The China Syndrome (1979)

Director:

James Bridges

Writers:

Mike Gray (written by) &
T.S. Cook (written by) ...

Release Date:

16 March 1979 (USA)

Genre:

Thriller | Drama

Tagline:

Today, only a handful of people know what it means... Soon you will know.

Plot:

A reporter finds what appears to be a cover-up of safety hazards at a nuclear power plant.

Plot Keywords:

Nuclear Power | Reporter | Television | Cameraman | Cover Up

Awards:

Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 6 wins & 13 nominations

Cast

Jane Fonda	...	Kimberly Wells
Jack Lemmon	...	Jack Godell
Michael Douglas	...	Richard Adams
Scott Brady	...	Herman De Young
James Hampton	...	Bill Gibson
Peter Donat	...	Don Jacovich
Wilford Brimley	...	Ted Spindler
Richard Herd	...	Evan McCormack
Daniel Valdez	...	Hector Salas
Stan Bohrman	...	Pete Martin
James Karen	...	Mac Churchill
Michael Alaimo	...	Greg Minor
Donald Hotton	...	Dr. Lowell
Khalilah Ali	...	Marge
Paul Larson	...	D.B. Royce

Also Known As:

Le syndrome chinois (Canada: French title) (France) [fr]
A Síndrome da China (Brazil) [pt]
China Syndrome (Japan: English title) [en]
Chinski syndrom (Poland) [pl]
Dünyanin kaderi (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Das China-Syndrom (West Germany) [de]
El síndrome de China (Spain) [es]
Ha-Syndrome Ha-Sini (Israel: Hebrew title) [iw]
Kína szindróma (Hungary) [hu]
Kiina-ilmiö (Finland) [fi]
Kina-syndromet (Sweden) [sv]
Kina-syndromet (Denmark) [da]
O Síndroma da China (Portugal) [pt]
Síndrome da China (Brazil) [pt]
Sindrome cinese (Italy) [it]
To syndromo tis Kinas (Greece) [el]

Runtime:

122 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:PG | Australia:PG | Canada:PG | Argentina:13 | Chile:14 | Finland:K-12 | Norway:12 (original rating) | Norway:15 (re-rating) | Sweden:11 | USA:PG | West Germany:12 | Singapore:PG | Netherlands:AL

Filming Locations:

1000 N. Crescent Drive, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

IPC Films

Trivia:

Jane Fonda broke her ankle towards the end of shooting and had to be flown away for treatment. Scenes were shot around her after that, though through editing, it's hard to notice.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: In the scene where Hector's car is forced over the cliff you can see that the gas tank has been removed when his car stops tumbling.

Quotes:

Greg Minor: [re evidence of a nuclear power plant accident] I may be wrong, but I'd say you're lucky to be alive. For that matter, I think we might say the same for the rest of Southern California.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Dynasty: The Iago Syndrome (#2.14)" (1982)

Soundtrack:

Somewhere in Between

A chilling, reality-based, horror film.

"The China Syndrome" is perhaps the first horror film that is not necessarily following the rules of the genre. It takes place in the contemporary '70's, and features people in the normal profession of broadcast television news. But, when a news story about the leakage of nuclear energy breaks; let's just say - there is your monster.

Jane Fonda is absolutely superb as Kimberley Wells, an ambitious Los Angeles reporter relegated only to fluff pieces by her sexist boss (Peter Donat). She wants something juicier, and gets it, in the form of an accident at a nuclear power plant facilitated by Jack Godell (Jack Lemmon with expressions too numerous to count). Her hippie radical cameraman (Michael Douglas, who also produced) photographs the incident without the plant's knowledge and they both agree that public safety is a valid story. The network brass doesn't think so, and soon both Fonda and Douglas are entangled in a web of legalities concerning the tape.

The crux of the film is Lemmon's character. A man torn between loyalty to his company and telling the truth - even in the face of grave consequences. What makes this horror scenario so compelling is that these are true flesh-and-blood people stuck in the most extraordinary of circumstances faced with both a threat of cosmic proportions as well as a human one.

This is a remarkably chilling thriller, and I'm disappointed that it's not taken more seriously (as both art and tract).