THREADS: Exploring Britain's Bleakest Film

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ABOUT THE SHOW:
This show celebrates Ryan's love for film, games, art and entertainment through personal retrospective analysis that aims to explore what made them so good.
MUSIC:
Beyond the Lows by The Whole Other
Hydra by Huma-Huma
Gaiety in the Golden Age by Aaron Kenny
The Shining in Dubai by Unicorn Heads
Floating Home by Brian Bolger
Back of the Room Hang by Jingle Punks
Apocalypse by SYBS
TIME STAMPS:
00:00 - Introducing The Nightmare
05:31 - Politics
08:05 - The Bombs Drop
11:45 - The Aftermath

[@RyanHollinger]

The recent Doomsday Clock news makes this a bit awkward! ... so... what's the BEST apocalyptic fiction? Let me know in the comments! *Thanks to HelloFresh for sponsoring today's video. Go to **strms.net/RyanHollingerHelloFreshJanuaryYT** and use code POGRYANJAN21 for 21 free meals plus free shipping!*

[@boobootittleman7299]

For each medium: Film - Mad Max series Book - The Stand Game - The Last of Us

[@anubusx]

Bring on the end.

[@axelcordova8262]

The Day After (1983)

[@lovelessact1]

For games: Fallout 1 and 2, the last of us, telltale the walking dead, metro

[@adamburke4738]

@@boobootittleman7299 The Last of Us is also proving to be a fantastic show.

[@MrNegativecreep07]

The fact it looks like a daytime soap opera makes it far more horrifying than any effects-filled blockbuster could ever be.

[@simian01]

decino's comin' for ya!

[@Geospasmic]

I agree, a high budget, slick production would steal a lot of the horror of bluntly terrible situations like this.

[@willythepeachfacelovebird]

Especially at the time. Special effects weren't the best.

[@graemewilson7975]

Coronation Street originally in talks to do it thank god that scrubbed

[@chrisholland7367]

It was described as a TV documentary drama. It was a two hour unrelenting nightmare . The British public became acutely aware no assistance would be given to them after a nuclear exchange, the hard reality kicked in . During the 80's there was an awful lot of American military and hardware on UK soil including cruise missiles at various bases around Britain it was a prime target for the Russians. Another great nuclear warfare drama called 'When The Wind Blows' it was an animated film.

[@clairbender]

This movie made me not "feel right" for weeks after watching it. You feel just as vulnerable as the characters as a viewer, the audience left in the dark about the fate of loved ones, how the government functions and the safety of the environment. It really throws you into the situation and doesn't hold your hand through it. Characters left missing presumed dead, Plots unresolved, Deaths and disabilities implied rather than explained. Just how it would be in reality. Dark, cold and no explanations for the suffering you are going through.

[@thepanpiper7715]

I genuinely think that watching this film helped me understand my Ma better when she talks about what life was like in there UK when the Bay of Pigs happened (she was in her early teens).

[@DanArnets1492]

That's what fearmongering does to mongers

[@armand548yt]

Definitely one of those films that break you a little bit.

[@TurnerMain]

I haven’t watched the film but I feel “not right” just from watching this review. I can’t imagine what actually watching it must’ve been like

[@Cylon963]

I felt the same way but eventually moved on knowing that this could have been or maybe one could be.

[@MrFish626]

That final scene with the stillborn laying on the table and the pertified look of horror in it's mother's eyes is such a kick in the stomach. One almost believes things are going to get better for a moment in this post-nuclear primitive society and then the horror of radiation strikes it's final blow to remind us that there is no escape to the demise.

[@peterzarelli1432]

I also seem to remember it being horrifically deformed. And then the movie just ends

[@kshiba1148]

Even more effective... it goes absolutely silent as the credits roll. Smart move tbh... forces you to confront the thoughts you'll naturally have after finishing this film.

[@sunsetman22]

Ruth's daughter had a blank expression when watching her own mother die before her eyes. English devolved into some sort of half-language spoken by inbreds with decreasing IQs. "schools" were decrepit buildings that showed the few surviving educational VHS to clueless children, without any teacher in sight to provide context or actual education. Ruth's daughter was gang-raped and then subsequently gave birth to a deformed stillborn. I don't see how any of that translates into "hope" for the future, even before seeing the birth scene.

[@EkiEkiFatangZooPoi]

For me it's the showing of the children viewing a single videotape of an educational show that is very below the age of the children watching it, and you can see that even then, they don't quite grasp it (it's childlike english), so every generation following them will become more primitive and primal, especially considering what is probably the rape of Ruth's daughter (I think? It's been a year or two since I watched it) isn't represented that way, it's more like two animals just mating, that's how degraded the society has become. We have our problems now, but once our sophisticated structures are gone, that's what scares me

[@honved1]

@@EkiEkiFatangZooPoi A chilling scene, the tv programme they are watching is a bbc one called “words and pictures”. The bad quality of the recording adds to the sense of decay.

[@TooSmalley]

What I found most interesting about Threads is how the world doesn't fall into the cliche mad max anarchy trope. There is an attempt at organization and at government. People are working together to try to get people feed and treated BUT the magnitude of the disaster is such that those with authority are forced to do triage. They have to decide how resources are allocated on an objective matter.

[@mistergrool3941]

It's funny you reference Mad Max as the cliche because the first Mad Max movie pretty much does show the government trying to stay together after an apocalypse. Honestly, though, I wouldn't recommend watching it and agree that the aesthetic of the subsequent Mad Max films are rightfully what it should be remembered for.

[@skeletonking2501]

You know it dawned on me: If the actual apocalypse were to happen do you think people will be influenced by post-apocalyptic media in what they do?

[@TooSmalley]

@@skeletonking2501 That's actually one of the speculations behind the infamous Stanford prison experiment. Where a random number of college kids were selected to be guards and prisoners, then see what happened. Predictably the guards became abusive. BUT one of the interesting facts is shortly before the study took place a few of the participants saw the movie 'Cool Hand Luke" which had sadistic prison guards as central parts of the film. Which might have influenced people's idea of what a guard should act like. Media absolutely has that ability Also, the guy running the experiment Milgram participated and encouraged certain behavior.

[@joeyj6808]

I agree. People do generally help others in disaster situations. But there is no real way to pitch in after a nuclear war.

[@aligmal5031]

mad max's trope is not a cliche if threads was a 3 hours movie the last hour we would have probably seen the start of the mad max trope starting

[@remusaldana8147]

This movie shows us that we can still be shocked by a piece of media, no matter how many horror movies we have watched.

[@kid14346]

Most horror movies usually are the same type of scares as roller coasters. Most people just spend the time thinking they are gonna plummet to their death and then when they get off they go, "Wow that was fun, I want to simulate death again!" Meanwhile some horror films show up and are like, "Hey so like... reality is horrifying enough." and the problem is you can't get off the ride of reality. You have to look out your window and go, "Yep if that happened everyone I love would probably die or suffer horribly." My issue is I have such severe anxiety that it triggers nervous system hallucinations that even the 'fun' horror movies still trigger the "Yep if that happened everyone I love would probably die or suffer horribly." The problem is... I really like the concepts that horror explores... so I just spend months getting wrecked by horror comedy films...

[@reperpeter]

The scary thing is there's a very real Putin who threatens to nuke us sooner or later.

