Threads — Threads(Blu Ray)
The release comes in the form of an A,B,C region Blu Ray, and is the first time the film has been available in many years. I believe the last time it was in print was back in 2005. I first saw the film around ten years back as a bootleg, and this new version is much better quality, and really as good as you could expect for a TV film from the 1980’s. And added to this we get a nice batch of extras, which I’ll discuss later.
The film was a collaboration between director/producer Mick Jackson and writer Barry Hines. In 1982 Jackson had researched & made A Guide To The Armageddon- a documentary for the BBC about what would happen after the bomb dropped. And Hines had worked with socially critical & kitchen sink drama focused English film & play director Ken Loach, most notable on the highly acclaimed Kes. So Threads was the perfect blend of grim fact & science, with the realistic & believable drama.
The film is set in the British northern City of Sheffield- which at the time was the center of the British steel industry, as well as having nearby a large royal air force base. It focuses on the intertwined story of two families, and the build-up to the bombing- from Tv news reports, military action, and the dropping of the bomb it's self. The two lead characters we follow are Ruth(Karen Meagher) & her Boyfriend Jimmy(Reece Dinsdale)- Ruth becomes pregnant with Jimmy’s child, as the run-up to annihilation ticks down. The film timeline follows the weeks before the bomb drop, the days, weeks, months & years after.
Threads blends together the drama elements, with documentary over voicing- discussing the build-up & the after effects. These are interspersed with bleak black & white stills of the aftermath & its effects on people, buildings & landscapes. And typing-on-the-screen texts; detailing the science & facts behind a nuclear bombing. This blend of elements really heightens the impact of the whole thing- making it both highly relatable & believable- giving one both the focus of caring about the characters outcome, as well as the grim impact of facts/ science behind the reality of what it would be like if the bomb dropped. All making for a devastating, yet wholly watch-able two-hour film.
Extras wise we get a good selection of new & exclusive content on the Blu Ray. We get a full-length commentary on the film- bringing together director/ producer Mick Jackson, Film Writer Kier-La Janisse- who wrote House of Psychotic Women, a study of female neurosis in horror and exploitation films, and Severin Films’ David Gregory. The track is rich with interesting facts about the filming, the research behind it’s writing, and the interaction between Hines & Jackson- though at times it comes across more as a separate discussion, as it often doesn’t sink in with the action on screen. Other extras include three separate ten-minute interviews with the cast & crew- we get one with actress Meagher discussing her role as Ruth, one with Director Of Photography Andrew Dunn, and one with Production Designer Christopher Robilliard. Next we get a half-an-hour featurette with the always informative & balanced Stephen Thrower- discussing the history behind the film, the cold war in the 1980’s, the films impact with the public, and his personal thoughts on the film- it’s another great piece of work from Mr Thrower, showing once again why he is one of the most respected names in genre film discussion & critique. We also get an original trailer and a new trailer for this release on the film.
Threads does a very rare thing- it managers to be both dramatically appealing, highly informative, yet constantly impactful & engrossing. It’s a film that crosses genre bounders effortless merging together elements of drama, horror, bleak fact, and the power of the human spirit. It’s a film everyone should see at least once, and this release is perfectly timed with the recent murmurings of nuclear war again- as it reminds us all that we should never let it happen, as really if it did it would be the crushing end of the world as we know it.