Join our top secret upcoming project... th-cam.com/channels/HrajuBG_V1mzJWv38lnoEA.html CORRECTION @ 7:45 - I have incorrectly used the term 'fallout' in reference to the melting bottle. It was not the fallout which caused this, rather the result of the heat/flash of the detonation. Thank you to several Ghoul Gang members for bringing this to our attention! - Connor
It's actually been closer to nine years. The "one year anniversary" is only referring to when Russia began it's "special operation" (invasion). The war between Russia and Ukraine has been going on almost a decade now, with many lives lost. I hope people understand the dangerous game that world leaders are playing with their game of nuclear brinksmanship. Having undergone CBRN (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear) Warfare training during my time in the military, I can honestly say NOBODY should be encouraging these people to pursue such aggressive strategies in their idiotic proxy war. It troubles me how few people are even contemplating peace talks, instead accusing anybody that does of being "Russian puppets". The level of Russophobia in Western media and politics is only further harming the innocent people caught up in this conflict. Peace talks between Russia and Ukraine have already been sabotaged multiple times by the likes of Boris Johnson and Joe Biden on the behalf of warhawks and the Military Industrial Complex. Any nuclear exchange between Russia and the West is going to make Nagasaki and Hiroshima look like a food fight at a children's party.
@@sigspearthumb3249 You've been brainwashed by the russian media into thinking that Ukraine is the agressor and Biden is to blame for Putin's idiotic mistakes.
Yeah this thing terrified the ever living shite out of me as a 7 year old kid, and my dad cheered me up by saying, "if you hear any bombs dropping tonight, its just me farting" it did the trick.
The bit where James tells Hilda things are back to normal as he can smell people cooking their roast dinners is rather chilling. The smell carried on the wind was actually burning human flesh from the nuclear blasts! This is definitely a nuclear apocalyptic masterpiece to watch. Along with 'Threads', 'The Day After' and 'By Dawn's Early Light'.
I remember this one, as if it was yesterday! I think, I was 16 or 17, when it came out. I was in high school, and the nuclear threat was real. Makes you wonder, what is next..
"Protect and Survive" was a bad joke, and we all knew it. Looking back, it's strange, the odd tics that can create. As a child (I'm in my early fifties now), my school was at the end of my road. A ten minute stroll. I practiced running it, so that if the warning sounded I could run home within four minutes and at least not die away from my family. Those thoughts don't belong in the head of a nine year-old child. Nevertheless, they were there.
And those thoughts are still in American children, “will I die today” is a question due to… well a lot of things. It’s a shame, from nuclear bombs to guns, humans just can’t stop destroying humans
the truth is, no generation of children is "lucky" our war time(genZ)is coming soon enough. but at least you die fast. if you dont survive the first blow.
Yep it certainly was, during basic training in the army, when we did NBC training, the instructor went through the decontamination process for chemical and biological, when it came to nuclear, he said the best thing to do is run towards the blast, because you don't want to be around for what comes next.
Mid 50's myself, so I too grew up in that second peak of the Cold War. My schools were never close enough to home to consider that contingency, but because of that distance, pre-teen and teen age me had to consider what I might need to do if *I* survived the blast and prompt problems, and still got home somehow... walking through the warped landscape and groveling dead and near dead, and if I get home, and any of my family are alive, I would have to watch them die slowly of radiation sickness... or I might have to kill someone I love just to end their incomprehensible suffering. What does a kid DO with that kind of thought, that sort of imagery? These ideas were impossible to NOT ponder during those years of inundation from school and TV and newspapers/magazines and movies that all tried to inform us of the endless ways nuclear weapons hated life.
I was in secondary school when I saw this film about 1991ish. I remember talking to my mum and gran about it and gran remembering what it was like during the Cuban missile crisis and how sure they were that the world was about to end at any moment. I grew up in the same village she lived in back then and I was chilled by her words that with my mum in infants school 15 mins walk one way and my uncle in middle school 15 mins walk the other way and with grandad a lorry driver who could of been anywhere in the country she would never have been able to reach both children before the bombs dropped. My mum remembers thinking the same thing in the early 80s when my younger brother was in the same infants school and I was in the same middle school. Even running she couldn't of got to us both and we were blissfully unaware although I do have a vague memory of being shown the old American duck and cover cartoon with the turtle/tortoise! I recently found out about the film threads and asked mum if she had seen it and she reminded me of the conversation I had with her and gran all those years ago. She said she did see the film and switched over to bbc2 to see the 8th day and the newsnight discussion after both as well as the film the day after from earlier. She said threads was so horrific that she couldn't sleep for about 3 days and was in the end comforted that we were so close to London Sandhurst Aldershot Deepcut and pirbright that we would all of been vaporized and wouldn't have to live through the horror of the post apocalypse. Hows that for nightmare fuel?
What's saddest is when Hilda says 'Shall we get into those paper bags again?' She finally accepts (and knows) she is doomed. Them putting on the bags is basically putting on their death shrouds.
If I remember correctly, they actually have a cellar which would've provided (somewhat) better protection from the fallout that they could've stayed in, and which would've had more room for supplies. But, because the pamphlet James had didn't mention that, he went about creating an inferior shelter with the doors - showcasing just how inadequate the Protect and Survive campaign was in actually preparing people for a nuclear war. I believe the director of the American nuclear war film The Day After had a similarly dim view of FEMA's public awareness campaigns and ability to respond to a nuclear disaster. As part of his research for writing the script, he visited a regional FEMA office and was shocked to discover most of their time and effort went into making pamphlets to distribute instead of actually planning and preparing for anything if it should happen.
That's a really sad detail as well. Taking instructions and advice which itself is likely problematic or not up to scratch with the issue it's trying to assist with - Connor
@@UnleashTheGhouls Yeah, the pamphlet seems designed for people without cellars, but how many English houses didn’t have them? Not to mention all kinds of places, like old church crypts, Or surviving castle dungeons, would be so much better. By the way, do you know the one disaster movie they have not made but we REALLY desperately need? “Carrington Event 2.0”. It’s fucking coming and we’re almost totally unprepared. It is overdue and it’s a statistical certainty that it will either happen during next year’s solar maximum, or 11 years after that in 2035. Flip a coin. Absolute BEST case scenario is we get a VERY near miss next year that finally wakes us up to prepare for ‘35 and SHIELD our grids and get shielded car batteries. Shield as many communications satellites as possible, basically ship out and sheath them in lead, then during the last six months send the ones we could not get to down to burn up, or send them out into deep space away from the earth. This would protect a minimum of communications while preventing Kessler Syndrome. Also, keep a few extra in a semi-geosynchronous orbit behind the moon’s shadow at all times. When the storm that will hit us is finally detected, a final signal is sent to these backups, programming them to continue the shadow hide protocol for another month, before an AI takes over and moves them out towards the earth at various high orbits and Lagrange points. That would survive any permutation of the event. iF we were to do this, we could quickly recover, setting our technological advances back maybe only ten years at most. Second best case scenario is we get a very short direct hit over the mid pacific at high noon Hawaiian time, and lasts only an hour or less. Worst case scenario is any major continent in east or west gets a direct hit lasting over six hours. Night side will fair best in all scenarios, but even that will just barely manage with six or seven hours bombardment on the day side. Much will make it around the rim. All satellites will be lost, save a handful in geosynchronous night orbits, and those will eventually be destroyed by the Kessler cascade radiating out from all the dead satellites colliding with each other. Within 20 years, the earth low orbit will become completely impassable for centuries, and we’ll have shooting stars every night, trapping us on earth for at least a 1000 years. The only way to have an internet after that will be via thousands of miles of fiber optic cables laid across oceans and strong ground relays from mountain tops. That’s what we might be able in less than 50 years to do if we’re only briefly hit in the pacific. If we get a full six hours or more, however… We could be looking at a “Canticle For Leibovitz” scenario, but with a lot less radiation or mutations.
I remember going to this empty cafe with my grandma when I was about 6. The cafe had a bookshelf filled with picture books for kids and my grandma picked this book and read it to me. The last few pages with the old dude coughing up blood traumatized the shit out of me, and for the life of me I couldn’t figure out what the book was called once I grew up. Thank you sir, now I can rest easy knowing what my childhood nightmare fuel is called.
