Threads (1984) TV Movie

Stars	User	Rating
7	TheDenizen	85 _91st
Shockingly bleak without being sensationalistic or melodramatic. Shot in a very flat style and has a monotone narration that makes it feel almost like a documentary, which adds to the feeling of realism. The sequence when England gets nuked is particularly disturbing, with long lingering shots of corpses burning among the rubble. It's amazingly dark, and offers zero hope at the end, I can't believe they showed this on British TV in primetime...it must've scared the shit out of people.
7	Barthalen	95 _99th
Depressed, scared and messed me up for a few days. Exactly as was intended. The fact that the movie is a bit older only added to the surreal vibe of this nightmarish scenario. If you like unending bleakness, you'll love Threads. I know I did.
6	Magb	90 _85th
Anyone who secretly harbors a desire to live in a post-apocalyptic wasteland à la Mad Max should watch this and come to their senses. Threads is grim, but alas, extremely realistic. And it doesn't matter that the acting, direction or special effects aren't much to speak of, for you won't think about them for as much as a second once the bomb explodes (which, admittedly, is perhaps a bit too far into the movie).
6	backwardsuit	85 _91st
And this was actually shown on TV? Damn... About as bleak & horrifying as any fiction film ever. The rudimentary but ferociously well implemented docudrama style works to hammer home this severely nihilistic & miserable narrative about the utter colapse of society. Although generally well made it has some issues mostly inherent to the TV docudrama format itself. None of them really hinder its immediate power though & I can pretty much guarantee it will make you feel profoundly upset & insecure.
5	Jeb	92 _83rd
A great, grim and utterly nightmarish post-nuclear strike dramatization that left me scarred for eternity. It's something everybody should see at least once.
4	frederic_g54	8 _77th
Stands, together with Spoorloos and Night and Fog, as one of the most disturbing films I've ever seen. The subject matter is one to ponder and the imagery is horrifying, with some of the images still lingering in my mind. Essential viewing.
4	Judge Holden	9 _98th
Bleak beyond anything I've ever seen. Its realism, deliberate pacing, and strong emphasis on characterization combine to make it as harrowing as it is incredibly sad. The film's unremitting hopelessness and grim atmosphere may turn off some viewers, but for those of you who brave the emotional scars, you'll be rewarded with a devastatingly powerful film. Watch it together with Fail-Safe.
4	chemtrails	70 _71st
Claustrophobic, horrifying, unsettling, really good
3	Kojiless	93 _96th
Pulls no punches. There are no happy Hollywood reunions between separated lovers, mothers and sons. There's no false hope. There's no '10 years later and society is back on its feet' wrap up. Petty squabbles between power-hungry egomaniacs with small members and large missiles result in death, destruction, and a shortage of can openers. I will repeat what other reviewers have said: if every 12 year old kid was made to watch this, the world would probably be a safer place.
3	begoniabol	80 _79th
When it started, I thought to myself: how bad can it be? Well, I was mistaken, to say at the least. Very dark and depressing, and to think this really did somewhat happen in the past (Hiroshima, Nagasaki). Not as devistating (but it was terrible) as the bombs used in this movie, but to see humans are capable of something like this. I just hope it will never ever happen..
3	Noblet	76 _60th
Very well done, and appropriately bleak and depressing as hell. I'm pretty grateful that I never had to live with the specter of nuclear armageddon hanging over my head.
2	triffid	95 _97th
The world would a better place if every kid of, say, 15 were forced to watch "Threads". There is nothing to review here, actually. This is not a film. It is a devastatingly powerful experience. If you have not seen it, please, do, but be warned. It leaves scars.
2	PeaceAnarchy	68 _20th
This is some impressive fear-mongering, but that's not really something I'm a fan of. I find it exploitative and distancing the more it hammers home its bleak and hopeless perspective. The characters are given too much focus to let us concentrate on the big picture, but not enough to make it a personal film. That said, It has, underneath the hysteria, some pointed criticisms of war, government preparedness and human psychology. But they're better as conversation starters than as film content.
2	AFlickering	5 _75th
j. walter weatherman voice: ...and that's why you don't have sex before marriage. unsure how this plays to non-UK audiences but the soapy TV miserablism and the casual, startling revelation that the second bomb we didn't see was dropped on my place of work sure lends some intimacy to the horror for me. not that crewe would look much different after being nuked if i'm honest, most of the populace has three eyes already.
2	Suture Self	9 _91st
Jesus christ, I'm not sure if I should build a bomb shelter or just go ahead and kill myself. I'm probably better off dead anyway, right?
