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The Science Fiction Horror and Fantasy Film Review

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Theme: Nuclear War

Nuclear War refers to the detonation of nuclear weapons and the mass devastation they cause. There is a reasonable body of films about the theft and hijacking of nuclear weaponry (although these are almost never depicted as being detonated) – these are covered under the theme The Nuclear Threat. Films set in the aftermath of the dropping of the bomb and collapse of civilisation are dealt with under After the Holocaust Films.

Films about nuclear war began in the 1950s in the aftermath of the dropping of the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Outbreak of nuclear between the West and the Soviet Union was considered a very real possibility between the 1950s and late 1980s and much genre cinema of this period is tinged with the stark fears this would become an actuality.

The first of these films was Five (1951) depicting survivors of a nuclear detonation trying to piece life together in the ruins. Beginning with On the Beach (1959), these films started to take on a very grim tone showing little hope for the future. The Nuclear War film saw a renewed interest with another cluster of films and tv movies in the 1980s.

With the ending of hostilities with the Soviet Union, the nuclear war film has now almost entirely died out apart from sporadic exceptions. In the depictions we do get, it is usually part of a film that is principally about something else as in Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), or where the cause of the war is usually omitted.


A.I. Tales (2019)

30 August 202130 August 2021

Rating: ★★

Science Fiction Anthology

Director: Nelson Lee, Kristen Hilkert, Amir Reichart, Vitaly Verlov
Actors: Nelson Lee, Pom Klementieff, Eric Roberts, Georgina Reilly, …
Category: Science Fiction

The ABCs of Death (2012)

26 February 201320 October 2024

Rating: ★★★

Horror Anthology

Director: Aaron Becker, Nacho Vigalondo, Adrian Garcia Bogliano, Ernesto Diaz Espinoza, …
Actors: Adam Wingard, Simon Barrett, Neil Maskell, Michael Smiley
Category: Horror

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Part II (2013)

6 May 201327 November 2021

Rating: ★★★½

Comic-Book Superhero/Animation

Director: Jay Oliva
Actors: Peter Weller, Ariel Winter, Mark Valley, Michael Emerson, …
Category: Fantasy

The Big Bang (1987)

13 March 201422 October 2020

Rating: ★★

Gonzo Animation

Director: Picha
Category: Science Fiction

By Dawn’s Early Light (1990)

14 August 202414 August 2024

Rating: ★★★

Nuclear War

Director: Jack Sholder
Actors: Martin Landau, Powers Boothe, Rebecca De Mornay, Darren McGavin, …
Category: Science Fiction

Chain of Command (2000)

19 April 200720 May 2025

Rating: ★★★

Action/Hijacking of Presidential Nuclear Codes

Director: John Terlesky
Actors: Patrick Muldoon, Roy Scheider, Ric Young, Maria Conchita Alonso, …
Category: Science Fiction

Chosen Survivors (1974)

18 December 201520 March 2024

Rating: ★★

Vampire Bats Invade a Nuclear Fallout Shelter

Director: Sutton Roley
Actors: Bradford Dillman, Jackie Cooper, Richard Jaeckel, Alex Cord, …
Category: Science Fiction

The Creator (2023)

25 November 202329 June 2025

Rating: ★★★★½

Artificial Intelligence and Robotics

Director: Gareth Edwards
Actors: John David Washington, Madeleine Yuna Voyles, Gemma Chan, Allison Janney, …
Category: Science Fiction

Crimson Tide (1995)

22 November 200023 May 2020

Rating: ★★★★

Submarine Thriller/Impending Nuclear War

Director: Tony Scott
Actors: Gene Hackman, Denzel Washington, Viggo Mortensen, George Dzundza
Category: Science Fiction

Damnation Alley (1977)

4 January 200130 August 2022

Rating: 0­

Post-Apocalyptic Trek

Director: Jack Smight
Actors: Jan-Michael Vincent, George Peppard, Dominique Sanda, Paul Winfield, …
Category: Science Fiction