[@kid14346]

@@reperpeter i mean a lot of nations are just itching to use their nukes... India and Pakistan probably are chomping at the bit. Bunch of Nato nations probably want to slam a bunch of Slavic nations... Brexit and the rampant growing Nationalism in Briatain probably has a few itchy fingers. The problem isn't "Russia has Nukes" the problem is "Nukes exist."

[@creed8712]

Idk, I’d say watching a families life destroyed in 5 seconds because of a brick huts harder than any fictional film even the most “intense”. In this day in age however you can watch beheadings from Mexico, Africa or the Middle East whenever you want

[@kid14346]

@Old Skool Bodybuilding Routines Watchout we got a tough guy.

[@adamarket]

The beauty of 'Threads' is that the camera refuses to look away. Editing doesn't protect us. There's no fade to a more positive future, it's just grim scene after grim scene where things are sure only to get worse. The closest filmic cousin to 'Threads' is probably the book and movie 'The Road'.

[@onlychild5213]

They are practically in the same universe The Road and Threads

[@iand4374]

Don't forget Children of Men

[@realrandiee]

​@@onlychild5213they are?

[@PaperMario64]

I agree. “The Road” is just as bleak and chilling.

[@ShotgunRain96]

The hospital scene is one of the most terrifying things put to screen. Worst part is the aftermath of nuclear war will probably be far worse than anything Threads shows us.

[@thelordofcringe]

Threads is comically worse than nuclear war actually would be lol. Shitholes like London or New York would be doomed, but most smaller cities and especially rural areas would be perfectly safe. It would take every single nuke on earth just to irradiate all of the UK, let alone the world.

[@themeerofkats8908]

It depends on where you would be during a nuclear war. A nuclear war in the 80s would've been far more damaging than a nuclear war today.

[@placeholdernameisplacehold7671]

The nurse screaming about that theres nothing she can do, that anyone can do, I remember that

[@fbboringstuff]

@@themeerofkats8908 how? Less physical destruction of structures but the electronics are obliterated. We’re not far off the Simpsons Y2K joke we’re even milk cartons have a microchip.

[@cramer4506]

@@fbboringstuff The threat of an EMP is somewhat overstated in the common perception. The really destructive EMP from an atomic bomb that would likely destroy electronics is (generally speaking) going to be within the blast of the bomb in the first place. Your phone, for example, actually has a decent chance of surviving and functioning if you are in an area already safe from atomic strike. The bigger trouble is that most of the infrastructure itself will be downed, the power grid will be shot and that might sustain more serious damage.

[@YodaOnABender]

As a Sheffield native I’m glad this film is becoming more mainstream and getting more attention in recent years

[@RonnieBarzel]

C’mon, you already have Pulp! Let other English cities have their own moments! 😊

[@beans5307]

And the full monty!

[@shayZero]

Sheffield is a hugely underrated place.

[@ZozoZoji]

Also as a sheffield native it was absolutely devastating seeing places you know getting absolutely annihilated, haunted me as a child

[@grindelston5968]

I'm from Halifax. It's like this all the time

[@FlyBoy972]

I found out about Threads when I was browsing Nightmare Fuel pages on TVTropes. I couldn't stop reading about it but it was one of the few movies I've ever looked at and said, "I really don't think I want to experience this," similar to when I first learned about Come and See. I finally sat down and watched both films in the span of about three days. My therapist says my existential crisis should end eventually.

[@0_dearghealach_083]

Ah, I too have looked at the movies of the Nightmare Fuelpages on TVTropes. God only knows why I decided to dedicate 2021 to all the horror movies I could possibly watch. I... didn't sleep well in that year. It began as a "Eh, I'll look for a good horror movie" and then it became "I must consume horror. I must BE horror." then it was "Oh lord, this is a mistake"!

[@monkaWGiga]

Don't add when the wind blows to those movies.

[@Spleemce]

And grave of fireflies xd

[@31webseries]

For some reason, as some sort of weird coping mechanism, I watched all these movies when Russia invaded Ukraine. Threads, come and see, grave of the fireflies, when the wind blows, and on, and on. By the way, what’s the number of your therapist?

[@Spleemce]

@@31webseries I don't want this to sound too cold, but i found this part about coping mechanism super interesting.

[@NoMoreCrumbs]

The only thing missing from Threads was probably cannibalism, which almost certainly would have occurred in a post nuclear environment. This wasn't included because any cannibalism automatically netted films an x rating as a video nasty at the time

[@rebeccagibbs4128]

i thought for sure that in that scene where ruth and baby jane were sitting around the fire and Ruth nods off to sleep that the shifty eyed guy was gonna eat the baby

[@nineteenthly]

I thought that at the time. A friend of mine said it was because people resisted that longer than anything else, but now I think they just didn't show it.

[@theorangeoof926]

I was thinking a scene of the winter bodies would have some emasculated person going out and dragging a fresh body back into the cabin, and their chimney smoking. If it’s not displayed, show it by implication.

[@nineteenthly]

@@theorangeoof926 thanks, I'll look out for that.

[@Allen667sjja]

If you’re not ready to cannibalize your neighbors the second a power breaker so much as trips then you don’t got what it takes to survive

[@backtoearth1983]

Not only is this set in Sheffield my home city, where I still live now.. Baby me is in Threads.

[@simonh6371]

Wow.

[@infjgirl3850]

What scene(s) are you in?

[@sa-amirel-hayeed699]

Don't worry, reality is soon gonna be a whole lot stranger than fiction

[@backtoearth1983]

@@infjgirl3850 I'm the baby in the pram in the panic scenes as the bomb drops.

[@katlbird]

"The only way Thatcher herself would think highly of Threads is if she were to view it as a working class snuff film." - absolutely brilliant.

[@AydarBMSTU]

Random af

[@NashaWriter85]

I just reposted this very quote. It needs to be reposted every 4 months I think.

[@cfinley81]

I HOWLED at that!!😂😂

[@CashelOConnolly]

@@AydarBMSTUyou don’t know anything about Thatcher and `Reagan do you?!!! Threads was made when those two crazies were in power. Threads is set in the early to mid 80’s when the threat of a nuclear war was hovering over everybody. So before you type “random A.F’ I suggest you study recent history. The comment certainly isn’t random. All you’ve done with your comment is show how little you know. You’re very much like a lot of the characters in Threads. Enjoying your ignorance and not taking things seriously until your skin is hanging off your bones like wet bedsheets on a washing line because you’ve been in a nuclear attack 😳

[@HHM706]

That has to be one of the most idiotic quotes ever.

[@discomfortfilms]

One thing I appreciated in rewatch was the sound design, after the first bomb drops it's full of people screaming and panicking, but after the second it's just fire burning and wind blowing which I thought was absolutely chilling.

