History YMMV / TheDayAfter

** Among those affected included President Ronald Reagan, who said he had been shocked and deeply disturbed by the movie.

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Is the President just trying to cheer up the survivors? Does he actually believe that the nuclear war was worth it because it was preferable to Soviet oppression? Or is he a callous monster who sees nuclear war as a form of population control and a way to be rid of his opponents in Congress and the senate?

* HarsherInHindsight: Any announcement concerning countries continuing to seek out nuclear superiority long after the Cold War has ended, meaning that even now (''thirty-two years'' as of the time of this writing) this film ''still has a possibility of happening for real''.

* HarsherInHindsight: Any announcement concerning countries continuing to seek out nuclear superiority long after the Cold War has ended, meaning that this film ''still has a possibility of happening for real''.

* FridgeHorror: If that was a "limited" exchange, what would happen if the U.S. and U.S.S.R. lobbed all their warheads at each other?

* NightmareFuel: While this entry is required to be on YMMV by TV Tropes rules, there is zero doubt that everyone with half a brain who was alive [[UsefulNotes/ColdWar at the time it was shown]] found it ''extremely'' disturbing to know it could happen for real at any moment.

* AmericansHateTingle: The film got a lot of flak when it was released theatrically in Europe for allegedly downplaying the danger of nuclear war, believe it or not.

** Among those affected included President Ronald Reagan, who said he had been shocked and deeply disturbed by the movie.
* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: In a time when people were all too willing to have a nuclear war, this needed to show that it was a suicidal idea to do so. Thank God that the anvil hit the heads of the right parties, and detente quickly followed.
** This is summed up by the disclaimer that states that the effects of a real nuclear war would be far ''[[UpToEleven worse]]'' than what was in the film.

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Is the President just trying to cheer up the survivors? Does he actually believe that the nuclear war was worth it because it was preferable to Soviet oppression? Or is he a callous monster?

* NightmareFuel: While this entry is required to be on YMMV by TV Tropes rules, there is zero doubt that everyone with half a brain who was alive [[ColdWar at the time it was shown]] found it ''extremely'' disturbing to know it could happen for real at any moment.

* UnfortunateImplications: Years after the movie was released, the writer and director themselves admitted that they'd fallen into this trap by making the white and Asian male characters (on average) calmer, more rational, braver, and more steadfast than the black and female characters. The writer was most disturbed by his treatment of [=McCoy=] the black airman, who panics, disobeys orders, deserts his post, and is reduced at the end to a quivering, irrational, screaming madman. He is the only major black character, but every minor black character but one is seen panicking or terrified, while whites around them act calmly and rationally even when the circumstances would call for panic.
** Although he can also come off as the {{Only Sane Man}} among the soldiers, as the only one who doesn't want to keep standing guard over what is now a worthless hole in the ground just because they don't have any orders to stop.
*** A worthless hole in the ground ''that in all likelihood is about to be blown up by a nuclear missile.''

*** A worthless hole in the ground "that in all likelihood is about to be blown up by a nuclear missile."

** Although he can also come off as the {{Only Sane Man}} among the soldiers, as the only one who doesn't want to keep standing guard over what is now a worthless hole in the ground just because they don't have any orders to stop.

* HilariousInHindsight: The President whose speech is broadcast near the end of the movie was originally intended to be George H.W. Bush, but the producers cast a Reagan impersonator instead. The flak they received by this caused them to edit the film, replacing the Reagan soundalike with a "stereotypical Presidential voice" - a voice that sounds remarkably like that of Joe Biden, elected Vice-President 25 years later.

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: In a time when people were all too willing to have a nuclear war, this needed to show that it was a crappy idea to do so.

* UnfortunateImplications: Years after the movie was released, the writer and director themselves admitted that they'd fallen into this trap by making the white and Asian male characters (on average) calmer, more rational, braver, and more steadfast than the black and female characters. The writer was most disturbed by his treatment of [=McCoy=] the black airman, who panics, disobeys orders, deserts his post, and is reduced at the end to a quivering, irrational, screaming madman. He is the only major black character, but every minor black character but one is seen panicking or terrified, while whites around them act calmly and rationally even when the circumstances would call for panic.

* HilariousInHindsight: The President whose speech is broadcast near the end of the movie was originally intended to be George H.W. Bush, but the producers cast a Reagan impersonator instead. The flak they received by this caused them to edit the film, replacing the Reagan soundalike with a "stereotypical Presidential voice" - a voice that sounds remarkably like that of Joe Biden, elected Vice-President 25 years later.

** This is summed up by the disclaimer that states that the effects of a real nuclear war would be far ''[[BeyondTheImpossible worse]]'' than what was in the film.

* UnfortunateImplications: Years after the movie was released, the writer and director themselves admitted that they'd fallen into this trap by making the white and Asian male characters (on average) calmer, more rational, braver, and more steadfast than the black and female characters. The writer was most disturbed by his treatment of [=McCoy=] the black airman, who panics, disobeys orders, deserts his post, and is reduced at the end to a quivering, irrational, screaming madman. He is the only major black character, but every minor black character but one is seen panicking or terrified, while whites around them act calmly and rationally.

* UnfortunateImplications: Years after the movie was released, the writer and director themselves admitted that they'd fallen into this trap by making the white and Asian male characters (on average) calmer, more rational, braver, and more steadfast than the black and female characters. The writer was most disturbed by his treatment of McCoy the black airman, who panics, disobeys orders, deserts his post, and is reduced at the end to a quivering, irrational, screaming madman. He is the only major black character, but every minor black character but one is seen panicking or terrified, while whites around them act calmly and rationally.

** This is summed up by the disclaimer that states that the effects of a real nuclear war would be far ''[[BeyondTheImpossible worse]]'' than what was in the film.