The Day After (1983)

1 January 200210 August 2021

Rating: ★★

Nuclear Holocaust

Director: Nicholas Meyer
Actors: Jason Robards, Steve Guttenberg, Bibi Besch, Amy Madigan, …
Category: Science Fiction

Day the World Ended (1955)

5 September 200228 September 2023

Rating: ★★½

After the Nuclear Holocaust

Director: Roger Corman
Actors: Richard Denning, Lori Nelson, Mike Connors, Paul Birch, …
Category: Science Fiction

The Dead Zone (1983)

7 June 200030 June 2020

Rating: ★★★

Clairvoyance/Stephen King Adaptation

Director: David Cronenberg
Actors: Christopher Walken, Martin Sheen, Brooke Adams, Herbert Lom, …
Category: Horror

Defcon-4 (1985)

13 October 200122 September 2020

Rating: ★★★

Nuclear Holocaust and After

Director: Paul Donovan
Actors: Tim Choate, Lenore Zann, Maury Chaykin, Kate Lynch, …
Category: Science Fiction

Deterrence (1999)

13 March 200028 January 2023

Rating: ★★

Impending Nuclear War

Director: Rod Lurie
Actors: Kevin Pollak, Timothy Hutton, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Sean Astin, …
Category: Science Fiction

The Divide (2011)

7 July 201227 January 2023

Rating: ★★★★

Survivors of a Nuclear Holocaust in a Cellar

Director: Xavier Gens
Actors: Lauren German, Michael Biehn, Rosanna Arquette, Milo Ventimiglia, …
Category: Science Fiction

Dr Strangelove or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)

16 November 200120 August 2020

Rating: ★★★★★

Nuclear War Black Comedy

Director: Stanley Kubrick
Actors: Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden, Keenan Wynn, …
Category: Science Fiction

Dreamscape (1984)

18 July 200024 June 2022

Rating: ★★

Psychic Dream Therapists-Assassins

Director: Joseph Ruben
Actors: Dennis Quaid, Kate Capshaw, Max Von Sydow, Christopher Plummer, …
Category: Science Fiction

Fail-Safe (1964)

17 April 200119 February 2025

Rating: ★★★★

Nuclear War

Director: Sidney Lumet
Actors: Henry Fonda, Walter Matthau, Dan O'Herlihy, Larry Hagman, …
Category: Science Fiction

Fail Safe (2000)

17 April 20117 July 2023

Rating: ★★★½

Nuclear War

Director: Stephen Frears
Actors: Richard Dreyfuss, George Clooney, Harvey Keitel, Brian Dennehy, …
Category: Science Fiction

Five (1951)

7 December 20125 December 2023

Rating: ★★★

The Survivors of a Nuclear War

Director: Arch Oboler
Actors: Susan Douglas, William Phipps
Category: Science Fiction

Genocidal Organ (2017)

30 May 202330 May 2023

Rating: ★★★★

Anime/The Manipulation of Language to Create Genocide

Director: Shuko Murase
Category: Science Fiction

How I Live Now (2013)

15 November 20132 September 2021

Rating: ★★

England Invaded/Outbreak of Nuclear War

Director: Kevin Macdonald
Actors: Saoirse Ronan, George MacKay, Tom Holland, Harley Bird, …
Category: Science Fiction

Human Highway (1982)

21 August 201516 September 2021

Rating: ★

Gonzo Comedy

Director: Neil Young, Dean Stockwell
Actors: Neil Young, Russ Tamblyn, Dean Stockwell, Dennis Hopper, …
Category: Science Fiction

Hunk (1987)

7 November 200021 September 2021

Rating: ★½

Pact with the Devil for the Perfect Male Body

Director: Lawrence Bassoff
Actors: John Allen Nelson, Deborah Shelton, Steve Levitt, James Coco, …
Category: Fantasy

I.S.S. (2023)