I saw the movie adaptation at age 6. It was my first time seeing grown ups being (even for a young child) visibly unprepared for something terrible and seemingly not understanding of the gravity of the situation they were in. It took me decades to find a copy of it in English because I had originally seen it in French. Watching it as an adult doesn't make it any easier to digest.
Your grandma just ... kept reading it to you? I freely admit I'm not the most empathetic person, but I really think I'd stop reading it to my younger sisters once I realized the direction it was going.
Saw it at the cinema. It's not an indictment of the couple, it's basically an indictment of the Protect And Survive pamphlets which were well known and ridiculed at the time. They are just a simple, old fashioned couple who believe in doing what the government says.
It seems they didn't bother to follow any of the government advice. They ignored everything about protecting themselves from the fallout. They are more like antivaxers ignoring new science that wasn't taught when they were in school.
@@guilhermehank4938 they're naturally trusting and a little bit naive, not to mention this takes place in a time period where information was less promptly available and we saw less of the stupid things the people in charge did, so gotta take all that in consideration
I've always thought James was a bit more savvy then is let on. The tell is at the end when he suggests they get in their sacks alongside their relevant ID. That particular detail is how you were supposed to dispose of your dead if you couldn't bury them. It would make identification easier for authorities. Half way through James and Hilda's venture outside, James seems to have a flash of recognition as to what has likely transpired and what it all means. He is hiding it from his wife.
That's a really sad way of putting it. As though James knows that there's no hope for survival so we may as well have a bit of freedom and comfort my wife before we go - Connor
It was Hilda that suggested they wear the paper bags at the end and she also was the one who asked about the whereabouts of the box of birth certificates.
@@Sp0on777Not only that, but she suggested they pray to God after getting into the bags and back into their refuge. Even when James starts reciting ”The Charge of the Light Brigade” instead of the Bible her request for him to stop sounded more consoling than distressed. It seems like Hilda was the more aware one in the end.
Honestly as someone with a chronic illness, some of their symptoms struck a chord with me. Having stuff happen to you and not know why is an awful feeling
"Miraculously they survive" - as the late Emer Prevost said of their survival "they won the world's worst lottery". Being killed by a nuke is one thing - trying to survive the nuke is another. Tragic story and my favourite work by Raymond Briggs (RIP)
Honestly, I think we need more stuff like this. The more people are terrified of the consequences of nuclear war, the less likely it is to happen. Especially the people in charge. If you make the kids who'll one day be the ones in charge scared of nuclear war they'll be less likely to make it happen.
I remember being frustrated with the couple not following the recommendations and making mistakes. Now i see this as a realistic portrayal of an older coupl. All of their experience that helped the get through their simple lives lead them astray since the bomb was so far from their daily lives. Heart breaking and unforgettable.
And for those wondering, Barefoot Gen is an Anime about a Child and his life before and after in Hiroshima in 1945. Both When The Wind Blows and Barefoot Gen are masterful movies that shows the dangers of what Nuclear Fallout can do to a family and how ignorance and government lies can kill.
I remember there being a chart online that measured how much fictional characters suffered and how much they deserved to. The Bloggs were at the highest level of suffering and the least deserving.
I've just watched When the wind Blows, about half an hour ago. Truly, truly harrowing. A very depressing and humbling film. Its good to see it getting some love online. A completely existential experience
"When the Wind Blows" (the book) was a "sequel" to "Gentleman Jim" - a story also by Briggs about a public toilet attendant. I don't think "Gentleman Jim" was initially planned as a two-part story, but the idea of taking a known character and exposing him to the horrors of WWIII brings it home with more impact that you getting to know new faces and names. Briggs pulled a blinder with the book by doing that.
I feel like this movie and the comic it was based on are the best examples of turning something cute into a horrifying nightmare with a heartbreaking ending. Most "uh oh its cute now its scary?!?!?!" stories tend to blow the scariness of the concept immediately but seeing Jim and Hilda go from cute kid book characters to gaunt and sick and mentally broken.... nothing can hit as hard as that
Protect and Survive said that you should set up a "fall out room" in the room where the inner- core - or- refuge was. You were supposed to put everything you needed in this room for 2 weeks, and to stay the refuge for 48 hours after the bomb dropped. I'm not surprised though that some people thought you were supposed to stay in your Wendy house of doors for 2 weeks. In any case the radiation would still get you if the heat or blast didn't.
In America bomb shelters were meant to be built with lead bricks in order to keep out the radiation. Hopefully, in the event of nuclear fallout, you had enough food to survive until the radiation subsided. Depending on the strength of the bomb that could be anywhere from a few weeks to decades though.
I lived in a village close to a power station when I was a kid in the 70's. I was in bed one night when the safety valves from one of the power stations boilers lifted (if anyones ever heard this, its extremely loud, and travels a long way at night time) anyway, 11 year old me was convinced it was a nuclear missle attack. Shortly after I fell asleep. The end.
Something about this animation is so visceral and raw. It feels so cartoonish but it’s so beautifully sad. I don’t cry easily, but this breaks me every time. The realistic backgrounds with the tootsie pop owl-esque animation absolutely terrifies me.
This is both terrifying and heartbreaking. Also, both the title and release year hit a little too close to home for me. I was playing outside when the radioactive cloud from Chernobyl crossed Germany in 1986. There was no warning because the gouvernment considered it safe at the time, which was disputed later. I was just two months old back then and I can't help but wonder if it is at least linked to some of my health issues.
A fantastic gem, but probably one of the most depressing movies ever made. Just because of how you follow these older couple through out the entire movie only to see them slowly become sicker and decaying from the radiation. It's heartbreaking to see. You kind of enjoy them as characters, their extreme naivety is still charming in a way despite how frustrating it is a the same time. Just a bleak movie you really gotta be in the right mood for.
I just rewatched this film after being a few minutes in to your video - It is a master piece of not only story telling of aware-ignorance (James saying fall out would look like snow, but they are outside trying to find a lettuce to eat) but the whole process you’d expect someone who was not prepared to have to react the same way for water and food. What broke my hurt is them not going to the basement they had, or even the under stairs storage… and them then taking everything (the water, the eggs, the lot) out of it- instead of going in to it for shelter - let along, the makers of the film made it that after the rain fell - there was no fallout in the air… yet their ignorance within the house was still cleaning, and shovelling out the bin (james) only making it airborn again. It’s a story of what not to do, and do not follow the instructions of the government; put themselves in paper bags only for an easy clean up without seeing their faces in the next month. ‘Take down thin linen over windows, only to be told to put white bed sheets over the windows?’ - James This film is, its cinematography and writing is phenomenal
I grew up during this time. I remember practicing duck and cover routines at school and knowing that we might hear the three-minute warning at any time. But I remember we just got on with life. And I think we appreciated life more because of it. We didn't worry too much about the future because there might not be a future. We just lived every day as if it were the last, enjoying the best music, movies, and Saturday morning cartoons, copying Evel Knievel on our BMX bikes, or playing Space Invaders at the local video arcade. To be honest, I think I was happier then than I am now.
5:37 - I remember this part of the movie well because of how shocking it was to hear James call his wife a "stupid bitch" because it was the only way to get her to snap out of her delusion and get her into the shelter
I felt so shocked when Hilda mentioned they had a cellar, the could’ve f*cking survived, and Jim thought the potato sacks would protect you from radiation. No, they’re body bags. Nevertheless, bless their souls.
Of all the subjects of the nightmare fuel series, this is the best/worst. It hits you harder than Threads. It's definitely not afraid to tell the truth. Harrowing and brilliant.
I think it's a real sledgehammer of the film. The Nightmare Fuel series covers a lot of topics, but these kinds are films are by far the toughest to digest - Connor
a small detail, but that door shelter was completely and utterly ineffective, as much of the Protect and Survive suggestions were. No matter when they emerged from their "shelter", they were already doomed.
Our teacher showed us this video in 1987 age 15. 30 kids didn't sleep for a week afterwards. I've only ever seen this once and still remember every single second of this film. My mum and dad would always say that if the missiles came then we would all drive up to the nearest hill (epsom downs in our case) and take a great view until it hit us. Only an idiot would want to live through all this on a tiny island with 50million other starving idiots as my dad put it.