[@kieranwhite6647]

And after the second bomb, there's no typewriter sound when the information comes up on screen. I've always found that little detail adds to the bleakness

[@simonh6371]

They don't know about the first bomb which is a couple of hundred miles away and it's the EMP which stops all electrical power which is why they're so baffled when the car doesn't start. They are running and screaming in the city centre because the 4 minute warning sirens sound. A nuclear explosion starts off with a flash, then the blast with fire, then its sucked back inwards, and all the debris goes up to form a mushrom cloud, after which fallout particles rain down. We did NBC training in the army in the late 80s so were taught all this. On a training area in Germany (Vogelsang, a repurposed SS indoctrination centre, known to generations of British, Dutch and Belgian soldiers) we did a simulation in a big hangar where you drove in in a Landrover with trailer, started setting up camouflage nets etc. like you were getting in location then there was an almighty flash from a cinema wall and you had to go through the drills. This was really a bit of a joke and we knew it at the time. When the flash went I was on the Landrover roof so I had to jump off it quick and lie down, head (helmet) facing the blast, hands under my body, and wait for that to pass, and then the blowback too. Then dash for cover from the fallout and put respirator (gasmask) on so you wouldn't breath in the particles. Then we had to simulate brushing radioactive particles off each other then carry on setting up the detachment. The doctrine was that you do the drills and then just carry on as normal but we all knew that in the real deal we'd just die of radiation sickness over a couple of days. When I was a kid in the 80s everyone knew about stuff like fallout and nuclear winters, because there was a permanent threat and they leaked the public information films ''Protect and survive'', which were going to be shown on non-stop loop on all TV channels if it looked likely that nuclear war would occur. At school we used to ask each other ''what would you do if the 4 minute warning went off'' and the answer usually involved jumping on a girl or the hot French teacher. I watched this film with my parents when I was 13 and to be honest didn't have nightmares or anything like that. In the 70s and 80s kids TV and public information films were scary anyway, there is a Charlie Brooker episode about this. We didn't have 'safe spaces' back then lol. Pretty much anyone over the age of 45 grew up with all this. In 1950s in the US the govt made public information films with a cartoon turtle ''Duck and cover'' and kids at school were taught to take cover under the desks, much like kids in Japan do earthquake practice. All these public information films are here on youtube as well as declassified army training films from the Cold War.

[@andrewpridmore1803]

I think the sound design through the whole movie is brilliant. Even during the first half before the bomb drops. Everything you’re seeing/hearing on screen feels incredibly intentional and sounds so… good. It’s lively. It makes everything from there on in that much more terrifying

[@serendpity3478]

@@simonh6371 Jimmy & his mate watched the mushroom cloud. They most certainly knew the bombs were falling "Jesus they've bloody done it" his mate says.

[@Dayman90]

@@kieranwhite6647Another nice touch is we eventually stop hearing from the narrator towards the end indicating he didn’t make it

[@imaspoon4522]

When that baby is born and you know it doesn't have a chance, it makes you realize their human race is liable to go extinct. This could happen to all the babies born in this hopeless future. Also, the part where you see some young people with no ability to speak English was really chilling.

[@DaydreamOrca]

That last segment before Jane's story where they are trying to till the fields and the crops are dead is called the last harvest, and it's really brutal, because not only did the nuclear attack ruin everything in Sheffield, but it's also ruined the potential for life to grow and flourish. The threads have truly been cut forever.

[@thelordofcringe]

@Professor Brink honestly it was idiotic of them not to migrate north. Radiation doesn't magically spread around, its localized very close to the actual blasts. It's why you can walk around Chernobyl today and 90%+ of the city is totally safe, mainly closed down because no one wants to pay for a meter by meter search for radioactive hot spots and clean them up.

[@basilbrush9075]

They could speak english, just a very strong sheffield accent

[@stalfithrildi5366]

@@basilbrush9075 da't reit da knooas. Da ant gorra coney in di snap, asda?

[@SteveTheGhazaRooster]

@@thelordofcringe temperature during a nuclear winter up north would reach upwards of -100 degrees. Nothing could survive that cold. Nothing would grow. Especially not the ragged remnants of humanity.

[@foreskinfairy8975]

The scene where Ruth dies is honestly one of the most fucked up yet effective ways of showing that at that point we're in a world where death is just something that everyone is very familiar with. The "Ruth, work" repeated from Jane and the complete lack of a sign of any expected reaction from Jane. It's not showing that it's a horrible world where KILLING is normal or anything, "just" that people just die, often after working until they drop or starve to death no matter if they're the best protagonist candidate of the film. Certainly a film that got to live rent free in my head for a while after watching it, and considering what it is that just means it did a lot right.

[@michaelhedworth2976]

i think it's also brutal that ruth's child calls her ruth not mum. Ruth probably raised her not as her child which could be why there is a bit of apathy when ruth dies

[@jenneacubero1036]

Makes me wonder how Ruth and Jane interracted prior to the former's death. Did Ruth try to have a bond with her child; maybe finding joy in doing her hair (which would be why Jane took the brush before leaving home), gifting her the scarf or encouraging her to learn things besides farm work. Or, would the filmmakers have Ruth be abusive to show viewers how doomed families and children will be in the fallout? Or would Jimmy be the abusive one had he lived and stayed with Ruth and Jane?

[@honved1]

I think the psychological trauma suffered by Ruth would have seriously reduced her ability to offer any of the things one would associate with a normal mother and daughter relationship

[@crazyleyland5106]

@@jenneacubero1036 I think if there hadn't been World War 3, Jimmy would have played away, and Ruth would have become a single mother. Because Jimmy goes with another girl for one last fling before marriage.

[@clairethomas1096]

Unrelated fact but not many people know that the girl who plays Ruth's daughter actually died in a car crash after the movie was made 😞

[@crazyleyland5106]

@@clairethomas1096 I knew that. I often wonder what happened to the man who played the Traffic warden.

[@tahkoygo4874]

"Threads was not a film Thatcher's government would think highly of" That's how you know it's gonna be a good movie!

[@Thelolmonster2000]

"unless it's a working class snuff film" had me howling

[@sabrinatscha2554]

If you’ve watched the BBC lately, you can see that she was right. They are hard left, and they aren’t shy about it, either.

[@ge2719]

idk, theres not exactly much a government from then could have done if nuclear bombs/missiles hit. labour would have done what exactly? unionised the survivors? created a welfare program to provide the hungry with all the dust they can eat...?

[@pauln6803]

​@@sabrinatscha2554 Wot??? Who have you been listening to? The BBC board of directors are mostly Conservative party friends and donors. Their programming tends to be err, on the "progressive" side but that doesn't make it "hard left". If anything, they allow Tory ministers to peddle unchallenged lies. That's not to say they have an anti Labour bias, really it's more a case of overall quality of journalism and the editing of their political programmes going down the drain.

[@davedogge2280]

Thatcher loved Rambo though.

[@tteokbokkibxtch]

Back in 2006, our social studies teacher put Threads on in class without giving any context whatsoever. I had basically no knowledge of nukes and thought we were watching a movie about Sheffield's industrial issues or something. The scene of the explosion was so unexpected for me that it broke my brain for several days, and I haven't felt horror on that scale since. I hate this movie, but I appreciate it nonetheless, and it has triggered in me nearly two decades of morbid fascination around nuclear warfare. Seems like Threads is becoming more widely known in recent years, and that can only be a good thing, I suppose. All world leaders of nuclear armed countries should be forced to watch this upon taking on the job.

[@CaptainRufus]

This and Grave of the Fireflies.

[@belle194]

My PSHE teacher put Threads on for us in the early 00s when we were in year 8, so 12/13 years old. A few weeks later, one of the parents came to school furious because her son had been taking their food and burying it in the woods 💀the poor lady thought she was going mad because her pasta kept disappearing.. The school put the lad through counselling and the teacher got a bollocking for showing us so young.

[@vladjones2446]

‘World Leaders’ don’t necessarily experience empathy/disgust/revulsion like you or I unfortunately.

[@tteokbokkibxtch]

@Vlad Jones Idk, The Day After (1983) supposedly had a profound effect on Reagan, and we can probably agree he was an absolute dick with little empathy. It's worth a shot.