17 February 202414 March 2025

Rating: ★★★★

International Space Station Drama

Director: Gabriela Cowperthwaite
Actors: Ariana DeBose, Chris Messina, Pilou Asbæk, John Gallagher Jr, …
Category: Science Fiction

Injustice (2021)

24 October 20213 February 2022

Rating: ★★½

Animation/Comic-Book Superheroes

Director: Matt Peters
Actors: Justin Hartley, Anson Mount, Janet Varney, Gillian Jacobs, …
Category: Science Fiction

Invasion USA (1952)

28 July 201313 November 2024

Rating: ★

Communist Invasion of the USA

Director: Alfred E. Green
Actors: Gerald Mohr, Dan O'Herlihy, Peggie Castle, Robert Bice
Category: Science Fiction

Iron Sky (2012)

7 August 20123 November 2022

Rating: ★★★

Nazi Flying Saucers from the Moon

Director: Timo Vuorensola
Actors: Julia Dietze, Christopher Kirby, Udo Kier, Gotz Otto, …
Category: Science Fiction

It’s a Disaster (2012)

18 August 201327 December 2023

Rating: ★★★

End of the World Comedy

Director: Todd Berger
Actors: David Cross, Julia Stiles, Rachel Boston, America Ferrera, …
Category: Science Fiction

The Lathe of Heaven (1980)

21 April 20144 July 2022

Rating: ★★★½

Man Whose Dreams Change the World When He Wakes

Director: Fred Barzyk, David Loxton
Actors: Bruce Davison, Kevin Conway, Margaret Avery
Category: Science Fiction

Leave the World Behind (2023)

29 December 202313 April 2024

Rating: ★★★½

Catastrophe and Social Collapse

Director: Sam Esmail
Actors: Julia Roberts, Mahershala Ali, Ethan Hawke, Myha'la Herrold, …
Category: Science Fiction

Letters from a Dead Man (1986)

7 August 200314 August 2024

Rating: ★★★★

The Nuclear Holocaust – The Russian Perspective

Director: Konstantin Lopuchansky
Category: Science Fiction

Lord of the Flies (1963)

5 March 20097 May 2021

Rating: ★★★★

Reversion to Barbarism

Director: Peter Brook
Actors: James Aubrey, Hugh Edwards
Category: Science Fiction

Malevil (1981)

12 September 202312 September 2023

Rating: ★★★

Nuclear War

Director: Christian de Chalonge
Actors: Michel Serrault, Jacques Dutronc, Hanns Zischler, Jean-Louis Trintignant
Category: Science Fiction

The Martian Chronicles (1980)

12 August 201218 February 2023

Rating: ★★

Human Colonisation of Mars/Ray Bradbury Adaptation

Director: Michael Anderson
Actors: Rock Hudson, Darren McGavin, Fritz Weaver, Bernie Casey, …
Category: Science Fiction

The Midnight Club (2022)

21 October 20229 November 2023

Rating: ★★★

Teenagers Tell Horror Stories

Director: Mike Flanagan, Michael Fimognari, Emmanuel Osei-Kuffour Jr, Axelle Carolyn, …
Actors: Iman Benson, Igby Rigney, Ruth Codd, William Chris Sumpter, …
Category: Horror

Miracle Mile (1988)

8 January 201924 October 2023

Rating: ★★★½

Impending Nuclear Strike on L.A. Comedy

Director: Steve De Jarnatt
Actors: Anthony Edwards, Mare Winningham, Mykelti Williamson, Robert DoQui, …
Category: Science Fiction

The Noah (1975)

5 July 20235 July 2023

Rating: ★★

Last Man on Earth

Director: Daniel Bourla
Actors: Robert Strauss, Geoffrey Holder, Sally Kirkland
Category: Science Fiction

On the Beach (1959)

27 July 200110 August 2021

Rating: ★★★

The Nuclear Holocaust

Director: Stanley Kramer
Actors: Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Fred Astaire, Anthony Perkins
Category: Science Fiction

