The drills we had at school, people attempting to make bomb shelters in their homes, "preppers" before preppers were cool. It was a scary time to live in. Years later, watching the events of 9/11 unfold on the television, I was reminded of this movie and was scared all over again.

Not really but what did scare me was this film they showed to us in 6th or 7th grade. It's been so long ago I can't quite remember why they showed it to us and what the entire thing was about...I suppose just the horrors of nuclear weapons or to prep us for when/if there ever was a nuclear war. Anyway, I really only remember this one part that freaked me out where they showed this government test where they put these pigs in these silvery sleeping bag looking things. They used pigs because their skin is most similar to humans. I guess they wanted to see if these "suits" would protect them from the blast. The stuck the pigs in their "sleeping bags" in these aquarium looking cases that were bolted down a certain number of miles away from a nuclear blast they were about to set off. When the blast went off the pigs began squealing horribly and thrashing and smoke because flowing out everywhere. They burned alive. That really scared me.

I used to read about and research info on blast effects and research how far away I was from my cities downtown and wonder how bad the damage would be that far away. I suppose I lived about 10-15 miles from downtown. I wondered if my city would be a target, probably but even if not I knew Ft. Knox was about 35 minutes away from where I lived. That video really scared the crap out of me.


Was ist der Sinn des Lebens?

I remember seeing this in 8th or 9th grade science class. Scared me sh*tless and had nightmares for weeks (and I started reading horror novels before I was 10). Even though I knew that the warheads were (are) out there, seeing what could happen burned images in my head that I still see 25 years later. I would rather be in the blast zone and die quickly than to be affected by the radiation and literally walking dead, slow and painful.

I saw this as well as the equally disturbing Testament when they first came out. Rewatched this week and still scares the crap out of me. Back in the 1980's the fear and anxiety about the possibility of nuclear war was pervasive. To die a slow, painful death from radiation sickness is far worse than just being incinerated on impact.

I saw this as well as the equally disturbing Testament when they first came out. Rewatched this week and still scares the crap out of me. Back in the 1980's the fear and anxiety about the possibility of nuclear war was pervasive. To die a slow, painful death from radiation sickness is far worse than just being incinerated on impact.

Thank you all for replying to post (and sorry I made you all remember how scary this film was..and us kids in a rural inland city in Australia were on edge about possibility of a nuclear war..the news didn't help..we were scared and when we seen THE DAY AFTER on VHS...we knew we unsafe coz the crazy power men at the time kept threatening each other!)

It has been very interesting to read everyone's account of how this movie effected them. I appreciated reading your testimonies. I would like to add mine as well, perhaps for no other reason than self-therapy.

I was 13 when this movie originally aired and I was tuned in. I am an only child. My parents kept the rent paid and the lights on but I was raised by TV more than I was raised by them. I watched The Day After alone.

This movie frightened the heck out of me and looking back it was a turning point in my life. I had been a decent student up until that time but this movie convinced me that there was no possible way the world would make it until the year 2000 without a nuclear war happening. Clearly and thankfully I was wrong but that's how I interpreted it at the time.

I began to think that there was no point in preparing for adulthood. I took less interest in school. I slacked in classes and failed many entirely. I took on the attitude that I should live entirely for today because there will be no tomorrow.

Looking back, certainly some of this was teenage angst and rebellion. I cannot blame this one movie for the way my life has unfolded. I managed to stay in school and although I had to repeat a few classes I did graduate, my GPA was low but I finished high school on time.

Still though, I did literally remember this movie as I moved into adulthood and the idea that nuclear war before the year 2000 was inevitable remained with me.

I finished it the 80's and enter the 90's simply doing as little as I had to in order to earn money and spending as much time as I could partying, because why not, there won't be a future anyway so why not have some fun!?!

It must be sometime in the early 90's that the sting of seeing this movie subsided. At some point I forgot about it. Basically, I started to think that the year 2000 could be a real thing. It wasn't until I was doing some reflecting at the very tail end of 1999 that it jumped back into my head.

I literally remember thinking on December 31st 1999, wow, were still here.

I can't say that it all turned out happily ever after. I never did get a college degree, I work in lower jobs to this day as a result. And due to the lack of fiscal success I never got married either although to be fair there was only ever one woman in my life that I would have liked to marry anyway.

But on the flip side of the coin, life has still been interesting and there certainly have been some outstanding great times post-2000 that I never thought I'd see. Life is just a ride and I continue to ride on! As the saying goes: every day above ground is a good day.

Last year I checked out an old dusty copy of The Day After on VHS from the local library and gave it another viewing. That dang movie is still scary! It didn't happen before my imagined year 2000 deadline, but it continues to be easy for me to imagine that the darker forces of human nature will win out one day and we humans will create our own extinction event.

I end up wondering if it may not be from a burst of weapons, but rather from catastrophic climate change caused by human negligence....

Ah well, I've rambled on long enough. Suffice it to day that The Day After had effected my life more than any other single movie has. A troll might say that it's due to my own mental weaknesses and that troll may be correct, but that's how it went down.

If I could get the Back to the Future time machine I'd likely go back and distract myself from ever seeing The Day After in the first place.

Peace Folks.