This is really silly, but I used to be terrified of nuclear war. Like, it was in my head every waking moment of every day and used to keep me up at night. This film is one of the things that helped with that fear. I don't know why. You'd think it would make it worse
Maybe it gave you information that you needed. Lack of info make things scary. It's also comforting to know that there might be something or someone that will make it easier if it happens.
There should be more nuclear apocalypse movies. Sure, they may be traumatising, but they are scary and entertaining because they’re believable and real unlike zombie movies and stuff.
It also shows people the grim reality of what a nuclear war would look, feel and be like. The fact we humans possess that sort of power is astonishing.
hilda says "the cake will be burnt!" before the nuclear attack hits. i think it's to elaborate on how outdated their idea of warfare is. "the cake will be burnt" implies that everything will be fine after the attack and that they can go back to eating normally after the attack like eating cake. another thing is how the soundtrack somewhat sounds like a plane in the background as well as military drummings, this is how Jim and Hilda think of nuclear bombs, similar to bombs dropped from planes during the second world war, kinda very creepy.
YES!!! I’m glad you’ve now covered this film. I think I may have requested it on the Threads video but I can’t remember Either way, this is absolutely one of those films which you just don’t forget in a hurry. To say that it broke me would be an understatement. I think something I especially loved was the way it called at the Protect and Survive scheme as complete BS. It was only made to calm everyone down (an apparently the paper bags they waited in at the end of the film was included in Protect and Survive to make it easier for people to collect the bodies of the dead). A truly phenomenal, heartbreaking and incredibly well made film
Hopefully it's been worth the wait Mario! I believe you did recommend it all that time back! Thank you for your constant support since then! That paper bag comment has just made me shiver - Connor
They could have made the couple live in the suburbs rather than the countryside, which would never be touched by a nuclear blast. The worst they would have expirienced during the explosion would be a white glow over the horizon and a distant mushroom cloud, maybe a gust of warm wind. The radiation effects would still be felt though, depending on wind direction. The bottle was melted due to the heat of the blast not the radiation, also.
They live in Sussex which is not too far from London, it's only about 50 miles. If a bomb was dropped on London then it would most likely affect that area too
In the graphic novel it was like that in the area they lived in. It Wasn't really affected by the blast too much. It made the story all the sadder. Everything still looked colorful and bright and they still died of radiation. :(
It never ended. We’re still threatened by Russia again. And it was terrorists and other countries in between. Childhood memories: My dad always had the radio on playing music or listening to a ball game - waiting for the warning. Keeping the gas tank topped off. Food in the pantry Plans to get to my grandparents farm. Which at that time Eisenhower’s highway plan was still being built. And we had to take route 19 from Erie to West Virginia a 200 mile drive. All two lane back then which passes through Pittsburgh which is a target. And at that time on those roads took 8 hours. Now you can drive it in under 4 hours. Crazy to think we might make it. Even now.
This is a really sad contemplation. I feel like a lot of the Protect and Survive teachings were designed to provide the hope of security in people - Connor
@@UnleashTheGhouls yeah totally, that's the horror. It was theatre, something to do, while you die. Argh!!! Stop posting this shit, while we're on the verge of WW3. 😜
@@UnleashTheGhouls P&S was actually based on the pamphlet given to the public in WW2. The text was just amended for a nuclear scenario.................................
They were still showing the Protect and Survive films in my school in the mid-80s which is where I saw it. Looking back and thinking about some of the things they recommend to keep you safe it was so ridiculous. Someone once said the ones who survive a nuclear war are the unlucky ones. I believe that.
I remember during my history class in high school we were taking about Hiroshima. My friends were talking about their survival guide if we were bombed. I said "My plan is to get closer to the bomb. I'd rather be vaporized than die slowly." That ended the conversation instantly.
Middle-aged Gen Xer/Xellinial here: This movie traumatized me as a kid because the f*cking brainless tv execs in my country decided that "animated movie = suitable for children" and ran it during the usual hours for kids' cartoons, so I got to see this at an age when I was most certainly equipped to deal with it. I don't even recall if this was before or after the chernobyl disaster happened, because both blur into one big pile of trauma in my brain - we weren't allowed to go outside when it was raining for fear of fallout, the sand from playgrounds was scooped off and replaced, lots of stuff like that. Still, this film is an impressive piece of art.
I still have my Protect And Survive pamphlet, along with other paraphernalia from my time campaigning in CND in the early 80s, spurred on by this book and film. Some of the shock when this came out stems from the fact Raymond Briggs was best known for the Snowman book/film with very similar animation, but as far from the horror of this creation as it's possible to get, it must have thrown a lot of people at the time. It was awful growing up with those threats hanging over us in the 80s. But thankfully we all learned how to love the bomb, or at least ignore the small chance that everything we see in this film could still happen, because the missiles are still there, and we're only people at the end of the day, one small human mistake and we're there. All that's needed is time...
The potato sack scene in the end is still depressing to me. Especially since what James forgot, was that the potato sacks were for when someone died. When someone dies it was recommended that if possible you cover them up with any covering and put their name, ID, and medical information along with them. So someone could identify the corpse.
If you’ve ever watched Protect and Survive (frequently mentioned in this movie) you’ll notice the cartoon-like flavor used to demonstrate a nuclear attack and what to do in its event. I think When The wind Blows was a quasi real life attempt to address exactly how that cartoon would play out.
Oh man yet another channel I can't believe I have not seen before. Commenting so someone else can find it sooner. Great content, liked, subbed, shared.
The Day After was my eye opening film. I remember when it was originally broadcast, and it always stuck with me. Before that, I dont think anyone (at least in the USA) really analyzed the horror of nuclear warfare from the point of view of average people. Threads is also a mind trip, especially since it deals with a generation AFTER a nuclear war. But this one breaks the heart.
I've watched Threads and When the Wind Blows in the same day. It was absolutely devastating. These two movies + Grave of Fireflies are the ones that I will remember for the rest of my life but probably will never watch again.
Watched the movie and borrowed the comic to read online (at TV Tropes recommendation) One of the few things I won't repeat reading or watching. I found the movie a bit more chilling than the comic. The only bittersweet part is that they at least died together.
I knew it was a post apocalypse movie going into it, but it's like drop a 4 grams of magic of magic mushrooms and hop into the surreal ride that is this movie. This film and Wrinkles are two animated films you can't really put a finger on. They are magic, surreal, and twisted in a sense that is familiar but alien.
I remember the Protect and Survive stuff, and school emergency drills too. Watched Threads when it came out as a teenager, and that was so horrific that I couldn't bring myself to watch When the Wind Blows for years afterwards. When I did eventually watch it, I wished I hadn't. So sad.
Well, damn. Now I'm just more sad than spooked. I'm reminded of another nuclear story, but it is in a book, not a movie. "Firestorm", by Steve Rasnic Tem. It is set after Hiroshima. It recalls the events of the bomb in horrific detail, giving imagery of gore and death like a nightmare, and even personifies the bomb as a new, horrific god, named "Pikadon", the Japanese word for "atomic bomb". There is nothing god-like about it, seeming to compare it more to a demon, with wings of fire and smoke that will consume the Earth, and I can't tell if it's meant to make it look like an eldritch entity, or if it's written from a viewpoint of a survivor going insane after the blast. Whatever it is, it presents the effects of the bomb in monstrously unflinching detail. If you want to have nightmares, you can read it.
My dad was good friends with Jimmy Murakami. They used to drink whiskey together. I haven't seen this movie, but really want to. It looks phenomenonal.
I remember when this movie was released. Back then, we still had weekly air-raid exercises in the public every Wednesday at noon. We still do the tests on the sirens, but it's silent today.
Thank you Marshall. Never the easiest topic to discuss, but there's a lot to uncover. If you have any recommendations for what we should cover in future, please let us know! - Connor
My mum told me recently in regards to the feel of COVID that this film would come into her mind often, specifically in regards to my Nana (her mum). The scene where Hilda has her hair falling out was ever present. These fears echo through time. Genuinely awful film in the most important way
I remember this and the TV series Threads vividly. I grew up under the threat of nuclear war and spent most of my childhood terrified, even my early adult life to be honest. I've learned to live with it but still have a permanent underlying fear which gets out of control now and then, depending which megalomaniac is threatening us or the world. I'm convinced annihilation of some type will still happen in my lifetime.
