I've just watched the film 'Threads' for the first time. If you haven't seen it already, don't watch it!

[worriedhidinginplainsight]

I have been following some of the 'threads' on MN regarding people being scared of WW3/Nuclear war. Personally I don't worry about it. I have always been firmly in the camp of not worrying about something that I have zero control over. Also not worrying about something in the future, to the detriment of today. However, I noticed this particular film mentioned a few times during the discussions so today, out of curiosity, I decided to watch it.

What a mistake that was! It was a horrible terrifying watch. I would not recommend that anyone else watches it! Quell your curiosity.

It's just left me feeling really horrible and feeling like as humans we are all so vulnerable. I also felt very worried about my cat, if anything like that were to happen! Innocent animals would suffer so much because of very dangerous humans. If humans didn't exist, and the world was populated by only animals, it would be a much safer and peaceful place.

It did seem like a nuclear bomb would transport the survivors back to medieval times. In a way it has also made me feel that as humans we are pretty amazing, how we have built up and created our societies, technology, engineering. I feel really grateful for what we have.

But overall it was horrible and I wish that I never watched it.

This evening I have found myself on Amazon looking up gas masks, fireproof boxes and googling all about prepping!!

I need to forget about this film!!

The distance in time between Hiroshima& Nagasaki and Threads is about the same as that between Threads and today.

And of course the distance in time between Threads and the Cuban missile crisis is about the same as that between the Cuban missile crisis and Hiroshima & Nagasaki.

So it probably seemed all too possible in the 1980s. And it's all too believable that we could slide towards it again

I still remember the electric pylon ads! And the don't play on railway tracks ones!

I remember when the wind blows and being just so bloody sad. I must have started it thinking oh it’s like the father Xmas animation. Yikes what a mistake that was!

I have never seen threads and don’t intend to. Like human caterpillar or clockwork orange… I can stay naive. Oh and that book ‘The Road’. No thanks.

Yes, just hearing about it and reading a few articles about it a few months ago was enough to send me into a spiral of anxiety and horror! Couldn’t bring myself to watch it. Hope you’re ok!

I know, I remember both adverts clear as day. Still don’t like going near a pylon!

You can't always bury your head in the sand.

Exactly. That was the point and they were effective.

Try to show kids that shit now though and there would be petitions and parents up in arms wanting money for therapy for their kids.

Yes and the industrial silo things that you could fall in!

I watched it recently on IPlayer, didn’t see it when it was originally released. It took me straight back to the fear of growing up in 80’s.

Made to watch it at school - it was shown too late for many of us so a "kindly" teacher videoed it and made us watch it his lesson. Parents wondered why I didn't sleep for weeks after (we were told not to tell our parents) - how different to these days.

You absolutely can. If you are not in a position of power to do anything then do yourself a favour and bury it in deep.

You can't influence or control any of it anyway, so why give yourself a mental breakdown over it?

You'd be surprised how much happier and calm everything seems when you only pay attention to the world you can see around you, and forget the rest.

We were shown it at school when we were about 13/14. Can you imagine them doing that now? I still chuckle about it. What the hell were they thinking!!

Oh yes, the adverts too...power lines.... fireworks...and my favourite was the Aids one, showing gravestones falling over accompanied by the words "Anyone can get aids. Don't die of ignorance"! So of course, I spent much of my childhood terrified of getting Aids!

Xmas Eve was always a cheery little time for us. Watership Down followed by The Christmas Tree. The latter was a particularly uplifting story about nuclear fallout, cancer and a boy dying on Christmas Eve whilst his wolves howled outside and his parents came downstairs to be greeted by all his unopened presents sat wrapped under the tree.
There was also a wonderful little 3 part series on a Saturday or Sunday evening called "RABIES" about a big rabid dog on the loose!

I was at primary school between about 1983 -1989. I don't remember anything about nuclear war fears. But I do remember all of the scary public health adverts, especially AIDS and also one about 'Just say no' to drugs, where some kid got high and then died after doing something stupid....

..... I actually won a national art competition by Tony Hart (Heartbeat) ! It was to design a poster to tell children to keep off railway tracks..... my poster involved a child chasing a stray football onto the tracks and almost getting squished by an oncoming train 😄.... I totally understood the 80s brief!!! I actually won a trip to London with some other young artists and Tony Hart himself!

I can't remember anything at all about the nuclear war threat!!

Safe, was another great film that I saw as a teenager and left me scarred for life. One of the most depressing films ever. I still loathe the sound of a saxophone.

In 1984 my mum read the Radio Times blurb and forbade me to watch it. I was delighted to comply. Id already had a week of nightmares after watching literally 5 minutes of Noah's Castle, a post-dystopian children's drama, when I wasn't supposed to. I think it's fine to shelter children from specific experiences which you know or suspect are too much for them. We talked about current affairs and read the paper etc.

Oooh, Tony Hart! Now that's a claim to fame!

I remember the fridge freezer one where the kids gets stuck in the freezer and you can just hear the voice fading away 😂😂
god I’m surprised that I am normal person after my childhood

I won’t be watching it. I’m very worried about what is going on at the moment and trying to resist the temptation to look on the daily Mail website. I’m most worried for my children. I just want to grow old and live to see my children grow up and know they will be ok. But life seems to be getting more and more uncertain.

Actually, I've just googled it. The program about rabies was actually called 'The Mad Death'. I could have only been 7 or 8 when i watched it. My Grandmother used to make me sit up and watch horror films with her too. Was this just the 80s for you, or were my parents particularly lax?

I watched it recently for the first time and have been thinking about it every day since. A couple of days after when it was still raw were horrible- it had such a traumatic effect on me. Especially with Iran bombing Israel - a mirror of the news reports in the film, it really could escalate in the same way today. I admit to fast forwarding through the hospital scene as I couldn’t cope.

I think about Threads just fleetingly now but it’s actually made me feel more grateful and I’m pleased I watched it now. It’s very powerful. I’ve turned it around positively and thankful for my peaceful and lovely life.

I would love to know that Putin, Trump and Musk have watched it. But I know they won’t have. I am more scared of ignorance of those in power than ever before. I wonder if these powerful men know what it means in reality for everyone on this earth. Because if it happens in Europe and no where else, the whole world would suffer terribly. There really would be no escape. Do they actually know this?

The ignorance is what scares me most and it should be compulsory viewing for anyone in senior political roles. But also I know I have no power so I don’t worry about ww3. I don’t waste my time thinking about it could happen but instead thinking about all the amazing things and opportunities I have and not taking it all for granted.

I think the guy who created it did a massive public service to bring the effects to life so well, so we remember exactly why we want to avoid escalation.

It came out when I was ten, but I didn't see it until almost twenty years later, which I'm eternally grateful for. If I'd seen it at the time, I'd have been scarred for life.

It's a brilliant piece of film making, with a hugely talented team behind it, but, oh my god, it's bleak. It's really hard to stomach, and I'd advise anyone who hasn't seen it to proceed with extreme caution. The American film "The Day After" has a similar premise, but "Threads" makes it look like a Sunday school picnic.

What was it with the 80s?! A particular decade where the powers that be, decided terrifying children was in their best interests?!

@Wahoobafoo Apparently President Reagan watched it, and was extremely moved by it. He began to make much more serious disarmament efforts afterwards.