Top 10 Nuclear War Films

by bgcullinan | created - 02 Dec 2012 | updated - 02 Dec 2012 | Public
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1. Threads (1984 TV Movie)

TV-MA | 112 min | Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller

92 Metascore

The effects of a nuclear holocaust on the working class city of Sheffield, England and the eventual long-term effects of nuclear war on civilization.

Director: Mick Jackson | Stars: Karen Meagher, Reece Dinsdale, David Brierly, Rita May

Votes: 20,123

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

PG | 95 min | Comedy, War

97 Metascore

An unhinged American general orders a bombing attack on the Soviet Union, triggering a path to nuclear holocaust that a war room full of politicians and generals frantically tries to stop.

Director: Stanley Kubrick | Stars: Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden, Keenan Wynn

Votes: 518,431 | Gross: $0.28M

3. Thirteen Days (2000)

PG-13 | 145 min | Drama, History, Thriller

67 Metascore

In October 1962, the Kennedy administration struggles to contain the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Director: Roger Donaldson | Stars: Kevin Costner, Bruce Greenwood, Shawn Driscoll, Drake Cook

Votes: 62,716 | Gross: $34.59M

4. On the Beach (1959)

Approved | 134 min | Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi

55 Metascore

After a global nuclear war, the residents of Australia must come to terms with the fact that all life will be destroyed in a matter of months.

Director: Stanley Kramer | Stars: Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Fred Astaire, Anthony Perkins

Votes: 14,419 | Gross: $11.00M

5. On the Beach (2000 TV Movie)

195 min | Drama, Sci-Fi

After a global nuclear war, the residents of Australia must come to terms with the fact that all life will be destroyed in a matter of months.

Director: Russell Mulcahy | Stars: Armand Assante, Rachel Ward, Bryan Brown, Jacqueline McKenzie

Votes: 4,155

6. By Dawn's Early Light (1990 TV Movie)

PG-13 | 100 min | Action, Drama, Thriller

A non-NATO nuclear missile is fired from Turkey at USSR, where it detonates. Soviet response is automatic as it's seen as a NATO missile. Can continued escalation be avoided? We follow the US president and a bomber crew.

Director: Jack Sholder | Stars: Powers Boothe, Rebecca De Mornay, James Earl Jones, Martin Landau

Votes: 4,097

7. The Day After (1983 TV Movie)

TV-PG | 127 min | Drama, Sci-Fi

The effects of a devastating nuclear holocaust on small-town residents of eastern Kansas.

Director: Nicholas Meyer | Stars: Jason Robards, JoBeth Williams, Steve Guttenberg, John Cullum

Votes: 18,169

8. The Sum of All Fears (2002)

PG-13 | 124 min | Action, Drama, Thriller

45 Metascore

CIA analyst Jack Ryan must stop the plans of a Neo-Nazi faction that threatens to induce a catastrophic conflict between the United States and Russia's President by detonating a nuclear weapon at a football game in Baltimore, Maryland.

Director: Phil Alden Robinson | Stars: Ben Affleck, Morgan Freeman, Ian Mongrain, Russell Bobbitt

Votes: 124,433 | Gross: $118.91M

9. Miracle Mile (1988)

R | 87 min | Action, Drama, Romance

A young man hears a chance phone call telling him that a nuclear war has started and missiles will hit his city in 70 minutes.

Director: Steve De Jarnatt | Stars: Anthony Edwards, Mare Winningham, John Agar, Lou Hancock

Votes: 12,365 | Gross: $1.15M

10. Fail Safe (1964)

Approved | 112 min | Drama, Thriller

75 Metascore

A technical malfunction sends American planes to Moscow to deliver a nuclear attack. Can all-out war be averted?

Director: Sidney Lumet | Stars: Henry Fonda, Walter Matthau, Fritz Weaver, Dan O'Herlihy

Votes: 24,412



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