I made the mistake to watch this as a lil kid. It was aired on TV and I happened to have one in my bedroom. I remember that I was quite shocked to see a cartoon movie at 10 pm, but I did not think much about it. It was a truly sad and horrifying experience that stayed with me until this day. I felt bad for the two old guys for days, not really understanding what had happened to them. It wasn't until many years later that I realized all the mistakes they were making.
It's not like staying in their "shelter" would have done anything. Radiation goes through most everything and their shelter is a door and some cushions.
The bags where actually meant to be used to store the deceased .when they get in the bags it symbolises them all ready being dead or at least very close to it
I remember seeing this when I was younger, the bomb then after gave me the chills the animation styles they used made it perfect although still unsettling but still a great watch and a thinker
it's strikingly terrifying how little the government educates the public about this, when we are now closer to this brand of annihilation than we ever have been before.
I was born in 1974 & grew up through this. I remember reading the novel & seeing the film. To be honest from what i remember. We knew there was a nuclear threat, we never really worried about it. I mean what can you do in 3mins & also being so close to London. We knew we never stood a chance.
When I was a young boy of five or six I remember “Duck and cover” drills in school. The air raid sirens would blow and you were suppose to hide under your desk to keep you safe. But this film definitely drives home the point that you would rather be vaporized than to rot away slowly from radiation.
3:14 Fun fact the VHS tape of protect and survive was actually narrated by the late Patrick Allan who many people would remember as the voice of Captain Star from the short-lived Thomas the Tank Engine sister series Tugs
This is why I’m exited for Oppenheimer. I feel as if now more than ever, the threat of nuclear weapons is more extreme. Hopefully it will be an eye opener.
7:45 it takes over 1300 degrees F or 704 C to begin to melt glass. Obviously James and HIlda couldn't survive in 1300/700+ degrees so the melted bottles we see are not actually in the process of melting, but were more likely melted in the blast and somehow weren't blown away. Also at 1:15 I feel that you neglected to mention that James was seeing to Hilda's needs as well. Their traditional relationship was a two way street. Hence why we see James doing all the heavy lifting and errand running for the household. I'd even venture to say James was the real caretaker here considering they are almost certainly living off of his years of hard work and that she was scatter brained enough to run out to do the laundry in the blast LoL.
I own this in a large but thin hard cover cartoon book. Drawn by Briggs. The drawings allow the gallows humor to be dwelt upon and the reality to sink in.
We lost a lot of students in the 80s because they believed a nuclear strike was imminent. They were, many of them, frightened into the surrender of all their hopes. No one believed in the "3 minute warning" and that pamphlet the government delivered to everyone's door provided a convenient way to find the bodies afterwards: Behind the doors propped up against the wall. The 'protection' offered by the government was insulting. You were not going to survive. That pamphlet was saying : Find a hole and die in it. Just how big a gap between what Britain offered and what actually offered a chance of survival became clear when I moved to Switzerland. Homes and apartment buildings with well-built and fully-stocked fallout shelters. There were even inspectors that checked that your own supplies were adequate and enough for the duration. In cities, you were never far from a shelter that were ready for 1000s of people. As for post-event planning in the UK. Don't hold your breath.
i haven't lived through any wars or attacks within my state and country yet, but for some reason i always had this fear as a 9 year old that a war would break out. and i knew almost every realistic way an apocalypse could break out. I used to have nightmares every night. dont have them as much anymore, but thats because theres no way to classify them. but i'm just glad i'm still young enough to have at the very least a few years before a war breaks out. only time can tell.
We were forced to watch this at school when I was a kid, we were living in Germany at the time as both parents were in British armed forces on OP British Army of the Rhineland.. OP BAOR we had three emergency drill alarms at school, one regular fire drill, two nuclear attack drill and third was poison gas drill, was scary times. Apparently we were first line defence if Russia dropped the bomb, would not have lasted 10 seconds but drill was comforting as gave a sense of purpose and hope.
Omg.. I remember that comic novel. Read it as a kid from my school library. I can still remember certain strip's to this day... 30 odd years later. It's such a masterpiece.....
I remember watching this as a kid. Made me feel as if this couple where my grandparents. I suppose thats all just part of the point this flim is making.
That's one way to interpret the phrase "when the wind blows" in this context, but there is another, one that is subtly referenced throughout the film itself- as a direct reference to the lullaby Rock-A-Bye, Baby ("when the wind blows, the cradle will fall"). It's fitting- their perspective on the war is childlike and innocent, and their ultimately misplaced trust in the "Powers That Be", believing right to the end that they have everything in hand and will care for them, is not unlike that of naive children trusting the very flawed and fallible adults in their lives.
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CORRECTION @ 7:45 - I have incorrectly used the term 'fallout' in reference to the melting bottle. It was not the fallout which caused this, rather the result of the heat/flash of the detonation. Thank you to several Ghoul Gang members for bringing this to our attention! - Connor
It's actually been closer to nine years. The "one year anniversary" is only referring to when Russia began it's "special operation" (invasion). The war between Russia and Ukraine has been going on almost a decade now, with many lives lost.
I hope people understand the dangerous game that world leaders are playing with their game of nuclear brinksmanship.
Having undergone CBRN (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear) Warfare training during my time in the military, I can honestly say NOBODY should be encouraging these people to pursue such aggressive strategies in their idiotic proxy war. It troubles me how few people are even contemplating peace talks, instead accusing anybody that does of being "Russian puppets". The level of Russophobia in Western media and politics is only further harming the innocent people caught up in this conflict.
Peace talks between Russia and Ukraine have already been sabotaged multiple times by the likes of Boris Johnson and Joe Biden on the behalf of warhawks and the Military Industrial Complex.
Any nuclear exchange between Russia and the West is going to make Nagasaki and Hiroshima look like a food fight at a children's party.
@@sigspearthumb3249 You've been brainwashed by the russian media into thinking that Ukraine is the agressor and Biden is to blame for Putin's idiotic mistakes.
New Clear Weapons don't Exist.
Great commentary! Loved the movie but scared the hell out of me.
Yeah this thing terrified the ever living shite out of me as a 7 year old kid, and my dad cheered me up by saying, "if you hear any bombs dropping tonight, its just me farting" it did the trick.
@theeverythingaccount1918 oh yes, great sense of humour, and sadly missed, twenty years ago last Thursday.
@theeverythingaccount1918 thanks man.
Your dad sounds like the person who would take your most intense trauma make a joke about it and somehow make it funny
@@thinenansflipflop that's exactly the kind of guy he was, greatly missed everyday.
that is the only wind that's gonna be blowing tonight I suppose
The bit where James tells Hilda things are back to normal as he can smell people cooking their roast dinners is rather chilling. The smell carried on the wind was actually burning human flesh from the nuclear blasts! This is definitely a nuclear apocalyptic masterpiece to watch. Along with 'Threads', 'The Day After' and 'By Dawn's Early Light'.
Ahhhhh man that's a horrifying detail! - Connor
There is one nuclear apocalyptic movie you do not have in there it came out in the 80's but I can't remember what year and the is Testament
@@jamesrousculp1974
Beat me to it! The flip side to Threads!
I remember this one, as if it was yesterday! I think, I was 16 or 17, when it came out. I was in high school, and the nuclear threat was real. Makes you wonder, what is next..
Along with ‘grave of the fireflies’ and ‘In the corner of the world’
"Protect and Survive" was a bad joke, and we all knew it. Looking back, it's strange, the odd tics that can create. As a child (I'm in my early fifties now), my school was at the end of my road. A ten minute stroll. I practiced running it, so that if the warning sounded I could run home within four minutes and at least not die away from my family.
Those thoughts don't belong in the head of a nine year-old child. Nevertheless, they were there.
And those thoughts are still in American children, “will I die today” is a question due to… well a lot of things. It’s a shame, from nuclear bombs to guns, humans just can’t stop destroying humans
the truth is, no generation of children is "lucky" our war time(genZ)is coming soon enough. but at least you die fast. if you dont survive the first blow.
Yep it certainly was, during basic training in the army, when we did NBC training, the instructor went through the decontamination process for chemical and biological, when it came to nuclear, he said the best thing to do is run towards the blast, because you don't want to be around for what comes next.