On the Beach (2000)

31 July 200024 January 2025

Rating: ★★★

The Nuclear Holocaust

Director: Russell Mulcahy
Actors: Armand Assante, Rachel Ward, Bryan Brown, Grant Bowler, …
Category: Science Fiction

Panic in Year Zero! (1962)

3 April 199928 May 2020

Rating: ★★

Nuclear War/Ruthless Survivalism

Director: Ray Milland
Actors: Ray Milland, Frankie Avalon, Jean Hagen, Joan Freeman, …
Category: Science Fiction

The People Who Own the Dark (1976)

9 February 20223 December 2024

Rating: ★★

Nuclear War Outbreak

Director: Leon Klimovsky
Actors: Alberto de Mendoza, Paul Naschy, Maria Perschy, Ricardo Palacios, …
Category: Science Fiction

Philadelphia Experiment II (1993)

2 May 199926 January 2023

Rating: ★★

Alternate History/Nazis Rule

Director: Stephen Cornwell
Actors: Brad Johnson, Gerrit Graham, Marjean Holden, Geoffrey Blake
Category: Science Fiction

Postal (2007)

11 January 200911 February 2025

Rating: 0­

Videogame Adaptation/Bad Taste Satire

Director: Uwe Boll
Actors: Zack Ward, Dave Foley, Chris Coppola, Chris Spencer, …
Category: Horror

Rapture-Palooza (2013)

23 February 201416 October 2023

Rating: ★

Biblical End Times Comedy

Director: Paul Middleditch
Actors: Craig Robinson, Anna Kendrick, John Francis Daley, Rob Corddry, …
Category: Fantasy

Rocket Attack U.S.A. (1958)

3 December 200520 July 2023

Rating: ★★

Communist Missile Threat

Director: Barry Mahon
Category: Science Fiction

Rules of Engagement (1989)

13 February 202024 November 2022

Rating: ★★½

Impending Nuclear War

Director: Robert Walker
Actors: Kenneth Cranham, Karl Johnson, Cathy Tyson, Amanda Fawsett, …
Category: Science Fiction

The Sacrifice (1986)

3 December 200319 August 2024

Rating: ★★★½

Praying Back the Nuclear Holocaust

Director: Andrei Tarkovsky
Actors: Erland Josephson, Susan Fleetwood, Allan Edwall, Sven Wollter
Category: Fantasy

Stranger from Venus (1954)

26 August 201128 March 2025

Rating: ★★

Alien Visitor

Director: Burt Balaban
Actors: Patricia Neal, Helmut Dantine, Willoughby Gray, Arthur Young
Category: Science Fiction

The Sum of All Fears (2002)

25 August 200211 October 2024

Rating: ★★

Nuclear Terrorism/Tom Clancy Adaptation

Director: Phil Alden Robinson
Actors: Ben Affleck, Morgan Freeman, James Cromwell, Ciaran Hinds, …
Category: Science Fiction

The Summer of Massacre (2011)

22 August 20121 April 2025

Rating: ★

Anthology of Slasher Tales

Director: Joe Castro
Actors: Brinke Stevens, Nick Principe, John Karyus, Vida Ghaffari, …
Category: Horror

Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

16 December 20038 September 2024

Rating: ★★★★

Time-Travelling Killer Androids

Director: James Cameron
Actors: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Edward Furlong, Robert Patrick, …
Category: Science Fiction

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003)

22 July 20039 April 2025

Rating: ★

Time-Travelling Killer Androids

Director: Jonathan Mostow
Actors: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Nick Stahl, Kristanna Loken, Claire Danes, …
Category: Science Fiction

Terminator Genisys (2015)

4 July 20158 September 2024

Rating: ★

Time-Travelling Killer Androids

Director: Alan Taylor
Actors: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jai Courtney, Emilia Clarke, Jason Clarke, …
Category: Science Fiction

Terminus (2015)