2	BillyShears	100 _98th
Glad we don't live in the Cold War Era anymore and tensions between the United States and Russia have gotten better ... I've played thousands of hours of Fallout games, if a nuclear war were to erupt I would simply wash the radiation away with my radaway while popping all the buffout so I can safely carry 37 desk fans to harvest for screws I will turn into power armor.
2	cherrorist	84 _72nd
Dark, depressing, horrible vision of what would be the consequences of nuclear attack. No Mad Max or Book of Eli bullshit, but rather a disturbing look at what would truly happen. Not for those of weak tummy.
2	mwgerb	64 _75th
Whereas a film like "Night and Fog" looks at the horror mankind has already caused, "Threads" looks at what horrors mankind might cause. I think the looser connection to reality makes it somewhat less emotionally effective, especially having grown up after the Cold War. However, I might have been traumatized for life if I watched it as a British teen in the 1980s.
2	obtiosov	95 _97th
A blunt portrayal of what could have happened to our mankind back in the days and can happen STILL TODAY. Intertitles create an enduring and documentary-like effect on the viewer. Depressive and pessimistic in an appropriate manner as it displays how we are capable of destroying our own civilization by pushing some buttons.
2	JSchlansky	98 _98th
Profoundly upsetting and panic attack inducing. Made me feel absolutely sick to my stomach. Ever since researching nuclear deterrence theory a few years ago I find myself thinking of mutually assured destruction often. It's such a mad game of chicken that global powers are playing.
2	Zipster	100 _99th
Like The Day After, Threads charts an array of everyday people. Threads is set in the industrial city of Sheffield in northern England, in the swelling toward a nuclear exchange between the United States and the Soviet Union. But unlike The Day After, it detonates all charades of movie refinement or sugar-coating, and it puts a documentary-style weight on all the civic arrangements for war, and gives the film a special sort of horror.
1	MartinTeller	89 _92nd
Britain's answer to The Day After and Testament. It out-bleaks both of them, but the voice-over narration doesn't work very well.
1	Moribunny	80 _91st
Scary stuff. Well researched, well crafted. Some people need to watch this as a reality check, because we tend to underestimate the effects of a possible nuclear holocaust. Today it would be even worse, as the population density is much higher and there are more powerful nuclear bombs.
1	SomewhatItay	79 _68th
A sobering cry against nuclear war, this is a message film that really does get its message across, but does much more, being a bleak, powerful and heart-chilling experience.
1	msprague	70 _61st
Brutal filthy horror. Can you imagine being told to build a shelter out of mattresses and old doors and thinking that might be enough?
1	ktappe	88 _67th
Kind of the British version of "The Day After", from the point of view that they both scared the bejeezus out of everyone. This one is much more documentary-like though instead of dramatic. Both well-worth seeing.
1	miss jesus	76 _77th
Genuinely traumatizing.
1	ABUNCHOFCATS	90 _85th
Doesn't have a big budget but what it lacks in production values it makes up for in the depressing realism of a complete nuclear war and the destruction of civilization.
1	deaddilly	70 _48th
Well I guess these quarantine days aren't so bad after all...
1	Jerky	70 _89th
Depressing depiction of the aftermath of a nuclear war. I wish more films ended the way this did.
1	afx237vi	70 _69th
Seriously disturbing. I love the way it starts very low-key; just a few news bulletins in the background as everyone goes about their normal life. Once the bomb drops, it gets very grim very fast, but even then the focus on normal everyday people is what makes it so scary. Some of the special effects look a bit dated, and there are a few moments of dodgy acting, but that doesn't detract much from the overall horror portrayed in this film.
1	fxcrnr	85 _72nd
Another one of those films I think was made brilliantly, but which I'd never choose to watch again. Harrowing is not the word...
1	matGuy3	9 _92nd
Depressing, grim, and heart-breaking film about the true effects of nuclear war, shown through the eyes of 'average' British citizens. I thought the visuals, acting, and general progression of events leading up to and after the bombs fall to be very high quality for a TV-movie from the mid 80s.
1	Ostenski	95 _91st
I'm really, really unhappy that I watched this. It took me days to feel better.
1	Pickle_Man	100 _94th
Crazy that something this fraught and grim was produced for and aired on TV by the BBC at all, much less during the actual Cold War.
1	nobamba	70 _76th
Well that was depressing. Just kept getting worse with every intertitle. Many quiet scenes. Fav scene: the "rebuilt" civilization trying to teach kids but left with useless videos discussing animal skeletons.
1	Barnowl	96 _75th
It's been called by some the scariest movie of all time.

Average Percentile 71.65% from 564 Ratings