Mid 50's myself, so I too grew up in that second peak of the Cold War. My schools were never close enough to home to consider that contingency, but because of that distance, pre-teen and teen age me had to consider what I might need to do if *I* survived the blast and prompt problems, and still got home somehow... walking through the warped landscape and groveling dead and near dead, and if I get home, and any of my family are alive, I would have to watch them die slowly of radiation sickness... or I might have to kill someone I love just to end their incomprehensible suffering. What does a kid DO with that kind of thought, that sort of imagery? These ideas were impossible to NOT ponder during those years of inundation from school and TV and newspapers/magazines and movies that all tried to inform us of the endless ways nuclear weapons hated life.
I was in secondary school when I saw this film about 1991ish. I remember talking to my mum and gran about it and gran remembering what it was like during the Cuban missile crisis and how sure they were that the world was about to end at any moment. I grew up in the same village she lived in back then and I was chilled by her words that with my mum in infants school 15 mins walk one way and my uncle in middle school 15 mins walk the other way and with grandad a lorry driver who could of been anywhere in the country she would never have been able to reach both children before the bombs dropped. My mum remembers thinking the same thing in the early 80s when my younger brother was in the same infants school and I was in the same middle school. Even running she couldn't of got to us both and we were blissfully unaware although I do have a vague memory of being shown the old American duck and cover cartoon with the turtle/tortoise! I recently found out about the film threads and asked mum if she had seen it and she reminded me of the conversation I had with her and gran all those years ago. She said she did see the film and switched over to bbc2 to see the 8th day and the newsnight discussion after both as well as the film the day after from earlier. She said threads was so horrific that she couldn't sleep for about 3 days and was in the end comforted that we were so close to London Sandhurst Aldershot Deepcut and pirbright that we would all of been vaporized and wouldn't have to live through the horror of the post apocalypse.
Hows that for nightmare fuel?
What's saddest is when Hilda says 'Shall we get into those paper bags again?' She finally accepts (and knows) she is doomed. Them putting on the bags is basically putting on their death shrouds.
If i remember correctly, in the comic she suggests that maybe a second blast could occur while they sleep
If I remember correctly, they actually have a cellar which would've provided (somewhat) better protection from the fallout that they could've stayed in, and which would've had more room for supplies. But, because the pamphlet James had didn't mention that, he went about creating an inferior shelter with the doors - showcasing just how inadequate the Protect and Survive campaign was in actually preparing people for a nuclear war.
I believe the director of the American nuclear war film The Day After had a similarly dim view of FEMA's public awareness campaigns and ability to respond to a nuclear disaster. As part of his research for writing the script, he visited a regional FEMA office and was shocked to discover most of their time and effort went into making pamphlets to distribute instead of actually planning and preparing for anything if it should happen.
That's a really sad detail as well. Taking instructions and advice which itself is likely problematic or not up to scratch with the issue it's trying to assist with - Connor
@@UnleashTheGhouls
Yeah, the pamphlet seems designed for people without cellars, but how many English houses didn’t have them? Not to mention all kinds of places, like old church crypts, Or surviving castle dungeons, would be so much better.
By the way, do you know the one disaster movie they have not made but we REALLY desperately need? “Carrington Event 2.0”.
It’s fucking coming and we’re almost totally unprepared. It is overdue and it’s a statistical certainty that it will either happen during next year’s solar maximum, or 11 years after that in 2035. Flip a coin. Absolute BEST case scenario is we get a VERY near miss next year that finally wakes us up to prepare for ‘35 and SHIELD our grids and get shielded car batteries. Shield as many communications satellites as possible, basically ship out and sheath them in lead, then during the last six months send the ones we could not get to down to burn up, or send them out into deep space away from the earth. This would protect a minimum of communications while preventing Kessler Syndrome. Also, keep a few extra in a semi-geosynchronous orbit behind the moon’s shadow at all times. When the storm that will hit us is finally detected, a final signal is sent to these backups, programming them to continue the shadow hide protocol for another month, before an AI takes over and moves them out towards the earth at various high orbits and Lagrange points. That would survive any permutation of the event. iF we were to do this, we could quickly recover, setting our technological advances back maybe only ten years at most.
Second best case scenario is we get a very short direct hit over the mid pacific at high noon Hawaiian time, and lasts only an hour or less.
Worst case scenario is any major continent in east or west gets a direct hit lasting over six hours. Night side will fair best in all scenarios, but even that will just barely manage with six or seven hours bombardment on the day side. Much will make it around the rim. All satellites will be lost, save a handful in geosynchronous night orbits, and those will eventually be destroyed by the Kessler cascade radiating out from all the dead satellites colliding with each other. Within 20 years, the earth low orbit will become completely impassable for centuries, and we’ll have shooting stars every night, trapping us on earth for at least a 1000 years. The only way to have an internet after that will be via thousands of miles of fiber optic cables laid across oceans and strong ground relays from mountain tops. That’s what we might be able in less than 50 years to do if we’re only briefly hit in the pacific.
If we get a full six hours or more, however…
We could be looking at a “Canticle For Leibovitz” scenario, but with a lot less radiation or mutations.
@Unleash The Ghouls reminds me of those duck and cover PSA's from the 50s and 60s
@@eldermillennial8330 It is very, very rare a British house as a basement.
@@glenndouglas8822 Old terrace houses often had a coal cellar but you'd still have to block the coal shute
I remember going to this empty cafe with my grandma when I was about 6. The cafe had a bookshelf filled with picture books for kids and my grandma picked this book and read it to me. The last few pages with the old dude coughing up blood traumatized the shit out of me, and for the life of me I couldn’t figure out what the book was called once I grew up. Thank you sir, now I can rest easy knowing what my childhood nightmare fuel is called.
I saw the movie adaptation at age 6. It was my first time seeing grown ups being (even for a young child) visibly unprepared for something terrible and seemingly not understanding of the gravity of the situation they were in. It took me decades to find a copy of it in English because I had originally seen it in French. Watching it as an adult doesn't make it any easier to digest.
THATS WHERE I REMEMBER THIS FROM OMG THANK YOU!!
Raymond Briggs did an earlier book: Fungus the Bogeyman. More fun for kids but most parents wouldn't approve.
I was a fan of fungus the bogeyman and found this graphic novel in the library as a kid. I'll never forget it.
Your grandma just ... kept reading it to you? I freely admit I'm not the most empathetic person, but I really think I'd stop reading it to my younger sisters once I realized the direction it was going.
Saw it at the cinema. It's not an indictment of the couple, it's basically an indictment of the Protect And Survive pamphlets which were well known and ridiculed at the time. They are just a simple, old fashioned couple who believe in doing what the government says.
It seems they didn't bother to follow any of the government advice. They ignored everything about protecting themselves from the fallout. They are more like antivaxers ignoring new science that wasn't taught when they were in school.
Imagine still blindly following what the government says because they "care about us" to this day😂
@@guilhermehank4938 they're naturally trusting and a little bit naive, not to mention this takes place in a time period where information was less promptly available and we saw less of the stupid things the people in charge did, so gotta take all that in consideration
I've always thought James was a bit more savvy then is let on. The tell is at the end when he suggests they get in their sacks alongside their relevant ID. That particular detail is how you were supposed to dispose of your dead if you couldn't bury them. It would make identification easier for authorities. Half way through James and Hilda's venture outside, James seems to have a flash of recognition as to what has likely transpired and what it all means. He is hiding it from his wife.
That's a really sad way of putting it. As though James knows that there's no hope for survival so we may as well have a bit of freedom and comfort my wife before we go - Connor
It was Hilda that suggested they wear the paper bags at the end and she also was the one who asked about the whereabouts of the box of birth certificates.
@@Sp0on777Not only that, but she suggested they pray to God after getting into the bags and back into their refuge. Even when James starts reciting ”The Charge of the Light Brigade” instead of the Bible her request for him to stop sounded more consoling than distressed. It seems like Hilda was the more aware one in the end.
@@beemilkfordinner The "into the valley of death" line was originally from the Bible
Honestly as someone with a chronic illness, some of their symptoms struck a chord with me. Having stuff happen to you and not know why is an awful feeling
Wishing you the best Emily!