[@matthewsmith2979]

This movie affected me in the same way. Untill I joined the military and later studying at Uni. I learned that the reality is far different, that many of the things believed to be true are not. Like nuclear winter and the amount of fallout or how long the radiation lasts.

[@JanetSnakehole28]

I'm old enough to remember when we had leaflets from the Tories on what to do if the bomb dropped, including a terrifyingly matter of fact section on handling dead relatives. We were shown 'When the Wind Blows' in school too, which is basically 'Threads, but make it a cartoon, y'know for the kiddies'. You know 'Threads' is grim when bleak misery-fest 'The Day After' feels like a lighthearted alternative.

[@facecuck9953]

Fear is the mind killer all governments know this, take the last few years for example. Look at the amount of control gained simply by sowing fear.

[@planetdisco4821]

Goddamn the graphic novel terrified me as a kid…

[@kaasmeester5903]

@@planetdisco4821 I never saw the film as a kid but we did get the graphic novel, I think from my grandparents. "Here's some light reading, sonny, enjoy". But yeah... Next to Threads, The Day After is like a Disney feel-good movie.

[@chrislaing1395]

Hah, yeah. I saw Threads (just) before WTWB as my parents taped them both in order to show me them a few years later. Made an impression.

[@_Jay_Maker_]

Both _Threads_ and _Come and See_ are two of my favorite films that I will almost never, ever watch again. Ruth's Mother looking out the window as the bombs drop only to instantly burst into flames in the middle of her living room in front of her family has really stuck with me.

[@ass_ass_in6365]

@Molly Pop um that's not a doll...

[@justacrittic1578]

I think the woman who wets herself as the bomb drops sticks with me, the sense of fear and doom. Seeing a grown woman, fancily dressed just lose herself in barely a second before she dies. It feels weird, inapropriate, scary, sad, and almost silly in a sense. Age and status doesn't matter, the bomb will reduce us to children, then animals, and then to nothing.

[@ass_ass_in6365]

@Molly Pop all good.

[@sceligator]

@mollypop6887 That wasn't her doll I'm afraid.

[@placeholdernameisplacehold7671]

@@ass_ass_in6365 I mean, it was a doll, but it was not meant to represent a doll

[@Mishima505]

Sad note: Victoria O’Keefe, who played Jane, sadly died in a car crash in 1990. She was only 21 years old. Who knows what she would have gone on to achieve had she lived.

[@TheCapefarewell]

I think I truly adore Ryan's ability to convey the empathy and compassion of very human stories, no matter what movie he is covering. Much like this film, his videos seem to have "perfect pacing".

[@signeaarejrgensen61]

Very true! It does make me want to give him a hug, and maybe cover something more fun sometimes 🙏

[@SteveSmith-wk9dx]

It's hard to express the impression this left on me and my contemporaries. As saw this, as broadcast, as a teenager. We'd entered the 80s with the full expectation that nuclear war really could happen. We'd read 'Protect and Survive' and heard the informational radio broadcasts. Threads was a possibility as real to us next year's summer holiday.

[@simonh6371]

Yeah but lets be honest we lived in a grimmer bleaker world then. Public information films directed at kids were scary a.f. and so were some kids TV programmes. The kid going to get his frisbee from the pylon.

[@RichWoods23]

Given the two recessions and two bouts of high unemployment which Thatcher happily imposed upon the populace as part of her rabid deregulation and anti-union policies, all designed to help her wealthy backers become ever wealthier, for many of us the idea that next year might contain a summer holiday was a fading hope. Still, never mind: once she was gone we had John Major's Cones Hotline to look forward to. And it's not like she kicked off a housing shortage which to this day still hasn't been resolved, because that would be madness.

[@simonh6371]

@@RichWoods23 The housing crisis which was exacerbated by Bliar.

[@paulsillanpaa8268]

One brief moment that's both funny and tragic comes at the moment when the alarms go off as bombs drop. There's a whole series of rapid cuts to different characters (named and unnamed) and where they are at that exact moment, and one poor guy is on the toilet. You don't see anything excessive, you don't even see the guy's face. There's just this moment of the guy blurting out something like 'Oh Christ!' and frantically hiking up his pants before it cuts away. And it's like, damn. On top of everything else, the bomb dropped while you were in the bathroom. Forget composing yourself to meet your death with dignity. You won't be found kneeling in the church, or holding a loved one. You were taking a shit, and the best you can hope for is that your corpse isn't found with its pants down. I genuinely feel for that poor dude.

[@simonh6371]

At any given moment millions on the planet are taking a shit.

[@newbornassassin7291]

That scene is super british 😂 the bombs go off and in his u.k accent he says "bloody hell" amd runs for cover haha

[@captainwing]

I’ve read a lot about nuclear weapons and potential war, this movie really does cover a lot of the darkest elements of it for the survivors. When the bombs do finally drop, the lucky ones will be the ones who died instantly.

[@matthewsmith2979]

Except for those living in rural areas or were sheltered. Only those near big city targets would suffer the worst.

[@captainwing]

@@matthewsmith2979 Fallout, infrastructure damage and a breakdown of supply chains would ensure everyone suffers. There are also more than enough remote bases all over every country to ensure many rural areas would be targeted, likely with multiple warheads.

[@matthewsmith2979]

@@captainwing fallout only comes from ground burst and wouldn't be widespread. Most rural areas are capable of becoming self-sufficient fairly quickly, most even have plans for that. The remote bases are potential targets, yes, but aren't as many as there once were.

[@captainwing]

@@matthewsmith2979 what makes you think there wouldn’t be ground bursts? They are particularly useful for destroying defended targets like military installations where assets and personnel are often underground. Most cities would likely get a mixture of multiple ground and air bursts to ensure total destruction. Fallout would certainly be an issue in any full scale nuclear war. Check any nuclear attack plan and it will involve both, not to mention enough warheads to ensure any duds have a redundancy. I agree that in certain areas of countryside you’d be better off, but only for a few days at most before either fallout or the collapse of society affected you. That’s not even considering nuclear winter or firestorms.

[@matthewsmith2979]

@@captainwingrecent research have shown that both firestorms and nuclear winter won't occur. Yes there will be both ground and air bursts, but ground bursts will be reserved for hardened targets. That is the newest plan. Reduced armaments and improved anti missile systems have made it necessary to try to create as much destruction as they can to the target. Not to mention that there are no longer armaments with yields in excess of 1.5 megatons. Indeed most are 1 megaton or less. As I said before most rural areas can become self-sufficient quite easily and are often made up of people who can live off the land. They already have there own communities that would continue to function regardless of any outside government. I do admit that I'm talking about the US and I know that things are different elsewhere.

