Grimerlana Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

ThrillMessage There are better movies of two hours length. I loved the actress'performance.

Logan Dodd There is definitely an excellent idea hidden in the background of the film. Unfortunately, it's difficult to find it.

Edison Witt The first must-see film of the year.

eric262003 It was strange coincidence that when "The China Syndrome" was released, a real chemical industrial disaster occurred when the Three Mile Island Incident located in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania happened 12 days after the film was released. The ticket sales skyrocketed at the box office, but the industrial community gave this film a bit of backlash for misconstruing the movie to the real events that happened which resulted in pulling the film out from several theatre outlets. Many viewers though this was another James Bridges character studies of ordinary civilians going about their day-to-day duties crossing a path between going about with their jobs and the questionable situations regarding the ethics that come with their occupations.A film like this one would be hard to craft in today's market of filming, not just about the nuclear power plant situation, but about journalism from a feminist's perspective. The film's main language does consist of overpowering technical jargon that's easy if you have an engineering degree, but incoherent if you don't. We get an in depth look at the power station along with its fuel pellets and damping rods. The nuclear station emphasis mostly on high-tech applications like SCRAM, auxiliary feed valves and the titular China Syndrome which is a thing of great concern but not the radioactive annihilation the movie makes it out to be.In spite of all the paranoia and frightful concerns, Bridges has succeeds in adding little subtleties that make this film all the more satisfying and irresistible to watch. The sound effects are clearly at the top of the line when delivering a story. When the first alarm sounds off, is the perfect call to implement panic towards the characters and the viewers. It's really quite chilling. Then you have supervisor Jack Godell (Jack Lemmon)telling everyone to shut that alarm off but is aware from the start that something is just not right. Then we come to a bit of silence which is subtle and yet very disturbing sort of like we get the blood- curdling sound likely to make you go deaf and then it just stops and replaced by the building's rumblings and workers muttering words that lack in anything but comforting.The scenes Bridges feels more at ease is when he turns his attention to the broadcast studios mainly because Bridges started his career in broadcast journalism where we see the eventual boost in the career towards ambitious reporter Kimberly Wells (Jane Fonda). Fonda is really outstanding in her Oscar nominated performance as a reporter trying to cover more serious news coverage like this one but is sadly held back due to the narcissism of the newsroom and is only looked upon as eye candy. While this is happening, Bridges grills incompetent TV producers through their half-baked news segments and their chronic sexist ways while this heavy-hitting industrial catastrophe falling into becoming more dignified.Bridges makes his film come to life by adding more inventive ways to keep the chill factor alive in his movie without spoon-feeding his audience. The courier gets killed in fatal car crash scene is a nod to the infamous Karen Silkwood story. The exciting scene where Godell outsmarts his mysterious killers is the kind of thing Bridges wants as we watch a jittery person on his way to work while at the same shows his incredible exhibition of demolition driving.The climax of "The China Syndrome" was handled for better and worse is reasserted to archaic values. For example the main one is for the broadcast worker's job to gather as much news coverage as efficient and informative as possible. However, Godell can't give that much because he's only a plant supervisor and Wells is way too inexperienced to be caught up in the middle of the ruckus. Many thrillers before and after this one shows how complicated it is more important to gather information to the general public than hostages, weaponry or relics. And then we get the same routine where the brave but foolish reporter where she maintains her composure and to confidently claim that she knows exactly what she's talking about.At first impression, we don't get very to see except steel and glass, with the exception of browsing over Los Angeles interstate highways. But then Bridges adds the intensity of blinking lights, situation boards, some public relations joker informing the plant technicians that there's a snag and the system that needs urgent attention and we get blurry video footage of monstrous steel masses on the brink of collapsing. To top it all off, the stoic robotic sounds of the teleprinter printing out in step-by-step procedures of a potentially catastrophic disaster.

keachs Wow. Not sure why this thriller has so few rating in IMDb. (Actually not so unusual for any non-blockbusters from this era) Almost every aspect of the film is rock solid: setting script, acting, story-line, and the issue is still relevant 35 years later. The characters and scenes in the studio and nuclear power plant are totally believable. There no superfluous scenes at all, no added sex scenes, no smart alack comedy or in-your face scenes. Jack Lemmon in my opinion is also very underrated and gives a great performance as Jack Godell, and Jane Fonda and Michael Douglass are very good in their respective roles. I had not realized that Michael Douglass produced this film, along with One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest four years earlier when he was barely 30 years old. Though some of the costuming and settings obviously reflect the era of the film, it does not feel dated at all. The China Syndrome holds it's own with the other more well-known films of it's day and probably surpasses in quality, the majority current releases put out by Hollywood.

mike48128 It could still happen today. Still relevant with today's aging nuclear plants and terrorism threats. Terrific award-winning casting of Jack Lemmon, Michael Douglas and Jane Fonda, as the TV news reporter who wants to do "real news" stories. Low-key and believable in every way. Plant equipment breaks down. Stuck analog "needles" have happened before in real power plants. Almost a meltdown occurs as cooling water levels drop too low and the control rods start to fail. The plant tries a cover-up to no avail. It is all filmed by Douglas (the news cameraman) who almost loses his life over the footage! Also,a nuclear plant in Midland, Michigan had faked weld x-rays, just like in this movie. It was converted into a gas-fired power plant, as minor leaks in non-radioactive water lines are o.k. As everyone knows, in a "China Syndrome", the atomic core melts completely and burns thru "all the way to China." It's a figure of speech, of course! Released about 12 days within the time-frame of the real 3-Mile-Island disaster and not unlike Chernobyl and that new disaster in Japan. None of these 3 places will be safe areas in our lifetime. A great "little" movie with no "monsters" or other such nonsense!

Mr-Fusion "The China Syndrome" makes for a potboiler of a story, and the fact that a similar incident happened just after the film's release gives it a frightening authenticity. Granted, there probably weren't any hit men in the real-life Pennsylvania tragedy, but this is nonetheless heady stuff. The movie unfolds at a leisurely pace, but the mounting tension always keeps things moving. And it's grounded by some good performances (chiefly Jack Lemmon, although Jane Fonda has a handle on the human- interest-turned-investigative reporter). Michael Douglas is also no slouch, what with his full-on Kenny Loggins vibe.It really stung when a key character was killed, but it didn't detract from my enjoyment of the film. "The China Syndrome" is a remarkably tense movie and takes us back to a time when the news media weren't useless. Great movie. And those silent credits are unbelievably haunting!8/10