@@UnleashTheGhoulsok but don't wish me any good
@@NickBrickLegoIslandyou won’t be a pie
@@dillon9016too late
"Miraculously they survive" - as the late Emer Prevost said of their survival "they won the world's worst lottery". Being killed by a nuke is one thing - trying to survive the nuke is another. Tragic story and my favourite work by Raymond Briggs (RIP)
Honestly, I think we need more stuff like this. The more people are terrified of the consequences of nuclear war, the less likely it is to happen. Especially the people in charge. If you make the kids who'll one day be the ones in charge scared of nuclear war they'll be less likely to make it happen.
I remember being frustrated with the couple not following the recommendations and making mistakes. Now i see this as a realistic portrayal of an older coupl. All of their experience that helped the get through their simple lives lead them astray since the bomb was so far from their daily lives. Heart breaking and unforgettable.
The couple is most us when itcomes to nuclear war because there's no president in history to prepare us for utter annihilation that such war would be.
Still up there with Barefoot Gen as one of the saddest and scariest animated movies about Nuclear War ever made.
And for those wondering, Barefoot Gen is an Anime about a Child and his life before and after in Hiroshima in 1945.
Both When The Wind Blows and Barefoot Gen are masterful movies that shows the dangers of what Nuclear Fallout can do to a family and how ignorance and government lies can kill.
I hope to cover Barefoot Gen on the channel in future! - Connor
@@UnleashTheGhouls it's free on TH-cam if you ever need the footage
Grave of the Fireflies is the saddest for me .
@@craniu3 I was just gonna say this.
I remember there being a chart online that measured how much fictional characters suffered and how much they deserved to. The Bloggs were at the highest level of suffering and the least deserving.
I've just watched When the wind Blows, about half an hour ago. Truly, truly harrowing. A very depressing and humbling film. Its good to see it getting some love online. A completely existential experience
These moves have a bit of a comeback since they are becoming more relevant again lately.
Yeah. Just finished film too.
"When the Wind Blows" (the book) was a "sequel" to "Gentleman Jim" - a story also by Briggs about a public toilet attendant. I don't think "Gentleman Jim" was initially planned as a two-part story, but the idea of taking a known character and exposing him to the horrors of WWIII brings it home with more impact that you getting to know new faces and names. Briggs pulled a blinder with the book by doing that.
I feel like this movie and the comic it was based on are the best examples of turning something cute into a horrifying nightmare with a heartbreaking ending. Most "uh oh its cute now its scary?!?!?!" stories tend to blow the scariness of the concept immediately but seeing Jim and Hilda go from cute kid book characters to gaunt and sick and mentally broken.... nothing can hit as hard as that
Protect and Survive said that you should set up a "fall out room" in the room where the inner- core - or- refuge was. You were supposed to put everything you needed in this room for 2 weeks, and to stay the refuge for 48 hours after the bomb dropped. I'm not surprised though that some people thought you were supposed to stay in your Wendy house of doors for 2 weeks. In any case the radiation would still get you if the heat or blast didn't.
Ah man I can only imagine what must have been going through the minds of the people at the time having to mentally prepare for this! - Connor
In America bomb shelters were meant to be built with lead bricks in order to keep out the radiation. Hopefully, in the event of nuclear fallout, you had enough food to survive until the radiation subsided. Depending on the strength of the bomb that could be anywhere from a few weeks to decades though.
Depending how far away you are, being in a basement can significantly reduce the amount of radiation.
I lived in a village close to a power station when I was a kid in the 70's. I was in bed one night when the safety valves from one of the power stations boilers lifted (if anyones ever heard this, its extremely loud, and travels a long way at night time) anyway, 11 year old me was convinced it was a nuclear missle attack. Shortly after I fell asleep. The end.
If you were right about what it was, then it still would’ve ended with you gong to bed and the end
@@Foxy02016oh my god 💀
"Grave of the Fireflies" is on the same page , but shows the innocence of a child not the ignorance of an adult.
Definitely will be covering this one!
Something about this animation is so visceral and raw. It feels so cartoonish but it’s so beautifully sad. I don’t cry easily, but this breaks me every time. The realistic backgrounds with the tootsie pop owl-esque animation absolutely terrifies me.
I found that blend of physical backgrounds and animation makes it feel a lot more raw too! - Connor
This is both terrifying and heartbreaking. Also, both the title and release year hit a little too close to home for me. I was playing outside when the radioactive cloud from Chernobyl crossed Germany in 1986. There was no warning because the gouvernment considered it safe at the time, which was disputed later. I was just two months old back then and I can't help but wonder if it is at least linked to some of my health issues.
The thing that got me was James constantly calling it “inner core and refuge”. That was cute and enduring to his character.
A fantastic gem, but probably one of the most depressing movies ever made. Just because of how you follow these older couple through out the entire movie only to see them slowly become sicker and decaying from the radiation. It's heartbreaking to see. You kind of enjoy them as characters, their extreme naivety is still charming in a way despite how frustrating it is a the same time. Just a bleak movie you really gotta be in the right mood for.
I just rewatched this film after being a few minutes in to your video - It is a master piece of not only story telling of aware-ignorance (James saying fall out would look like snow, but they are outside trying to find a lettuce to eat) but the whole process you’d expect someone who was not prepared to have to react the same way for water and food.
What broke my hurt is them not going to the basement they had, or even the under stairs storage… and them then taking everything (the water, the eggs, the lot) out of it- instead of going in to it for shelter
- let along, the makers of the film made it that after the rain fell - there was no fallout in the air… yet their ignorance within the house was still cleaning, and shovelling out the bin (james) only making it airborn again. It’s a story of what not to do, and do not follow the instructions of the government; put themselves in paper bags only for an easy clean up without seeing their faces in the next month.
‘Take down thin linen over windows, only to be told to put white bed sheets over the windows?’ - James
This film is, its cinematography and writing is phenomenal
I grew up during this time. I remember practicing duck and cover routines at school and knowing that we might hear the three-minute warning at any time. But I remember we just got on with life. And I think we appreciated life more because of it. We didn't worry too much about the future because there might not be a future. We just lived every day as if it were the last, enjoying the best music, movies, and Saturday morning cartoons, copying Evel Knievel on our BMX bikes, or playing Space Invaders at the local video arcade. To be honest, I think I was happier then than I am now.
This film is so fantastic. A strange mix of humour and horror and so emotionally engaging. It's the best film I daren't watch more than once.
John Mills and Peggy Ashcroft were great in this. Voice acting at its finest.
Wonderful honest performance in their voices - Connor
5:37 - I remember this part of the movie well because of how shocking it was to hear James call his wife a "stupid bitch" because it was the only way to get her to snap out of her delusion and get her into the shelter
It shows what a facade his whole calm and cool demeanor was. I was a bit surprised myself...
I felt so shocked when Hilda mentioned they had a cellar, the could’ve f*cking survived, and Jim thought the potato sacks would protect you from radiation. No, they’re body bags. Nevertheless, bless their souls.
The bit with the human size bags is one of the most frightening things I've ever seen
Chilling
Of all the subjects of the nightmare fuel series, this is the best/worst. It hits you harder than Threads. It's definitely not afraid to tell the truth. Harrowing and brilliant.
I think it's a real sledgehammer of the film. The Nightmare Fuel series covers a lot of topics, but these kinds are films are by far the toughest to digest - Connor
The one-two nuclear war movie punch for me came from Threads and Testament
Harder than Threads? A girl is raped in threads and gives birth to a stillborn. I think that hits just as hard
Boingo buttcrack
a small detail, but that door shelter was completely and utterly ineffective, as much of the Protect and Survive suggestions were. No matter when they emerged from their "shelter", they were already doomed.
Our teacher showed us this video in 1987 age 15.
30 kids didn't sleep for a week afterwards.
I've only ever seen this once and still remember every single second of this film.
My mum and dad would always say that if the missiles came then we would all drive up to the nearest hill (epsom downs in our case) and take a great view until it hit us.
Only an idiot would want to live through all this on a tiny island with 50million other starving idiots as my dad put it.
There wouldn't be 50mil anymore a few seconds after the missiles hit, the number would get waaaay lower not a month after.
This is really silly, but I used to be terrified of nuclear war. Like, it was in my head every waking moment of every day and used to keep me up at night. This film is one of the things that helped with that fear. I don't know why. You'd think it would make it worse
Not a silly thing to be terrified of at all!