18 August 201719 March 2024

Rating: ★★

Alien Artefact/Prophecy of Nuclear War

Director: Marc Furmie
Actors: Jai Koutrae, Kendra Appleton, Todd Lasance, Bren Foster, …
Category: Science Fiction

Testament (1983)

19 April 200414 August 2024

Rating: ★★★★

Nuclear Holocaust

Director: Lynne Littman
Actors: Jane Alexander, Lukas Haas, Roxana Zal, William Devane
Category: Science Fiction

Threads (1984)

30 November 202114 August 2024

Rating: ★★★★

Nuclear War

Director: Mick Jackson
Actors: Karen Meagher, Reece Dinsdale, Michael O'Hagan
Category: Science Fiction

The Time Machine (1960)

19 January 20012 July 2019

Rating: ★★★★

Time Travel/H.G. Wells Adaptation

Director: George Pal
Actors: Rod Taylor, Alan Young, Yvette Mimieux, Sebastian Cabot, …
Category: Science Fiction

Trump vs The Illuminati (2020)

23 October 202029 August 2021

Rating: ★★

Gonzo Satire/Trump’s Clone Fight The Devil in Space

Director: B.C. Fourteen
Actors: Timothy Banfield, Marco Guzman, Sophia Woods Stevens, Wes Bruff, …
Category: Science Fiction

The War Game (1965)

18 December 20033 August 2021

Rating: ★★★★★

Nuclear War Mockumentary

Director: Peter Watkins
Actors: Michael Aspel, Dick Graham
Category: Science Fiction

WarGames (1983)

25 August 200213 February 2020

Rating: ★★★½

Teen Hacker Accidentally Triggers Nuclear War

Director: John Badham
Actors: Matthew Broderick, Ally Sheedy, John Wood, Dabney Coleman, …
Category: Science Fiction

When the Wind Blows (1986)

12 April 20049 August 2021

Rating: ★★★★

The Nuclear Holocaust/Animation

Director: Jimmy T. Murakami
Actors: John Mills, Peggy Ashcroft
Category: Science Fiction

Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)

2 January 202110 February 2024

Rating: ★★

Comic-Book Superheroine

Director: Patty Jenkins
Actors: Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Kristen Wiig, Pedro Pascal, …
Category: Fantasy

X: First Class (2011)

5 June 201110 October 2024

Rating: ★★★

Comic-Book Superheroes/Origin Prequel

Director: Matthew Vaughn
Actors: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Kevin Bacon, Rose Byrne, …
Category: Science Fiction

Years and Years (2019)

9 May 20219 May 2021

Rating: ★★★★

Near Future Family Saga

Director: Simon Cellan Jones, Lisa Mulcahy
Actors: Emma Thompson, Rory Kinnear, Russell Tovey, Lydia West, …
Category: Science Fiction

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Contact Moria

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Theme Essays

  • Films About Atlantis
  • Werewolf Films
  • Virtual Reality
  • Imprisonment Thrillers
  • Films Depicting NASA and the Space Program
  • Human Bloodsports and Death Games
  • Animals Attack Films
  • Films About Plague and Pandemic
  • Disaster Movies
  • Steampunk Films
  • Documentaries
  • Films About Halloween
  • Films About Prophecy
  • Magicians and Sorcerers
  • Secret Societies
  • Real-Life People in Fiction
  • Techno-Thrillers
  • Twins in Fantastic Cinema
  • Asylums
  • Possession Films
  • Films About Imaginary and Magical Lands
  • Religion in Fantastic Cinema
  • Romantic Comedies
  • Film Noir
  • Spy Films
  • Jekyll and Hyde Films
  • Films That Make Dubious Claims to Being True Stories
  • Coming of Age Stories in Fantastic Cinema
  • Films About Cryogenics and Suspended Animation
  • Alternate History Films
  • Disturbed Psychology as Portrayed on Film
  • Law Enforcement in Fantastic Cinema
  • Weird Westerns
∧

Copyright Richard Scheib 1999-2025

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