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Threads - DVD - BBC |
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Written by Jay Creepy
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Monday, 02 June 2014 |


BUY THREADS
ON
DVD
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AKA:
Catastrofe Nuclear, Kun maailma loppuu,
Threads: I imera meta to simera, Fonalak,
Dommedag, Ipotesi sopravvivenza, A Teia
Directed by: Mick Jackson
Written by: Barry Hines
Produced by: Mick Jackson,Graham Massey, Peter
Wolfes, John Purdie
Cinematography by: Andrew Dunn, Paul Morris
Editing by: Jim Latham, Donna Bickerstaff
Special Effects by: John Humphreys, Jan Nethercot,
Peter Wragg
Cast: Reece Dinsdale, Karen Meagher, Rita May, Harry
Beety, David Brierly
Year: 1984
Country: United Kingdom
Language: English
Color: Color
Runtime: 1h 53min
Distributor: BBC
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I still remember
back in the early eighties having vivid nightmares about
mushroom clouds above my street. Probably I was aged around nine
or ten, hearing rumours that the city of Hull was a target for a
warhead due to our city once being a major shipping port,
etcetera, so as a child it does play on you. It was on the
radio, the TV, in magazines and people in the street talked
about the crisis.
Then along came Threads -- a BBC production so chilling,
so merciless, that viewed today it still leaves an impression.
The Day After was good, but retained some mellowness.
When the Wind Blows is a very strong touching message, but
the bad dog of nuclear holocaust movies has to be Threads.
The BBC I assume put it together just to inject sheer terror
into the hearts of everyone watching. When I introduced my
Horror Soulmate to this a few years ago, her face fell,
literally fell. Threads pulls no punches about the
aftermath of a nuclear bomb on any country remaining.
As a spider weaves its web, a narrated introduction explains
just how society is a mass of threads connected and how this can
basically make society weak.
Welcome to Sheffield, UK, 1984. News reports have begun to tell
of building tensions in Iran between the United States and
Russia. The first mention is captured briefly as a teen, Jimmy,
spins his car radio dial as he sits overlooking the city with
his girlfriend, Ruth. Life continues, day by day, regardless of
the news. People sip in their local pub, a papergirl does her
rounds, meanwhile the tabloids lap up the tension.
Jimmy discovers Ruth is pregnant so their parents all meet up,
and they discuss how Jimmy wants to marry Ruth and have a place
of their own.
A typed heading tells us that Sheffield is England's third
largest city with over 54,000 people living there. So as the
United States hint at sending troops to Iran, the Soviet Union
see that as a direct threat. Life still continues, everyone goes
shopping, people go to work. We're introduced to Clive Sutton, a
man who, if war breaks out, is handed governmental powers in the
city. He's making phone calls. Nothing critical, just in case.
The United States have accused the Soviet Union of moving
warheads into their new base in Iran. Jimmy sits in the pub
watching this report and discusses it with his friend. Don't
it scare you what it might lead to? Jimmy says. Meanwhile
Britain commits itself to the Middle East tension. Anti-War
demonstrations march throughout the streets. You cannot win
a nuclear war! shouts a woman.
One day in Iran, B-52's attack and the Russians strike back. In
Sheffield citizens are in the throes of panic buying tinned food
and other items, emptying stores who are upping their prices.
Then a new fight begins, Soviets versus United States all out
attacks on ships. Violence erupts in the streets and many
families decide to evacuate their homes. Jimmy's father watches,
Won't be safe anywhere. A neighbour states, Nothing
will happen.
Hospitals are cleared for any possible casualties. Many able
patients are returned home. Panic evacuations creates chaos on
the roads. Sutton goes underground with a small team beneath the
town hall to form an emergency HQ. Radios and TVs hand out
'helpful' messages in case of an attack. You are better off
in your own home. Stay in there!
At 8:30, one morning, the streets are busy with shoppers on
their search for supplies. Sutton's team are discussing things
when the attack warning suddenly comes. Sirens echo across the
city and hundreds of screaming people run in every direction.
Jimmy and his friend hide under a truck. At 8:35 a warhead
explodes above the city, power goes out and the blinding
mushroom takes the area apart, as blasting winds tear around.
Jimmy sees the cloud, he tries to reach Ruth. His mum and dad
hide behind doors and a mattress, Ruth and her family close up
their basement.
Then comes the heat wave. In total silence we see streets burn
(some stock footage included), milk bottles melt, buildings
crashing down, and a lot of burning corpses. 210 megatons hits
the UK altogether, amassing approximately two to nine million
casualties. This is the power of Threads in a nutshell.
Unlike The Day After, when each character seemed to have
some kind of knowledge of fallout, radiation, whatever and
repeats it like a government issued health scare, in Threads,
nobody knows a thing. There are scared, not ready, just
bewildered and terrified. These are real neighbours, real
shoppers, real families thrown head first into a nightmare. I
suppose the closest comparison would have to be Jim and Hilda
from the aforementioned When the Wind Blows. The
holocaust itself, I could easily bring up the last moments of
The Divide as Eva leaves the apartment building basement and
sees the remains of the city. Take that brief section and then
continue it onwards. You get the idea.
Survivors find themselves either trapped without air like
Sutton's team buried under the town hall, or burnt like Jimmy's
mother, or traumatised by the bodies of loved ones. Then along
comes the ashes and the radioactive fallout bringing blisters
and sickness. Food supplies fall under government control which
causes violence in the streets and looting. As the days go by
people become more desperate.
Ruth leaves the basement and walks the streets seeing what is
left of her city. A woman cradling the charred corpse of a baby,
hands playing with burnt Star Wars figures, a
bandage-faced traffic warden (who incidentally became a sort of
poster boy for the production, featured on the cover of the
Radio Times) and overcrowded hospitals. It's all kind of
downhill for the survivors from then on unfortunately.
There is an impressive gallery of burn and blister make-up
effects (by John Humphreys who also worked on TV series like
Doctor Who and The Young Ones, as well as Rawhead
Rex and Charlie & The Chocolate Factory), along with
some blood here and there that makes Threads special.
Like I stated earlier, it's not out to be kind, or make friends,
it wants to wave a dead child in your face, it wants you to
almost taste the ash in the air. In the early eighties British
TV churned out some good thrillers, such as Harry's Game,
The Boys from the Black Stuff and Tales Out of School
(Made in Britain, is it?) all able to gut punch in a
league of their own. Barry Hines (who also adapted Kes)
wrote something that pushed them all aside. Director Mick
Jackson went on years later to direct The Bodyguard and
funnily enough Volcano. Lastly, Peter Wragg, the man who
created the visual effects also worked on Red Dwarf (near
enough the whole run), Bottom, Doctor Who and
The Two Ronnies, amongst many more.
Threads has been released a few times on VHS and DVD but
unfortunately never seems to have extras other than a scene
selection. My review is from the 2005 BBC release. Better still,
why don't you experience it
here.

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DVD SPECS:
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Full Frame
Region: PAL R2 and R4
Audio: Dolby Digital Mono
SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL:
N/A
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Last Updated ( Monday, 02 June 2014 )
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