Maybe it gave you information that you needed. Lack of info make things scary. It's also comforting to know that there might be something or someone that will make it easier if it happens.
There should be more nuclear apocalypse movies. Sure, they may be traumatising, but they are scary and entertaining because they’re believable and real unlike zombie movies and stuff.
It also shows people the grim reality of what a nuclear war would look, feel and be like. The fact we humans possess that sort of power is astonishing.
Zombies not real?
Apparently you haven’t seen the footage of Kensington Philadelphia.
As a military child of the Cold War, I’ll take zombies over nuclear war anyway. Too horribly real for comfort.
hilda says "the cake will be burnt!" before the nuclear attack hits. i think it's to elaborate on how outdated their idea of warfare is. "the cake will be burnt" implies that everything will be fine after the attack and that they can go back to eating normally after the attack like eating cake. another thing is how the soundtrack somewhat sounds like a plane in the background as well as military drummings, this is how Jim and Hilda think of nuclear bombs, similar to bombs dropped from planes during the second world war, kinda very creepy.
"the cake will burn!". I watched this movie when it came out, and still to this day I can't get that line out of my head...
It is a creepy film. But the music in it is absolutely stunning. Specially David Bowie singing the titular song ❤
YES!!! I’m glad you’ve now covered this film. I think I may have requested it on the Threads video but I can’t remember
Either way, this is absolutely one of those films which you just don’t forget in a hurry. To say that it broke me would be an understatement. I think something I especially loved was the way it called at the Protect and Survive scheme as complete BS. It was only made to calm everyone down (an apparently the paper bags they waited in at the end of the film was included in Protect and Survive to make it easier for people to collect the bodies of the dead). A truly phenomenal, heartbreaking and incredibly well made film
Hopefully it's been worth the wait Mario! I believe you did recommend it all that time back! Thank you for your constant support since then! That paper bag comment has just made me shiver - Connor
They could have made the couple live in the suburbs rather than the countryside, which would never be touched by a nuclear blast. The worst they would have expirienced during the explosion would be a white glow over the horizon and a distant mushroom cloud, maybe a gust of warm wind. The radiation effects would still be felt though, depending on wind direction.
The bottle was melted due to the heat of the blast not the radiation, also.
They live in Sussex which is not too far from London, it's only about 50 miles. If a bomb was dropped on London then it would most likely affect that area too
@@ajc94 The blast damage radius of Hiroshima was 4.4miles
You need to look up how many warheads were aimed at the UK at the height of the Cold War. Living in the country would have been no protection at all.
In the graphic novel it was like that in the area they lived in. It Wasn't really affected by the blast too much. It made the story all the sadder. Everything still looked colorful and bright and they still died of radiation. :(
@@Fr33zeBurn Nukes by the 80s were way more powerful than Hiroshima
Scary movie, I remember living through the Cold War as a boy and into my late teens.
Do you have any particular stand-out memories from that time Fred? - Connor
Are you ok
It never ended.
We’re still threatened by Russia again. And it was terrorists and other countries in between.
Childhood memories:
My dad always had the radio on playing music or listening to a ball game - waiting for the warning.
Keeping the gas tank topped off.
Food in the pantry
Plans to get to my grandparents farm.
Which at that time Eisenhower’s highway plan was still being built.
And we had to take route 19 from Erie to West Virginia a 200 mile drive. All two lane back then which passes through Pittsburgh which is a target. And at that time on those roads took 8 hours.
Now you can drive it in under 4 hours. Crazy to think we might make it. Even now.
The shelter wouldn't have protected them, no matter how long they stayed in it.
Christ!
This is a really sad contemplation. I feel like a lot of the Protect and Survive teachings were designed to provide the hope of security in people - Connor
@@UnleashTheGhouls yeah totally, that's the horror.
It was theatre, something to do, while you die.
Argh!!!
Stop posting this shit, while we're on the verge of WW3.
😜
@@UnleashTheGhouls P&S was actually based on the pamphlet given to the public in WW2. The text was just amended for a nuclear scenario.................................
I remember being shown this in high school and thinking that nuclear war was going to be a bad thing; to be avoided.
I remember watching this as a child and now it feels like we are back were we started.
They were still showing the Protect and Survive films in my school in the mid-80s which is where I saw it. Looking back and thinking about some of the things they recommend to keep you safe it was so ridiculous. Someone once said the ones who survive a nuclear war are the unlucky ones. I believe that.
The best place to be in case of a nuclear war is ground zero.
I remember during my history class in high school we were taking about Hiroshima. My friends were talking about their survival guide if we were bombed. I said "My plan is to get closer to the bomb. I'd rather be vaporized than die slowly." That ended the conversation instantly.
“The lucky ones died in the blast.”
You were well brainwashed i see.
Middle-aged Gen Xer/Xellinial here: This movie traumatized me as a kid because the f*cking brainless tv execs in my country decided that "animated movie = suitable for children" and ran it during the usual hours for kids' cartoons, so I got to see this at an age when I was most certainly equipped to deal with it. I don't even recall if this was before or after the chernobyl disaster happened, because both blur into one big pile of trauma in my brain - we weren't allowed to go outside when it was raining for fear of fallout, the sand from playgrounds was scooped off and replaced, lots of stuff like that. Still, this film is an impressive piece of art.
The ending of this made me cry as Jim and Hilda were a lovely old couple and reminded me a lot of my grandparents
I still have my Protect And Survive pamphlet, along with other paraphernalia from my time campaigning in CND in the early 80s, spurred on by this book and film. Some of the shock when this came out stems from the fact Raymond Briggs was best known for the Snowman book/film with very similar animation, but as far from the horror of this creation as it's possible to get, it must have thrown a lot of people at the time.
It was awful growing up with those threats hanging over us in the 80s. But thankfully we all learned how to love the bomb, or at least ignore the small chance that everything we see in this film could still happen, because the missiles are still there, and we're only people at the end of the day, one small human mistake and we're there. All that's needed is time...
💯💯
The potato sack scene in the end is still depressing to me.
Especially since what James forgot, was that the potato sacks were for when someone died. When someone dies it was recommended that if possible you cover them up with any covering and put their name, ID, and medical information along with them. So someone could identify the corpse.
It's obvious how the "keep calm and carry on" mentality can make you ignorant but, these days, a lot of people could really learn from it.
If you’ve ever watched Protect and Survive (frequently mentioned in this movie) you’ll notice the cartoon-like flavor used to demonstrate a nuclear attack and what to do in its event. I think When The wind Blows was a quasi real life attempt to address exactly how that cartoon would play out.
Oh man yet another channel I can't believe I have not seen before. Commenting so someone else can find it sooner. Great content, liked, subbed, shared.
Thank you Remo! Welcome!
This is such an unbelievably sad film. I was straight up depressed for a week after watching it.
I hope that you're alright now Cadian! - Connor
The Day After was my eye opening film. I remember when it was originally broadcast, and it always stuck with me. Before that, I dont think anyone (at least in the USA) really analyzed the horror of nuclear warfare from the point of view of average people. Threads is also a mind trip, especially since it deals with a generation AFTER a nuclear war. But this one breaks the heart.
I've watched Threads and When the Wind Blows in the same day.
It was absolutely devastating. These two movies + Grave of Fireflies are the ones that I will remember for the rest of my life but probably will never watch again.
Watched the movie and borrowed the comic to read online (at TV Tropes recommendation)
One of the few things I won't repeat reading or watching. I found the movie a bit more chilling than the comic.
The only bittersweet part is that they at least died together.
I knew it was a post apocalypse movie going into it, but it's like drop a 4 grams of magic of magic mushrooms and hop into the surreal ride that is this movie. This film and Wrinkles are two animated films you can't really put a finger on. They are magic, surreal, and twisted in a sense that is familiar but alien.
This is my all time favorite movie so seeing someone talk about it in recent times was a treat, thanks.
I remember the Protect and Survive stuff, and school emergency drills too. Watched Threads when it came out as a teenager, and that was so horrific that I couldn't bring myself to watch When the Wind Blows for years afterwards. When I did eventually watch it, I wished I hadn't. So sad.