[@Carols989]

something about how they were teaching the post-bomb children really gets me

[@Carols989]

@mollypop6887 the absolute lack of trying I think. Like no adults at all cared about them, to the point of not even doing baby talk cuz you see these kids can barely talk. Usually seeinf new generations represent hope, a new future, on Threads ia just downhill

[@rebeccagibbs4128]

considering all the adults were shell shocked and just drained of humanity i thought it was a nice touch that they all spoke broken english and were poorly educated

[@RedHazeCh]

The "education" wasn't meant for the children. the things they're taught didn't exist anymore and didn't matter for their daily struggle. It's for comforting the pre-apocalypse generation, the people who long for a glimpse of their previous life to come back

[@midnightmosesuk]

I was born in the 60's and grew up in the Cold War era. Being a young boy during that time was weird, the fact that nuclear war was a dreadful possibility was just a fact of life. You'd go about your life, attending school, playing with friends, watching TV but it was always in the back of your mind. Occasionally it would be a topic of discussion among friends or family and ultimately the conclusion was that, if the worst happened, we were going to die, if we were lucky that is. The government would put out information on how to deal with such an event but they were seen as inadequate by the vast majority of people. We may have been poor but we weren't stupid. The "Protect and Survive" booklet suggested sheltering under a door, removed from its hinges and leant against a wall, with sandbags piled up on the outside to protect the occupant against the blast. They also suggested we keep a supply of black bin bags to put the dead into so they could be left outside your house for orderly collection. How very British of us. I watched this film when it was shown on the BBC and it scared the living shit out of me and everyone else who saw it. It was a big topic of conversation, from schoolyard to office. It made the unthinkable suddenly thinkable and imparted more facts about the realities of nuclear Armageddon than any government information campaign. It made the papers and the TV news. I don't think I can emphasise the impact it had. Now it's receiving so much more interest, probably because of the current situation, it's time to televise it again and even show it in schools. 30 years of peace may have dulled some people's fear of the apocalypse of nuclear war, they need reminding.

[@thepanpiper7715]

One of my favourite things in the film is how every time we go back to the bunker it's more and more empty. It's easily to overlook as the confines of the medium - only so many people you can fit on the set, no point having actors there if they're not doing anything, but once you do notice it it's harrowing. Like, there's never any comment, explanation or even passing mention. All those other people we saw last time are probably just in the next room - but in what state? It just really drives home the hopelessness and ineffectiveness of pretty much all the institutions that initially survive. What use are they to the people when they can barely get themselves rescued?

[@archiermanilo23]

"We're no longer in sheffield...we're basically in hell." 'dontsayitthisisaseriousvideoaboutaseriousfilmnowisnotthetimeforsatire' WHAAAT'S THE DIF-

[@bazdog4464]

Lmao as someone who lives in Sheffield this made me laugh

[@sethzard]

I love that the Hello Fresh advert falls under the label "introducing the nightmare"

[@satireisnotdead5804]

Bro, I'm so glad you got to this, this film is probably the most brutal I've ever seen, to the point where horror films don't scare me anymore because I know they're fiction, but this was and still is a grave threat to humanity.

[@matthewsmith2979]

Not really. What we know now about nuclear war shows us a very different reality. For starters, no nuclear winter, the worst of the radiation is localized and would be gone within two weeks. Fallout would only be a threat around ground burst sites. Which, seeing as airburst is more destructive, would be few. I'm not saying everything would be fine, I really just don't like fear mongering.

[@jazzx251]

@@matthewsmith2979 So the fallout from Chernobyl was just "localised" was it? We're still dealing with it,all over Europe, nearly 40 years later Nuclear missiles are designed to be as destructive as possible - WAY worse than a nuclear accident at Chernobyl ... do the mathematics

[@matthewsmith2979]

@@jazzx251 a reactor meltdown or explosion is so very different from a weapon detonation. The nature of the materials used makes for a longer lasting radioactive fallout. Weather plays a greater role as well. But seeing that most detonations would be airburst then the effects of fallout would be minimal.

[@alboreham388]

There is simply NO situation which warrants the arming of traffic wardens

[@freakyzed8467]

And here in the USA every cop, criminal and in-between is armed to the teeth. Sigh.

[@lynneclarke6265]

Well, I guess there is when there’s a shortage of police and army personnel.

[@alboreham388]

@@lynneclarke6265 you just have to be a jobsworth sociopath to be a traffic warden. There's no aspect of civic duty involved. Its just wierdos who can't do anything else and enjoy ruining people's day.

[@simonwoodthrillerwriter]

I was a teenager when this came out. It is so bleak that I don't know a person who isn't ruined by this thing. It's not a film I ever want to revisit. I'm guessing THREADS is an extension of an episode of the 80's science magazine show, QED. The episode was called A Guide to Armageddon and was directed by Mick Jackson also. It's a 30-minute what-if a single nuke is dropped on St. Paul's in London. It's a bleak scientific breakdown of what would happen and brilliantly done. So much so, the episode was played during a science lesson at school for our teacher to discuss the science of the situation. Threads and A Guide to Armageddon have always felt companion pieces.

[@matthewsmith2979]

Our understanding of the science has changed. It's not as bleak as once believed.

[@simonh6371]

I don't know about ruined, I was 13 when I watched it. But we lived in a grimmer bleaker time back then in so many ways. The 90s were nice as the threat was gone for the first time since WW2, although there was war in Yugoslavia but that seemed a long way away and tbh people in the UK didn't much care about it, we didn't get nearly as many refugees as places like Germany and Austria. But the US military industrial complex needed feeding hence we've been in more or less a permanent state of war now since 2001.

[@mcewanalex]

I also recommend "On the Eighth Day", a BBC documentary that aired the same night as Threads about Nuclear Winter. It's on KZbin.

[@richardm7004]

@@matthewsmith2979 If anything, the nuclear winter effects were likely underestimated; a "limited" nuclear conflict between India and Pakistan is now considered sufficient to lower temperatures for a decade or more enough to more than halve world food production.

[@Dynexsil]

This makes me think of the Doctor Who episode "Turn Left" where Britain slowly falls apart after repeat threats and disasters

[@geekyscifitv8208]

I would say it's almost a certainty that 'Turn Left' was influenced by Threads. I asked Graeme Harper whether it was an influence, he replied "You would have to ask Russell (T. Davies), I've never seen Threads". When you look at the similarities, it's obvious. Donna virtually becomes Ruth. Turn Left is Threads for kids.

[@sodaodaoda]

Turn Left really fucked with me when I first watched it, great episode

[@dewdropmushroom]

I saw Threads for the first time as a young teenager, either 13 or 14, because my dad was watching it. I don't remember too much about what happens in it but the chills I felt seeing some of the imagery are burned into my memory. Just thinking about it feels me with a cold, sick sensation, and although part of me wants to see it again I doubt I will just because I know how it will make me feel.

[@freakyzed8467]

Same here, friend. I remember watching this the same way. Not completely understanding the whole narrative, but also not wanting to understand it. Coming back to it as an adult is..... more enlightening but much less comforting.

[@waluigiyaoi6246]

Deadman’s letters is a Soviet film that’s hellishly dark and probably the most realistic post nuclear scenario I’ve ever seen

[@PsilocybinCocktail]

Never heard of it but thanks for the recommendation. "To The Lake" is a contemporary Russian apocalyptic thriller that I'm amazed ever got made as it presents the government, police and security authorities in such a bad light.

[@KingOfGaymes]

@@PsilocybinCocktail probably just the truth then :/

[@inspectregadget2856]

Thanks for the rec! But I was not prepared to read "WaluigiYaoi" right after watching fucking Threads💀

[@lynneclarke6265]

@@PsilocybinCocktailI watched To The Lake on Netflix - it’s really good and, again, it pulled no punches.

[@nopenotme1138]

Didn't think I was ever going to find a movie more depressing than When The Wind Blows, but it seems you've offered up a contender. 👍

[@tetsuolionheart9611]

Good double-bill

[@Stand_By_For_Mind_Control]

@@tetsuolionheart9611 You have to double bill When the Wind Blows with 'There Will Come Soft Rains', the Soviet equivalent.

