Fridge Brilliance: Nuclear winter hadn't been formally theorized at the time the film was made (though there was plenty of research going on, and there had already been Science Fiction stories based on the idea), but since the film doesn't explain why everything is frozen, you could interpret this as a post-nuclear tale.
Too Bleak, Stopped Caring: Most likely a reason for its disastrous faring at the box office. This is one of the most aggressively depressing sci-fi movies ever made, even by the frequently bleak standards of the post-apocalyptic genre. Humanity is staggering around waiting to die, everyone in the movie is an asshole at best and a duplicitous murderer at worst, with the sole exception of Viva who dies a half-hour into the movie, and the remaining humans we follow, instead of trying to actually accomplish anything worthwhile, spend their last hours playing a violent board game that turns out to have no actual prize. It's not hard to feel like the whole thing was just completely pointless.
Took the Bad Film Seriously: Whatever other flaws it has, it is a very well-acted film, with a cast of seasoned pros all giving credible performances.
hadn't been formally theorized at the time the film was made (though there was plenty of research going on, and there had already been Science Fiction stories based on the idea), but since the film doesn't explain why everything is frozen, you could interpret this as a post-nuclear tale.