Well, damn. Now I'm just more sad than spooked.
I'm reminded of another nuclear story, but it is in a book, not a movie.
"Firestorm", by Steve Rasnic Tem. It is set after Hiroshima.
It recalls the events of the bomb in horrific detail, giving imagery of gore and death like a nightmare, and even personifies the bomb as a new, horrific god, named "Pikadon", the Japanese word for "atomic bomb". There is nothing god-like about it, seeming to compare it more to a demon, with wings of fire and smoke that will consume the Earth, and I can't tell if it's meant to make it look like an eldritch entity, or if it's written from a viewpoint of a survivor going insane after the blast.
Whatever it is, it presents the effects of the bomb in monstrously unflinching detail. If you want to have nightmares, you can read it.
Sadness is rife in this one! Bloody Nora that sounds like a horrific read! - Connor
My dad showed me this when I was 12 and it scared the Hell out of me.
My dad was good friends with Jimmy Murakami.
They used to drink whiskey together. I haven't seen this movie, but really want to. It looks phenomenonal.
I remember when this movie was released. Back then, we still had weekly air-raid exercises in the public every Wednesday at noon. We still do the tests on the sirens, but it's silent today.
Just want you guys to know that I absolutely love these reviews about nuclear war movies.
Thank you Marshall. Never the easiest topic to discuss, but there's a lot to uncover. If you have any recommendations for what we should cover in future, please let us know! - Connor
My mum told me recently in regards to the feel of COVID that this film would come into her mind often, specifically in regards to my Nana (her mum). The scene where Hilda has her hair falling out was ever present. These fears echo through time. Genuinely awful film in the most important way
That's such a poignant and accurate description!
I remember this and the TV series Threads vividly. I grew up under the threat of nuclear war and spent most of my childhood terrified, even my early adult life to be honest. I've learned to live with it but still have a permanent underlying fear which gets out of control now and then, depending which megalomaniac is threatening us or the world. I'm convinced annihilation of some type will still happen in my lifetime.
Threads was a one off dramatisation, not a series.
I made the mistake to watch this as a lil kid. It was aired on TV and I happened to have one in my bedroom. I remember that I was quite shocked to see a cartoon movie at 10 pm, but I did not think much about it. It was a truly sad and horrifying experience that stayed with me until this day. I felt bad for the two old guys for days, not really understanding what had happened to them. It wasn't until many years later that I realized all the mistakes they were making.
It's not like staying in their "shelter" would have done anything.
Radiation goes through most everything and their shelter is a door and some cushions.
Which I find all the more heartbreaking, it wouldn't have made a difference!
The bags where actually meant to be used to store the deceased .when they get in the bags it symbolises them all ready being dead or at least very close to it
I remember seeing this when I was younger, the bomb then after gave me the chills the animation styles they used made it perfect although still unsettling but still a great watch and a thinker
it's strikingly terrifying how little the government educates the public about this, when we are now closer to this brand of annihilation than we ever have been before.
If the people knew the actual consequences of an atomic war, they wouldn't put up with it. That's why the government doesn't tell us.
I was born in 1974 & grew up through this. I remember reading the novel & seeing the film. To be honest from what i remember. We knew there was a nuclear threat, we never really worried about it. I mean what can you do in 3mins & also being so close to London. We knew we never stood a chance.
When I was a young boy of five or six I remember “Duck and cover” drills in school. The air raid sirens would blow and you were suppose to hide under your desk to keep you safe. But this film definitely drives home the point that you would rather be vaporized than to rot away slowly from radiation.
This film was a magnificent display of the use of subtext in a screenplay.
3:14 Fun fact the VHS tape of protect and survive was actually narrated by the late Patrick Allan who many people would remember as the voice of Captain Star from the short-lived Thomas the Tank Engine sister series Tugs
This is why I’m exited for Oppenheimer. I feel as if now more than ever, the threat of nuclear weapons is more extreme. Hopefully it will be an eye opener.
I think it's going to be a film people talk about for a long while
No it’s not extreme
@@americanloyalist4599 pretty extreme with politicians talking about fully "dismantling" Russia over Ukraine - Vladimir won't go out without a bang
If you read or watched Ethel and Ernest before this, then it's so clear that James and Hilda are inspired by Briggs' own parents.
This film should be standard curriculum in grade school to this day
7:45 it takes over 1300 degrees F or 704 C to begin to melt glass. Obviously James and HIlda couldn't survive in 1300/700+ degrees so the melted bottles we see are not actually in the process of melting, but were more likely melted in the blast and somehow weren't blown away. Also at 1:15 I feel that you neglected to mention that James was seeing to Hilda's needs as well. Their traditional relationship was a two way street. Hence why we see James doing all the heavy lifting and errand running for the household. I'd even venture to say James was the real caretaker here considering they are almost certainly living off of his years of hard work and that she was scatter brained enough to run out to do the laundry in the blast LoL.
I own this in a large but thin hard cover cartoon book. Drawn by Briggs.
The drawings allow the gallows humor to be dwelt upon and the reality to sink in.
bruh, i love this series of yours. you’ve introduced me to so many amazing, bone-chilling films :)
Thank you! Hopefully can keep chilling those bones in future! - Connor
We lost a lot of students in the 80s because they believed a nuclear strike was imminent. They were, many of them, frightened into the surrender of all their hopes. No one believed in the "3 minute warning" and that pamphlet the government delivered to everyone's door provided a convenient way to find the bodies afterwards: Behind the doors propped up against the wall.
The 'protection' offered by the government was insulting. You were not going to survive. That pamphlet was saying : Find a hole and die in it.
Just how big a gap between what Britain offered and what actually offered a chance of survival became clear when I moved to Switzerland. Homes and apartment buildings with well-built and fully-stocked fallout shelters. There were even inspectors that checked that your own supplies were adequate and enough for the duration. In cities, you were never far from a shelter that were ready for 1000s of people.
As for post-event planning in the UK. Don't hold your breath.
Watch this and Threads as a double feature. That'll definitely ruin your day.
I might try that
If only they went in the cellar.
That...made a chill run down my spine!
Whenever I think about this film, it hurts so much inside and then I can't stop crying.
Haven’t even watched it and I definitely agree.
I haven't seen it, but still, it makes me wanna cry
From the maker of the snowman ...I think it's actually beautiful ....it's a beautiful love story ... heartbreaking yes but lovely ..too
i haven't lived through any wars or attacks within my state and country yet, but for some reason i always had this fear as a 9 year old that a war would break out. and i knew almost every realistic way an apocalypse could break out. I used to have nightmares every night. dont have them as much anymore, but thats because theres no way to classify them. but i'm just glad i'm still young enough to have at the very least a few years before a war breaks out. only time can tell.
We were forced to watch this at school when I was a kid, we were living in Germany at the time as both parents were in British armed forces on OP British Army of the Rhineland.. OP BAOR we had three emergency drill alarms at school, one regular fire drill, two nuclear attack drill and third was poison gas drill, was scary times. Apparently we were first line defence if Russia dropped the bomb, would not have lasted 10 seconds but drill was comforting as gave a sense of purpose and hope.
In the end credits you can hear a morse code. It says MAD. The world in this movie is gone
I remember this from school. It’s stuck with me for over 35 years.
Omg.. I remember that comic novel. Read it as a kid from my school library. I can still remember certain strip's to this day... 30 odd years later. It's such a masterpiece.....
Before this video I got a ad for WAR THUNDER 💀💀💀
I remember watching this as a kid. Made me feel as if this couple where my grandparents. I suppose thats all just part of the point this flim is making.
Yeah they're certainly relatable characters to the right viewer! - Connor
I remember watching this as a young boy. It's always stuck with me. Ah the 80s...
This traumatised my childhood. They showed us this at Primary school. Way to scare a child shitless for years!
This movie was depressing
That's one way to interpret the phrase "when the wind blows" in this context, but there is another, one that is subtly referenced throughout the film itself- as a direct reference to the lullaby Rock-A-Bye, Baby ("when the wind blows, the cradle will fall"). It's fitting- their perspective on the war is childlike and innocent, and their ultimately misplaced trust in the "Powers That Be", believing right to the end that they have everything in hand and will care for them, is not unlike that of naive children trusting the very flawed and fallible adults in their lives.
WELL SAID.