There's good in TESTAMENT as an entertainment vehicle, and that saves it from the low rating I believe it really deserves on the merits. On balance, I enjoyed it and I'm glad I watched it, but no one should think for even a second there's anything realistic about this drama's depiction of a post nuclear war northern California town, even in a 1980s context.
That's not to say the film is a complete failure. It sports a wonderful lead performance and a real-world message that help to balance out its shortcomings.
Jane Alexander is a talented actress whose performance as a post apocalyptic wife and mother facing the certain deaths of her children -- along with everyone else she has ever known and loved -- was at once tense and enervating. She made this film watchable and she deserves credit for a heartfelt, quality performance.
TESTAMENT hints at counterstrikes, fallout, death, and collapse on a global scale but maintains a laser focus on one small community. Thankfully, the filmmakers didn't undermine the only possible fair ending this movie could have: Virtually everyone dies, if not immediately then soon. In the wake of a full-scale thermonuclear exchange, that's the reality even in the most remote locations.
At least that point is made, but it doesn't save the overall effort. The plausibility problems in TESTAMENT are simply too overwhelming to waive off.
Perhaps TESTAMENT is the product of a more innocent time, but it outright ignores what every thinking person, then and now, knows will happen after all-out nuclear war: the breakdown of civil society; catastrophic illness and excruciating death; the failure of every norm and component of civilization we daily take for granted; and wanton violence over scarce resources.
In short, survivors of the initial blasts will be treated to an unrelenting hellscape in which the strong prey upon the weak. A juvenile bully stealing a few batteries, breaking a window to steal food from the kitchen, and making off with a bicycle is laughable and doesn't serve as a credible microcosm of the chaos we actually could expect to see. The local cop's casual threat of martial law doesn't erase these truths and serves merely as a flimsy excuse to disregard them.
The world we live in informs us that angry, desperate people -- in the absence of civil authorities with the ability and will to enforce order -- will do very, very bad things. That wasn't a particularly speculative point in 1983, and it's certainly not today.
Worse, TESTAMENT doesn't begin to address the very real environmental catastrophe a nuclear war would cause. Below-freezing temperatures year round; a global collapse in agriculture; worldwide famine and drought; atmospheric impacts leading to dangerous solar radiation; and so, so much more. Simply put, that extra sweater won't cut it and your kids won't be tooling around town in short sleeves on a 10-speed bike.
The impact of nuclear war is an ambitious subject to tackle in any film, especially a low-budget affair. As a result, TESTAMENT can't offer a strong enough foundation upon which to suspend disbelief. Compared to other films in this genre (ON THE BEACH, THE ROAD come to mind), it's a weak sister. Still, it's a great reminder that we live on the edge of annihilation every single day and right now, that message can't be delivered too many times.
That's not to say the film is a complete failure. It sports a wonderful lead performance and a real-world message that help to balance out its shortcomings.
Jane Alexander is a talented actress whose performance as a post apocalyptic wife and mother facing the certain deaths of her children -- along with everyone else she has ever known and loved -- was at once tense and enervating. She made this film watchable and she deserves credit for a heartfelt, quality performance.
TESTAMENT hints at counterstrikes, fallout, death, and collapse on a global scale but maintains a laser focus on one small community. Thankfully, the filmmakers didn't undermine the only possible fair ending this movie could have: Virtually everyone dies, if not immediately then soon. In the wake of a full-scale thermonuclear exchange, that's the reality even in the most remote locations.
At least that point is made, but it doesn't save the overall effort. The plausibility problems in TESTAMENT are simply too overwhelming to waive off.
Perhaps TESTAMENT is the product of a more innocent time, but it outright ignores what every thinking person, then and now, knows will happen after all-out nuclear war: the breakdown of civil society; catastrophic illness and excruciating death; the failure of every norm and component of civilization we daily take for granted; and wanton violence over scarce resources.
In short, survivors of the initial blasts will be treated to an unrelenting hellscape in which the strong prey upon the weak. A juvenile bully stealing a few batteries, breaking a window to steal food from the kitchen, and making off with a bicycle is laughable and doesn't serve as a credible microcosm of the chaos we actually could expect to see. The local cop's casual threat of martial law doesn't erase these truths and serves merely as a flimsy excuse to disregard them.
The world we live in informs us that angry, desperate people -- in the absence of civil authorities with the ability and will to enforce order -- will do very, very bad things. That wasn't a particularly speculative point in 1983, and it's certainly not today.
Worse, TESTAMENT doesn't begin to address the very real environmental catastrophe a nuclear war would cause. Below-freezing temperatures year round; a global collapse in agriculture; worldwide famine and drought; atmospheric impacts leading to dangerous solar radiation; and so, so much more. Simply put, that extra sweater won't cut it and your kids won't be tooling around town in short sleeves on a 10-speed bike.
The impact of nuclear war is an ambitious subject to tackle in any film, especially a low-budget affair. As a result, TESTAMENT can't offer a strong enough foundation upon which to suspend disbelief. Compared to other films in this genre (ON THE BEACH, THE ROAD come to mind), it's a weak sister. Still, it's a great reminder that we live on the edge of annihilation every single day and right now, that message can't be delivered too many times.