It’s been described as a great film that you should definitely watch, but will only want to watch once, and now it’s on streaming you can see as much of it as you like.
Should you require any convincing of the horrors of nuclear war and how unrepentantly s**t it’d be for everyone, then you need only watch the classic film Threads, which depicts the days leading up to the world collapsing into nuclear war and then the long years of misery which follow.
Check out the trailer:
Threads was recently shown on TV for only the fourth time ever in the UK to commemorate the long years since its release, with a disclaimer even being shown before the film so audiences were well warned about what they’d be getting in for.
In case you missed Threads being on TV and forgot to stick it on record, but still want to see humanity suffer and collapse in the aftermath of nuclear war, the film is now available to stream for free on BBC iPlayer.
As long as you’ve paid your TV licence you can stream one of the most horrifying films ever made, and the streaming platform’s warning of ‘strong language, graphic violence and disturbing scenes’ really don’t prepare you for what you’re about to see.
Threads will make you feel most sorry for the characters who manage to survive the bomb. (BBC)
BBC iPlayer’s description of Threads says the film is a: “Grim drama telling the story of a nuclear strike on Britain through the eyes of two families, tracing the events leading up to the war and the decade of devastation that follows.”
Even that doesn’t really do the harrowing nature of the film enough justice, though really there are no words that could.
To be honest with you, dear reader, after watching Threads it seems as though the ideal survival plan in the event of the country being destroyed by nuclear weapons would be to polish off any remaining Jaffa Cakes in the cupboard and then sprint towards the nearest mushroom cloud.
The film dedicates a good hour to showing the dreadful life those who survive the nuclear blasts experience, with characters directly saying they wish they were dead.
There are plenty of images from Threads which will stick in your mind long after the film is over, perhaps the most striking of which is that of an armed traffic warden with his head bandaged.
Michael Beecroft as the Traffic Warden, providing nuclear fiction with one of its most striking images. (BBC)
Michael Beecroft was the actor who portrayed the traffic warden, and according to the BBC he was recently tracked down by a documentary crew who wanted to find the man behind the striking visage.
His face soon became one of the most iconic images of post-apocalyptic drama.
Back when Threads was previously shown on TV, the BBC stuck a much longer disclaimer before it to fully prepare viewers for the horrors they were about to witness.
You can view that here:
While I doubt you’d go into any movie eager for the prospect of nuclear war to occur in our real lives, there’s pretty much no film that’ll make you deathly afraid of the idea like Threads.
Threads is currently available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
