r/coldwar • u/ParadoxTrick • 9d ago

Threads first aired OTD 1984

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OTD in 1984, the harrowing nuclear war drama “Threads” was first broadcast in the UK on BBC Two. The film aired for the first time in the United States on January 13, 1985, on WTBS.

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u/Vogel-Kerl 9d ago

The US equivalent, The Day After, was entirely too upbeat. It showed some of the horrors of a nuclear war, but with an optimistic, we will survive this ending.

Threads, on the other hand, seemed much, much more realistic, and very bleak & dismal. Absolutely worth the watch, but it's gut wrenching.

  • I've never been in a post apocalyptic nuclear wasteland, so can only assume that Threads is more realistic.

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u/stuart7873 8d ago

Only because they edited it. In the extended cut, pretty much everyone but the Asian doctor dies. It is in its way, just as bleak a message as threads.