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Testament (1983)
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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writers:
Release Date:
December 1983 (USA)
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Tagline:
It happened in an instant. The televisions went blank, the radios - silent. The cities were gone, the future abandoned. And the only thing they have left to hold onto, is the people they love. more
Plot:
Nuclear war in the United States is portrayed in a realistic and believable manner. The story is told...
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Plot Keywords:
Awards:
Nominated for Oscar.
Another 1 win
&
4 nominations
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NewsDesk:
User Comments:
Devastating
more (73 total)
Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only) | Jane Alexander | ... | Carol Wetherly |
 | William Devane | ... | Tom Wetherly |
 | Rossie Harris | ... | Brad Wetherly (as Ross Harris) |
| Roxana Zal | ... | Mary Liz Wetherly |
 | Lukas Haas | ... | Scottie Wetherly |
| Philip Anglim | ... | Father Hollis Mann |
 | Lilia Skala | ... | Fania Morse |
| Leon Ames | ... | Henry Abhart |
| Lurene Tuttle | ... | Rosemary Abhart |
 | Rebecca De Mornay | ... | Cathy Pitkin |
 | Kevin Costner | ... | Phil Pitkin |
 | Mako | ... | Mike |
| Mico Olmos | ... | Larry |
| Gerry Murillo | ... | Hiroshi |
| J. Brennan Smith | ... | Billdocker |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
90 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Certification:
Australia:PG |
Hong Kong:IIA |
Sweden:11 |
Finland:K-12 |
Norway:15 |
UK:PG |
USA:PG |
West Germany:12 |
Singapore:PG
Filming Locations:
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
Flashback sequences were shot with a hand-held Super 8mm camera, to give the effect of a "home movie".
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Quotes:
Newscaster:
This is San Francisco. We have lost our New York signal. Radar sources confirm the explosion of nuclear devices there, in New York, and up and down the East Coast. Ladies and gentlemen, this is real. This is...
Emergency Broadcast System Announcer #1: [interrupting with a high-pitched tone] We interrupt this program at the request of the White House. This is a national emergency. This is an Emergency Action Notification. I repeat, we interrupt this program at the request of the White House. Do not use your telephone. Telephone lines should be kept open for official use. Important instructions will follow.
Carol Wetherly: [telephone rings] Hello? Tom? Hello?
Emergency Broadcast System Announcer #2: Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States.
[the TV suddenly goes dark, a blinding flash appears outside the living room window, and air raid sirens begin to wail]
Brad Wetherly: Mom?
Mary Liz Wetherly: Mom?
Carol Wetherly: Get away from that window!
Scottie Wetherly: Mommy!
Carol Wetherly: Get down on the floor. Get down!
[...]
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Emergency Broadcast System Announcer #1: [interrupting with a high-pitched tone] We interrupt this program at the request of the White House. This is a national emergency. This is an Emergency Action Notification. I repeat, we interrupt this program at the request of the White House. Do not use your telephone. Telephone lines should be kept open for official use. Important instructions will follow.
Carol Wetherly: [telephone rings] Hello? Tom? Hello?
Emergency Broadcast System Announcer #2: Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States.
[the TV suddenly goes dark, a blinding flash appears outside the living room window, and air raid sirens begin to wail]
Brad Wetherly: Mom?
Mary Liz Wetherly: Mom?
Carol Wetherly: Get away from that window!
Scottie Wetherly: Mommy!
Carol Wetherly: Get down on the floor. Get down!
[...]
more
Movie Connections:
Features "The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Show" (1978)
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Soundtrack:
All My Loving
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FAQ
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more (73 total)
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This small film from 1983 might actually be more emotionally devastating than "Schindler's List" because it presents us with a horrific "what-if" scenario that I imagine scared the be-jesus out of viewers in the Cold War era that it was made and will send shivers down the spine of anyone who watches it today. The threat of nuclear holocaust may not be so looming now, but the threat of bio-terrorism or any other level of terrorist attack or all out war is very real in the post 9/11 era. This film is so stark and intimate that it really doesn't matter what these people are dying from (it could just as easily be biological warfare as it is nuclear fallout). I was so deeply effected by this film's portrayal or one family in one small California town getting cut off from the rest of civilization (which we can only assume is in the midst of WWIII) and slowly falling apart while one by one loved ones succumb to nuclear radiation that I couldn't watch it all. I had to flip the channels to watch a few minutes of "The Simpsons" before I turned back to watch the end. This is possibly the most depressing film ever made. Jane Alexander running frantically around the house searching for her youngest son's favorite stuffed animal and refusing to bury his body (wrapped in bedsheets) in the backyard until she found it is so heartbreaking that it made me sick. As such, this is the film that every politician the world over should watch before declaring any kind of war. War is not about winning or losing or politics or doing what it right, war is about the death of our children. Everyone needs to be reminded of that before making the war cry. In the end we all die.