[@tetsuolionheart9611]

@@Stand_By_For_Mind_Control Haven't heard of that, I'll have a look thanks.

[@Stand_By_For_Mind_Control]

@@tetsuolionheart9611 It's on YT, give it a look-see :)

[@paultapping9510]

🎶pack up your worries in your old kit bag, and smile, smile smile 🎶

[@Ohlookitsdaisyy]

Barefoot Gen is one of the most horrifying films I’ve ever seen and it’s also about nuclear bombs. The use of sound (and in some cases, the absence of it) makes for a remarkably harrowing experience.

[@pancrepe5576]

But it's more hopeful at least.

[@crazyleyland5106]

There's silence in parts of Threads- parts of the bombing scene, and right at the very end.

[@kcharles8857]

I watched this film when it first came out. Bits of it have lived in my brain ever since.

[@mayra3277]

Last October I watched Countdown to Looking Glass, When the Wind Blows, World War Three, Threads, and a few other movies all within a week. Threads was the scariest of them. A month later - I lived near Ottawa at the time - the emergency alert sirens were tested. Without announcement. I had just moved to the country and did not know this could happen. It was November 16, less than 24 hours after two rockets had crashed in Poland. At that moment I was legitimately convinced that the world was about to end. It only lasted a minute before I figured out what was actually happening... but I didn't stop shaking for a few hours.

[@skylx0812]

White Sands, NM is just next door to the east. Here in central AZ, my mom used to say they'd see the flash whenever there was a bomb test in New Mexico. There weren't as many street lights as there are now, the desert was pitch black back then and night sky brilliant with stars. She said there was a odd glow in the sky to the east at night. You couldn't see it if you looked directly at it, but you'd see it in the corner of your eye. She said, to her it felt like there was something there, something big, looking. Then the sunrise would be brilliant the next morning, she couldn't really describe it, she'd say you had to see it yourself.

[@chrishellize]

My English teacher showed our class this when I was about 14 or so. Im now 50 and I never forgot this movie. I still think of it from time to time. I thought of it recently in the context of Russia and the Ukraine. It remains the most depressing gut wrenching movie I ever saw. I'm actually a little surprised my teacher was allowed to show it to us.

[@eccremocarpusscaber5159]

Our history teacher showed us this 9 years after release. I didn’t sleep well for many weeks after and the film still sits in the back of my head. I don’t know why I come back to this sort of thing, but I feel I’m compelled to revisit it to keep it in mind. Especially now when the threat of similar situations feel so terribly close. God help us all. We must enjoy every moment we have, and hope the worst never occurs. Life is precious.

[@Edgeworthscravat]

Thank you for covering this. It's easily the most terrifying film I've ever seen, simply because of its brutality. It's unwavering visceral depiction of post nuclear war life. How there is no happy ending, no gentle story telling. Just: You want a nuclear war? Fine. Here's what one looks like. Now watch.

[@eddiew2325]

Dude I ain't afraid of a silly nuclear me. I'm indestructible

[@simonh6371]

Wish this had been on a permanent loop though in NATO HQ and the White House post 1991 and we wouldn't be where we are now. NATO should have disbanded in 1991.

[@cloacky4409]

@@simonh6371 So should Russia.

[@simonh6371]

@@cloacky4409 Well newsflash they did in a manner of speaking, the USSR broke up and so did the Warsaw Pact/Eastern Bloc from 1991.

[@cloacky4409]

@@simonh6371 yet russia is still a danger

[@fredo1070]

Watched Threads again recently after seeing it during an RE Lesson at school in 1984. Still one of the most terrifying, depressing and nihilistic films ever made.

[@beckycegg9767]

I just watched this film and was thinking it would be the perfect film for you to cover! Fantastic film, absolutely hated it.

[@ass_ass_in6365]

Yeah I watched it last week, it hasn't left my mind since.

[@adamcunningham6746]

I saw Threads when I was young and couldn't watch it again for years as it was so terrifying. This along with The Road, have got to be the two most bleak, most depressing, most realistic visions of a post-apocalyptic world. I know 100% that I wouldn't want to survive. To have to live in such a broken and dark world, robbed of the beauty of nature and life around us, would just not be worth it. I'd feel sorry for those born afterwards, never knowing how lovely Earth had been. I hope it never happens 🙏

[@robertward7382]

My grandad got rounded up shopping in Sheffield to be an impromptu extra for threads. You see him briefly in the film in a queue.

[@thomaswictor1751]

The remake of On the Beach with Armand Asante, Rachel Ward, and Bryan Brown has the greatest depiction ever of what it would be like to await certain death by nuclear fallout. It's far more hard-hitting than Threads in that it's quieter, making the final gut punch that much more impactful. Give it a watch.

[@horrorshiddengems527]

This film has become almost a kind of urban legend, it's one of those films you're parents tell you about with how disturbing it is, it's almost like the Exorcist when it comes to its aura of 'scariest film'

[@talynhastime9343]

To me, the scariest aspect of any disaster or end-of-the-world scenario is that ignorance of danger that swells into uncertainty, and finally bursts into a cascade of panic as the institutions we rely upon to protect us from harm find themselves ill-equipped to deal with the threat.

[@habition]

i can't remember the last time i finished a movie feeling as physically sick and full of dread as i was finishing this one. i don't think i can ever watch this movie again, but i'm glad i watched it at least once to remind myself that i can still be disturbed by movies. it put a lot into perspective to be so thoroughly ripped out of my little bubble of life to remember how REAL this danger is. i still haven't fully recovered from seeing this.

[@DunedinMultimedia2]

same

[@Mad_Oph]

I've wondered for a long while when you'd finally get around to this one. The cruel matter-of-factness gives it so much more punch than most horror, and the emotional damage is just out for blood. Threads is probably, for me, the closest film reaction to receiving a critical medical diagnosis in real life.

[@balss248]

Glad to see that more people will check this out. I wish I saw this film in college, it really wants me to get back to film making

[@derrattenjunge]

There is a similar project from the german Public broadcast called "Der dritte Weltkrieg", which concentrates more on the military aspect of how WW3 will unfold before nuclear weapons are used

[@dorianpiloto]

this movie makes me think of the way Shin Godzilla portrays its destruction, but of course on a more depressingly apocalyptic angle

[@madmarkc275]

Yesssss!! Shin Godzilla was surprisingly bleak in its portrayal of pure destruction...especially the Tokyo at night scene!!

[@davidj.thompson]

I remember a real UK official saying that "Stand and defend" should have been "Lie down and die". "The War Game" was presented to my high school on Remembrance Day one year and a lot of students came out looking shocked.

[@g3ggles1]

Just finished watching this movie and it still haunts me days later. The harrowing and bleak atmosphere that is portrayed from the beginning and then right the way through really hits home, waking up the most jaded person. What really hits home is the portrayal is so raw and believable, the beginning is so tense with this distant threat lingering in the background and then when the bombs suddenly hit unexpectedly, the aftermath and the descent of society, highlights how quickly it can all fall apart and how fragile it all is.

[@cow_tools_]

After watching that film, I was freaked out to my core. Felt like my life was changed. Truly a unique impact. I didn't think about any part of society quite the same way.

