Testament

From the moments the bombs fall, you know it will be a grim descent from there. And it was. Maybe not many surprises in the developments, but keeping the focus on the family at least gives a decently depressing effect. Too bad about the music... a sober approach would have been less obviously heartstring-tugging.

It's sad stuff but alas I have the power of amazing foresight, I know that the Kevin Costner in this movie will go on to be the Postman. I'd be expecting the Road Warrior , riding into the sunset with my assless chaps and boomerangs only to have all my skin slough off while I hoot and holler like a lunatic as my radiated brains fall out. I do not like when a movie's music tries to influence how I should feel and make me notice that it's doing it. I can only handle so many flutes and strings.

A great premise. And it delivers pretty well.

Testament is a post-apocalyptic family drama. Supposedly, nuclear bombs fall on the U.S, though not in the vicinity of Hamlin California, so life seems to go on almost normally with the family running gingerly in the fields and mom giving life advice to the kids, until they start dying off with hardly any prior signs of illness. The film seems to believe its own amoral absurdity. Sappy music abounds. "Realistic and believable"?? Watch "Threads".

haunting--from the things the director doesn't show.

Not a terribly good film (though not too shabby by made-for-TV standards) but it is effective, and depressing. Points deducted for extra-cheesy musical score.

No other 80's picture updated 50's sci-fi with this much realism. It avoids mawkishness (outside of home movie flashbacks & a special needs kid) and instead focuses on stark depictions of suicide, radiation poisoning, and child death. As a PBS TV movie turned art film, it's focused on showing humanity's fate. Still, Jane Alexander gives a strong performance. And as a bonus you see a tiny Lukas Haas--oddly with his same adult face. Recommended if you're fine with avoiding Hollywood escapism.

Definitely dated, with some confusing music and directing choices, its still a decent grim look at the after effects of a community dealing with post bomb shenanigans.

Wow! Not sure how I missed this one. Powerful and moving portrayal of one family in the aftermath of a nuclear war.

On power with films such as Threads and The day after which should be compulsory viewing for everyone.

Probably the sappiest movie about post-apocalypse ever made. A movie for the whole family set in 'American dream' suburbia; characters are heroic kid who drives bike really fast and stays strong for the mom, who does her best to keep it all together and bakes cakes for the neighbor kid with downs during nuclear fallout. It's just horrible.

Not nearly as grim or depressing as it wants to be. The British film "Threads" was done better, in my opinion.

Deeply emotional and moving drama, which pulls off the simultaneous feat of never succumbing to sentimentality. Alexander's lead performance is a powerhouse, and the supporting cast of largely child actors are equally affecting. Writing is incredibly perceptive and realistic in the ways I would expect many communities would react in similar circumstances. A welcome counter to the many more graphic renderings of similar material in the 1980s; a forgotten gem ripe for rediscovery.

This is a criminally underrated film. It packs an incredible emotional punch, with the type of ongoing misery you usually only see in holocaust films. Definitely not something to watch when you're down, but it's a very brave work that isn't afraid of silence and to let its moments breath. It shies away from the usual big bombastic ideas that are often in movies based on nuclear war or the apocalypse, which makes it quite unusual in that genre. Deserves to be much better known.

Herança Nuclear /O Testamento estreava há 40 anos nos EUA. Filme muito, mas muito bonito mesmo, sobre uma hipotética guerra nuclear na Era Reagan e seus últimos momentos da guerra fria. Sem entrar em histeria política, a diretora conduz com grande sensibilidade as pessoas se esvaindo no pós tragédia. Vai se foder, Oppenheimer. Box Versátil Clássicos Sci-fi Pós Apocalipse.

I guess this is meant to be a realistic cautionary tale. There are some Spielbergian touches in the first act, and the family drama is decent enough. There's just not enough meat on the bone overall.

Hikaye sona vardıkça karakterler perişan oluyor, gerçekten trajedik bir olay ama bana işleyemedi. Belki ilerde tekrar izlerim.

Jane Alexander’s performance and the somewhat interesting middle son Brad are the only things that standout about this film. The hopelessness later in the film is the only part where I really felt anything. For the most part this is like a drama film with hardly any drama. We watch as the characters do almost nothing, most of the scenes don’t matter in the grand scheme of things. It’s like watching a family try to pass the time during a blackout. The Day After is a better choice of film.

The apocalypse as experienced by the denizens of an alternate universe in which the meanest person is the neighbourhood fat kid.