I just watched one of the most chilling documentaries ever

Red Dawn, IIRC, did reference the use of nukes. Select cities like Kansas City and Omaha were targeted because they were communications centers. The more I've read up on military strategy and history, the more plausible the framework of Red Dawn actually becomes. I'm sure whatever invasion plan the Soviets had for the U.S. was probably pretty close to that. Same way if we ever invaded we'd have used allies in Germany or Japan.

I was 7 when The Day After came out. I remember being sent to bed at 7 p.m. -- it was still light out for chrisssakes! -- because my parents thought it'd be too scary. Yet they let me watch Friday the 13th movies at the same age. Go figure.
Finally saw it five or six years ago on AMC. At that point it wasn't scary, but rather interesting. I thought some of the aftermath stuff was pretty accurate (not everyone would die; life would be chaos; people wondering how they're going to scrape six inches of topsoil off their farmland, etc).

Oh, and Fail Safe is a fucking phenomenal movie. The ending might be a little implausible, but the setup and the tension throughout are both top-notch.

 

Strangest thing about Fail Safe?
The Kissinger character is played by Walter Matthau.
Second?
Dom DeLuise is in it.

 

A quick check on imdb reveals that Boss Hogg was also in it. I've seen that movie five or six times and have no idea who his character was (a congressman Raskob?)

 

As

As the movie opens, Congressman Raskob and a guy from a defense firm are touring SAC HQ. They get caught there when it hits the fan. Raskob is a congresman from NYC, so the eventual resolution hits him hard. Also starring Larry Hagman as President Fonda's translator.

 

Just call me "Kitten Killer."

 

Thanks. As many times as I've seen it, it's been a while since the last viewing.