When A House of Dynamite exploded on the screens, it left a trail of curiosity with its suspenseful, unpredictable storytelling and constant fear of humankind's darkest periods. Movies on nuclear warfare tend to create a similar atmosphere and shake the audience and the government. More than just a mushroom cloud sci-fi spectacle on screen, they compel minds to think about the planet's future, laced with disaster, and what happens when war brews. Like A House of Dynamite, exposing the failures of power, the complexities of morality, and the destruction of humans under pressure, these films, then, become changes disguised as stories.

Each nuclear warfare movie has its own tale on and off the screen, with the risks involved extending beyond the cinema. Some were banned, some altered public opinion forever.

Miracle Mile unfolds in almost real-time as a frantic phone call rattles Harry Washello (Anthony Edwards), who finds out that the nuclear missiles are targeted and has less than an hour left to exist. In this film, written and directed by Steve De Jarnatt, a seemingly normal couple's romance soon transforms into a crazed thriller as they run through the deserted streets trying to escape their destiny. 

The tension is non-stop, almost as close to reality as it could get in the face of an impending nuclear war. The movie resorts to a countdown to raise the level of fear and depicts how the common people's lives get turned upside down by the sudden apocalypse. Miracle Mile (1988) is available for rent on Amazon and can be streamed on FUBO.

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Miracle Mile, though not as directly political as some Cold War dramas, still manages to highlight the same nuclear escalation fear that an average night might just turn into the end of the world.

The Day After belongs to the esteemed list of the most renowned nuclear-war films in American pop culture. Directed by Nicholas Meyer, it pictures a fictional war between NATO and the Warsaw Pact that leads to total annihilation due to nuclear exchange, leading to Lawrence, Kansas, and the evacuation of its suburbs. It essentially shows how a nuclear war started by mistake cost humans their lives in graphic scenes that feel hauntingly real. 

Following its broadcast over US networks in 1983, it attracted an enormous viewership of tens of millions, and its emotional power was a catalyst for public debate about nuclear policy and consciousness. The film's incredibly true-to-life depiction of the nuclear fallout, the calamity of radiogenic disease, and the collapse of society even left the US Department of Defense bothered about its contents. Today, The Day After is available to stream, rent, or purchase on Apple TV and Amazon.

Based on The Last Testament by Carol Amen, Testament is a disturbing story about the hardships in a small town in California after nuclear weapons are targeted at the East Coast. Gradually, the entire town descends into panic as they understand that the outside world is completely shut off to them, they are dying in the radioactive environment, and the system that they totally relied upon no longer exists. 

Starring Jane Alexander, William Devane, Ross Harris, Roxana Zal, Lukas Haas, and more, the film zooms into grief, fear, chaos, and how the atomic war does not just obliterate thousands at one go but rather consumes the underlying relationships, networks, and trust. Testament is streaming on Amazon, Apple TV, hoopla, and Kanopy for free.

One of the most disturbing movies on nuclear warfare ever made, Threads (1984), almost foretells a post-apocalyptic future with an unhinged take on war, almost akin to A House of Dynamite's harrowing depiction of reality. British TV's Threads is a fictional account of a nuclear war in Sheffield and its subsequent effects on the various layers of human life through the collapse of the city’s infrastructure, governance, and dignity.

The movie is different from others in that it tracks the entire three-decade-long process of the fallout, famine, disease, the psychological death of the survivors, and the very slow resurrection of hope, if any. It is now streaming on Amazon, Apple TV, hoopla, and Kanopy for free.

Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer, featuring Cillian Murphy in the lead role of J. Robert Oppenheimer, is a retelling of the saga of the scientist who was instrumental in the development of the first atomic bomb and the accompanying moral and political repercussions. 

The movie covers several periods of time, from the scientific advancements to the political hearings and their aftermath. It depicts how the power, greed, and beliefs of the people did not merely exist alongside science but also interacted a little too closely. The movie highlights the correlation between human aspiration and annihilation right during the birth of nuclear weapons.

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Oppenheimer (2023) is available for rent or purchase on Amazon or Apple TV. 

Combining news broadcast style with narration, Countdown to Looking Glass is a telemovie that depicts an imaginary clash between the USA and the USSR in the Strait of Hormuz. It provides a documentary-style fictional take on the government and media on geo-political turmoil intensifying, and the audience gets to see how economic hardship and lack of communication can turn into nuclear threats.

Though Countdown to Looking Glass is currently not streaming on any OTT platforms, the entire documentary is available on YouTube. It provokes thoughts on how a nuclear war crisis is not always about missiles but sometimes, it can start with negotiations, money, and timing.

Fail Safe is a Cold War suspense film from the director Sidney Lumet, which effectively deals with nuclear paranoia. The plot revolves around a technical or procedural blunder that leads to the red alert of American bombers being sent to strike Moscow.

The movie is available on Amazon, Apple TV.

This dark animated film (based on the graphic novel by Raymond Briggs) depicts the life of an elderly British couple, Jim and Hilda Bloggs, in rural England. They try to shield themselves from the effects of a nuclear war that is happening quite close to them, using the government methods they received.

But they find out that their reliance on the authorities was wrongly placed, and it cost them their lives as the bomb drops. The couple’s simplicity, compassion, and clinging to outdated ways make their demise all the more sorrowful. When the Wind Blows (1986) can be streamed on Prime Video, Apple TV, Fandango, and the Roku Channel.

On the Beach hauntingly depicts the aftermath of the nuclear war, starring Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Fred Astaire, and Anthony Perkins. It is produced and directed by Stanley Kramer, based on Nevil Shute's 1957 novel. Set in 1964, after the third World War, the movie follows Australian survivors of the nuclear warfare. 

With no enemy on screen or any last-minute rescue, the movie turns extinction into reality and everyday life. It is available for streaming on Apple TV. Here, the dread feels more terrifying than the nuclear explosions.

The Divide's modern-day relevance makes it more intense and darker. After the chain of nuclear detonations that destroyed New York City, the survivors are forced to take refuge in a fallout shelter located in the basement of an apartment building. It is available on Amazon, Apple TV, and the Roku channel.

If A House of Dynamite captured the modern-day viewers with real-life tension and speculation, these tales of nuclear war did the same back in the day. They made the viewer aware of the fact that survival is not taken for granted, that every decision counts, and that power's fallout is far greater than that of the actual explosion.

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Which one of these nuclear warfare movies is your favorite? Comment below.