[@Blotto105]

Was surprised this video wasn’t called: “Why Threads Broke Me”

[@1977Suspiria]

I find Mike Leigh's Naked to be the bleakest British film but Threads is messed up for sure. The Day After is like the American movie equivalent of Threads, that's pretty good too. Shôhei Imamura's Black Rain is also fantastic.

[@thehitherto5348]

For the Russian equivalent, check out Letters From a Dead Man. I think it nearly out-bleaks Threads as the entire world depicted has turned into a radioactive hellhole.

[@1977Suspiria]

@@thehitherto5348 Don't know of that one. I'll check it out. 👍

[@alboreham388]

Maggie!

[@CaptainRufus]

Day After is incredibly depressing and miserable. But its considered optimistic by the standards of such things.

[@theslanderousgent4475]

I’ve said it on other videos studying this film, but holy shit growing up in Sheffield just makes this movie hit far too close to home in a literal way. It’s the grim reality that makes it far scarier than any horror movie

[@thomasjess5029]

There's also another TV movie called The Day After, but it's set in the U.S. it's also a good movie. I swear though, the first time I felt existential dread of human extinction was when I watched On The Beach, a movie from the 1959 set in Australia. It was bone-chilling.

[@NashaWriter85]

I just need to remind everyone of this example of Linguistic excellence by Ryan : "The only way Thatcher herself would think highly of 'Threads is if she were to view it as a working-class snuff film."

[@aidanfarnan4683]

This is without a doubt up there with "A Serbin Film" in just the darkest, bleakest, most upsetting things ever put to film... A film where good food is in such short supply Rats become a delicacy you would haggle for...and you got it sponsored by "Hello fresh!" You win, sir, you win. Edit: at 3:58 on the clock you left on the catption "Introducing the nightmare”, and it just makes it look like you're really, really afraid of halloumi, and that the funniest thing I’ve seen all week: you’ve made my bloody day.

[@KingOfGaymes]

Don’t compare this to that trash movie, Serbian film was just trying to be shocking and terrible. This movie has actual meaning.

[@CinemaMacabro]

When I first watched Threads, I was living in the Lower East Side of Manhattan in 1984, I had gotten a cold and stood home from school. Being of Puerto Rican descent and living in a neighborhood plagued by crime, and the Aids epidemic I was a pretty tough kid, however then I watched threads, I was 7 years old and realized my mortality watching this film. Suddenly my cold war anxiety kicked in and Nuclear Annihilation became my biggest fear. There are a lot of images that burned in my mind, The Elderly man playing with the LCD game and watching, the old man laying out the Star Wars Figures like they were the family he lost. The Nuclear winter with people struggling to farm crops, and most of all Ruth's cataract-ridden eyes on her deathbed. I will always see this as Dantes's inferno, from the Hospital scene (Which I'll never forget) to people dying planting crops, and that officers bandaged face keeping the people in order, Threads def fucked me up and made me fear nuclear war.

[@simonh6371]

The ''officer'' was a Traffic Warden, like I believe you used to have ''Meter Maids'' checking for parking infractions. That's why it's so chilling, a traffic warden with 7.62mm SLR, standard issue British Army rifle of the era.

[@CinemaMacabro]

@@simonh6371 I didn't realize those rifles were 7.62, like an AK , those are definitely crowd stoppers

[@simonh6371]

@@CinemaMacabro AK47 is 7.62 x 39mm. Old NATO calibre (FN FAL, G3, SLR) was 7.62 x 51mm. The SLR outgunned the AK in proxy Cold War conflicts in Africa back in the day i.e. Angola, Rhodesia, Mozambique.

[@appenginenode]

I lived in Sheffield when this was filmed and released. It leaves an unnerving feeling every time I watch it. And I can't help to feel incredibly sad even though I don't live there anymore. It's like a nostalgia trip in sadness. Excellently portrayed. Gritty (cliche I know, but true with this film or no other)

[@LordLOC]

I'd like to think between this movie and The Day After, a serious nuclear exchange was averted for a long time. I mean we've probably all heard the story of Ronald Reagen telling The Day After's director how important his movie was to peace finally happening between the US and USSR. I'd imagine some leader in some country saw these two movies and was like, yeah screw that. Too bad it seems we have leaders around the globe now that have either forgotten these movies, or just don't care anymore. Or have never seen them of course, but that's another story.

[@sceligator]

This film hits even harder as I'm from a place between Sheffield and Buxton which both feature heavily. I don't think any film has ever made me feel so incredibly uncomfortable and hopeless.

[@gottagetitgaming7759]

I am 49 yrs old and just saw this film for the first time a couple months ago and by the end I just felt drained of all my happiness.. I love the other film of that time " The Day After ". I am glad I finally saw this film, but I do not know if I can ever bring myself to watch it again.

[@aliservan7188]

I watched this as a kid, in an upstairs room, by myself. I watched it in shocked silence until the final couple of scenes, then lost it, crying like the baby never would. It was horrific.

[@MiniLemmy]

Threads actually hammered home that it was better to NOT survive an all out nuclear attack - the survivors were very much the unlucky ones

[@postpunkpoet4888]

I’m from the city it’s set in, and seeing places i recognise get decimated is genuinely more terrifying than i can put into words. I’ve warned friends and family to not watch it, even though it’s a masterpiece, simply because it’s haunting.

[@lynneclarke6265]

Yes, I’m from Leeds and it makes you wonder how many cities escaped the worst….not many, I think.

[@mulzer_xxx5857]

The commentary you explore from “the aftermath” is bone chilling yet brilliantly poetic. Amazing work you delicately craft, big ups my man its always consistently improving.- dedicated viewer

[@colinmcom14]

I just rewatched The War Game recently and was again blown away by how powerful that program was. Sounds like I need to check this out too. Thanks!

[@thehitherto5348]

I remember I wanted a sequel to this, although it would probably look like Fallout at best. The war depicted was bad for the entire world, but the UK got 210 megatons from a 3000 megaton exchange which seemed incredibly harsh for such a relatively small area.

[@simonh6371]

A nuclear war at that time wouldn't have been for the entire world, just NATO vs WP (Warsaw Pact) so USSR, Europe & USA. There were no other fully fledged nuclear powers at that time so it would have been a waste launching a bomb on Angola or Argentina. Even now the Southern Hemisphere below the equator would probably be fine.

[@Treeeboy]

Consoling myself through the nightmare by clinging onto the fact that Thatcher definetly died.

[@jasonhunter2819]

This and The Day After are my go to answers for 'what's the scariest movie you've ever seen', while not being 'films' per se they are far more horrifying and soul-crushing than any other bit of fiction I've ever come across. I think any and every senior member of government should be made to watch these and give a report on them afterward to ensure they paid attention the whole way through.

[@bigexecchef]

I had to watch this at school. I was 14. It scared the pants off me. I never forgot it. Even today, it is very thought-provoking. Imagine showing it to 14 year olds today at school. Watched a safety film about train tracks to. Kids in a tunnel running a race and a train comes through. Any one else remember that?

[@sherandeputt3158]

There's only one positive of this movie. It will make you appreciate and be grateful of normal life, little things like clean water, fresh food, relationships and clean air.

[@MonsieurSansHonte]

I believe the implication at the end of Threads is that Jane’s baby is stillborn. One final kick in the teeth, from this absolutely brutal film.

[@deavacui2825]

This and propably somehow disfigured, given how scared Jane looked (and about to scream) in the final scene.

