The planet would rejoice, finally getting rid of us humans. And I'd laugh at myself for amassing retirement funds.

violet wrote: ↑Fri Jun 30, 2023 9:08 pm

Alex wrote: ↑Fri Jun 30, 2023 8:28 pm The planet would rejoice, finally getting rid of us humans. And I'd laugh at myself for amassing retirement funds.

It won’t be too great for flora and fauna either

Another great reset. Planet Earth and Mo Nature are not unfamiliar. There’s microbes that thrive in refined fuels, crustaceans that live near volcanic vents. Nature would do something, even it is illustrated by Dali. We’d likely just not be around to watch. Except maybe Attenborough.

Many were increasingly of the opinion that they'd all made a big mistake in coming down from the trees in the first place. And some said that even the trees had been a bad move, and that no one should ever have left the oceans.

One thing is for certain, all those apocalyptic movies set in the aftermath of an extinction level nuclear exchange were a best hope scenario.

We've been close before at various times in history and have always avoided the worst.... how long till our luck runs out?

What we need is an updated version of 'Threads'. It was a horrific one-off TV drama that absolutely every British person of my generation remembers vividly. I think the US did their own version, called "The Day After"? I'm not sure.

It was one of the most terrifying TV dramas most people had ever seen in the UK. It's on YouTube and although it's clearly dated now, (it was made in the early 80s) I have seen it again as an adult and it still scared the shit out of me. It was all about the lead-up to a nuclear war, what happens during it, and also the aftermath.

If I remember correctly, Ronald Reagan commented on it (although he was probably talking about the US version) and he openly admitted that it was the inspiration for him to start talks with Russia and not only try to de-escalate tensions between Russia and the west, but to also try to come to some sort of deal to reduce the number of nuclear weapons both sides had.

Not sure if it would work these days, or if it would just be seen as yet another disaster movie / drama, but it certainly had a huge, huge impact in the 80's.

Probably worth a shot, if done correctly.

xandreu wrote: ↑Fri Jun 30, 2023 11:01 pm What we need is an updated version of 'Threads'. It was a horrific one-off TV drama that absolutely every British person of my generation remembers vividly. I think the US did their own version, called "The Day After"? I'm not sure.

It was one of the most terrifying TV dramas most people had ever seen in the UK. It's on YouTube and although it's clearly dated now, (it was made in the early 80s) I have seen it again as an adult and it still scared the shit out of me. It was all about the lead-up to a nuclear war, what happens during it, and also the aftermath.

If I remember correctly, Ronald Reagan commented on it (although he was probably talking about the US version) and he openly admitted that it was the inspiration for him to start talks with Russia and not only try to de-escalate tensions between Russia and the west, but to also try to come to some sort of deal to reduce the number of nuclear weapons both sides had.

Not sure if it would work these days, or if it would just be seen as yet another disaster movie / drama, but it certainly had a huge, huge impact in the 80's.

Probably worth a shot, if done correctly.

That movie was in my mind as I typed my post in this thread. The most vivid memory from that movie was right at the end where they were trying to get the wheat harvest in but the outcome was going to be inevitable. They were never going to have another harvest due to the nuclear winter.
Now? It would be feasible with the tech we have to maybe sustain a modest group underground but once things started to break or wear out they wouldn't be able to replace them so, again, they would just be prolonging the inevitable.

Of course, eventually, life would return. The earth has a few billion years left before the sun depletes its fuel source and swells to engulf the earth. Providing a reasonable amount of complex life remains, hell cockroaches are a prime candidate, give it a few million years and something will evolve to become the dominant species once more. It's only 65 (?) million years since the dinos got wiped out ... gotta love that whole evolution thing we got going on here.

IraHayes wrote: ↑Fri Jun 30, 2023 11:53 pm

xandreu wrote: ↑Fri Jun 30, 2023 11:01 pm What we need is an updated version of 'Threads'. It was a horrific one-off TV drama that absolutely every British person of my generation remembers vividly. I think the US did their own version, called "The Day After"? I'm not sure.

It was one of the most terrifying TV dramas most people had ever seen in the UK. It's on YouTube and although it's clearly dated now, (it was made in the early 80s) I have seen it again as an adult and it still scared the shit out of me. It was all about the lead-up to a nuclear war, what happens during it, and also the aftermath.

If I remember correctly, Ronald Reagan commented on it (although he was probably talking about the US version) and he openly admitted that it was the inspiration for him to start talks with Russia and not only try to de-escalate tensions between Russia and the west, but to also try to come to some sort of deal to reduce the number of nuclear weapons both sides had.

Not sure if it would work these days, or if it would just be seen as yet another disaster movie / drama, but it certainly had a huge, huge impact in the 80's.

Probably worth a shot, if done correctly.

That movie was in my mind as I typed my post in this thread. The most vivid memory from that movie was right at the end where they were trying to get the wheat harvest in but the outcome was going to be inevitable. They were never going to have another harvest due to the nuclear winter.
Now? It would be feasible with the tech we have to maybe sustain a modest group underground but once things started to break or wear out they wouldn't be able to replace them so, again, they would just be prolonging the inevitable.

Of course, eventually, life would return. The earth has a few billion years left before the sun depletes its fuel source and swells to engulf the earth. Providing a reasonable amount of complex life remains, hell cockroaches are a prime candidate, give it a few million years and something will evolve to become the dominant species once more. It's only 65 (?) million years since the dinos got wiped out ... gotta love that whole evolution thing we got going on here.

The most vivid parts of it for me was firstly, the empty glass milk bottle on a doorstep melting. Everyone I've ever talked to about it remembers that scene vividly too, which I've always found really strange. Of all the horrific scenes in the drama, everyone remembers the milk bottle scene. Then there was that high shot of the city centre where hundreds of people were screaming and running in all directions - no-one really knew where to run to, but it then cut to a woman who was just standing there motionless, as the camera panned down and showed her urinating onto her shoes in sheer shock.

And then, for a very short time, it seemed like the initial panic had subsided, but then the shockwave hit. Several scenes of people doing something, only for the image on the screen to freeze and the screen to simply turn white. For it's day, and especially for the BBC, which was always well known for it's terribly cheap visual effects, it was amazing how it was filmed in such a way that was absolutely terrifying. When I watched it as a kid, for example, at the scenes where the houses were simply blown apart, it looked incredibly realistic. Now, of course, I can see that they were simply models, but at the time, it seemed so incredibly realistic.

The other factor that not a lot of people mention, was the fact that it wasn't promoted at all. It was in the days where we only had 3 channels and people just watched whatever was on one of the three channels, BBC1 being one of the most popular channels, which was what it was shown on. It was so 'out of the blue'. Nobody expected it at all. The TV announcer just said something like "and now it's time for our drama tonight called 'Threads', a tale of what would happen if nuclear war ever broke out'. And most people were like "Ok, may as well watch it, there's nothing on the other two channels". No-one had any idea what to expect, but it was such a major talking point for a very long time after it was shown, and still gets talked about today.

But apart from the actual drama, you're right, it would be the end of civilisation as we know it, but it's unlikely to be the end of humanity, and certainly not the end of the world. However, considering how hard life would be in the aftermath of a nuclear war, most people would probably prefer to be dead.

I know I would.