[@cheepytiger]

Never forget that real people have already lived through what was depicted in this film. It's not a hypothetical scenario, in that the unfathomable destruction, agony, body horror, death, generations of trauma and terror is what the people living in Hiroshima and Nagasaki experienced when they actually had nuclear bombs dropped on them. Not to mention the countless other people whose lives were ruined by nuclear weapons testing around places like Bikini Atoll (Castle Bravo was abhorrent) and more. As horrifying as this film is (and I applaud it and think more should see it), I think it's also our duty to remember that *this has actually happened to real people *. It must never happen again. Thank you for covering this so thoughtfully and sensitively Ryan, you're much braver than me!

[@seamussmyth1928]

Very interesting artistic choice to spell it as 'Treads' in the thumbnail, ryan.

[@RyanHollinger]

Easy engagement ;)

[@thatkidwiththehoodie]

Can’t even make an Irish joke about it cuz he’s from NI. The nerve.

[@danialyousaf6456]

@@RyanHollinger missed the opportunity to have the video be sponsored by vessi

[@johnsutherland5314]

I remember having an incomplete illegal download many years ago, it cut off just before the hour mark as martial law kicked in, so when i finally got to purchase the DVD, what I hadnt seen before of the actual bomb drop and after effects made an incredible mark on me. I still remember the credits rolling after seeing the complete film for the first time - that numb empty feeling, sitting in silence contemplating what I had just watched. Very powerful.

[@JennJenn_86]

The way you put together your thoughts and express them in your videos is amazing. I'm usually listening instead of watching while I work and your videos always grab my attention and make me need to take a quick break. Great job sir, beautiful work

[@FigmentForever]

2 Words for anyone who has seen this movie: “Gives it”. Perfectly exemplifies what the tone of the movie encapsulates & the bleakness the movie shows. Among all the scenes of the movie, this one - almost at the close of the film - really still sits with me.

[@stalfithrildi5366]

It's "Give us it" which is Sheffield dialect for "Give it to me." Coney is a (now old fashioned) dialect word for rabbit across the north of England

[@crazyleyland5106]

@@stalfithrildi5366 do they call babies "babbies" in this part of the world? As in "Babby coming!"

[@alexxC37]

That movie came out when I was 14 I think. Even though I grew up watching all kinds of horror movies that didn’t bother me a bit, this really freaked me out. I wasn’t ready for what the movie contained. Very bleak, very depressing and if you’re already afraid of nuclear war like I was it’s something that stays with you. The part where the bomb hit was so awful. It makes you imagine being helpless like that. Scary stuff.

[@placeholdernameisplacehold7671]

You are too old to have an anime pfp lol

[@JuniorD1975]

I saw this when I was 10 years old when it was broadcast. The images of the milk bottles melting on the doorstep stuck in my mind. I bought the dvd remaster a few years ago and it was still as powerful watching it now as a mid forties man. The grey north weather makes it even more bleak. When the guy see’s the mushroom cloud and says ‘They’ve bloody done it’ says it all. Who would have thought that the director would go on to direct The Bodyguard! Let’s hope they never ‘bloody do it’ 🫣

[@stopthephilosophicalzombie9017]

"There are images too horrible to show on KZbin." Meanwhile, Threads is playing on KZbin in its entirety, uncensored.

[@flyboyfien3654]

Hey Ryan, you should cover the American movie "The Day After" next. It shares the same niche as this film, but this time from the American perspective. The visuals of the missiles launching from the silos, the bombers launching from the airfields, and the final nuclear explosions are absolutely bonechilling. I'd love to see it on this channel

[@chigthequig]

It's tame compared to Threads. I happen to live about 4 hours from the town that gets destroyed, Midwest used to be and probably still is filled with silos. People think they have grain in them PS they don't.

[@andu1854]

Threads appear to have more artistic freedom, Day After was shown on broadcast Tv, so it was toned down, but they cover the fallout and how desolate it would become and Jason robards just crying at the end is heartbreaking

[@TheUluxian]

Jason Robards was amazing in that film.

[@thelordofcringe]

@chigthequig they're everywhere not just the Midwest lol. Yall need to leave a city once in awhile.

[@chigthequig]

@@thelordofcringe I don't live in a city dude. I live in a small town in Iowa. Which is guess where?? The fucking Midwest.

[@xyz7572]

Hiya Ryan, I have a relatively unknown recommendation for you! Before Guillermo del Toro started making mainstream Hollywood movies, he did Spanish horror movies, and they are very worth checking out even if you don’t speak a word of Spanish (like me) One of the movies from that Guillermo era is The Devil’s Backbone (El Espinazo Del Diablo) and I’d love to see your take on it! It’s a gothic horror movie set in an orphanage during the Spanish Civil War, and I’ve never seen anyone else talk about it but I think the early Guillermo movies should really be talked about more than they are. I hope you check it out! Lots of love, and a cheeky wee hoyever, from one of your longtime subscribers 🙂

[@TheChugg11]

Good example of Fridge Horror. After first watching it, I thought:"That's it?" Until...later that night, out of nowhere two days later and so on and so forth.

[@fluffykitty3295]

I think a major reason why I enjoy horror so much despite having anxiety is that it's all in a controlled environment. I know full well that the things on screen can't hurt me. "Threads" doesn't have that same safety net, and that terrifies me, despite not having watched in full - and I'd prefer to keep it that way, because my existential dread about my future and my home country's future is already bad enough as it is.

[@boobootittleman7299]

Fuck that final freeze frame haunts me

[@elricofmelnibone425]

Definitely one of the few films that actually bothered me, especially that final shot

[@651702471]

Saw it last year alongside with The Day After, The Wargames and When the Wind Blows, it had absolutely dread feeling that lingering in ya mind after ya watch it, I don’t think I will forget how the movie ended with essentially saying there’s no future for humanity.

[@LemonScentedSharpie]

I'll have to add this to my watch list for when I'm feeling better. This seems like a movie to be tackled when one is in a good headspace. Great vid as always!

[@martinsear5470]

I recall this being shown at school back in the 80's, they had to send a letter home to make sure parents where ok with their kids watching it.

[@too_oden2199]

Very on topic considering the reality that the Doomsday clock was just set to 90 seconds to midnight.

[@rebeccagibbs4128]

like the worst album from that jared leto band lol

[@morgana_murmures]

Hi, Ryan. I’m writing it with a heavy heart, but I have to. I’m following you for years already. I’m from Ukraine. I was waken up with the bombing today. And every day none of us know what will be, we just try to live and help and donate and do our best… but now I understand the Threads too much, I’ve watched it firstly when I was 17, now I’m 33. That is really something impossibly creepy to understand that terror-russia can use a nuke weapon, because we don’t want to give up. I just really understand. And it’s scary a lot. I only can hope people finally understand the situation.

[@xxscribbledragonxx9744]

I know it means nothing, but my thoughts are with you

[@morgana_murmures]

@@xxscribbledragonxx9744 thank you for your support💙💛

[@morgana_murmures]

@Chandller Burse thank you! We are peaceful nation and we didn't want or start this one too, but we have no other chance only to defend our land and freedom. Just look how many times russia attacked other countries in last 20 years, this is shocking...

[@ericthomas6726]

Long live Ukraine.

[@declanjones8888]

Long Live Ukraine!

[@Alex-cw3rz]

If there is anything Threads has taught me it's become a Traffic Warden

[@montybarko8461]

😂