The Day After
1983 (TV)
Dr Russell Oakes: I wonder who was spared? I wonder if New York, Paris, Moscow... are just like Kansas City now?
Dr Landowska: There is a rumor that they are evacuating Moscow. There are people even leaving Kansas City because of the missile base. Now I ask you: To where does one go from Kansas City? The Yukon? Tahiti? We are not talking about Hiroshima anymore. Hiroshima was... was peanuts! Dr Russell Oakes: What's going on? Do you have any idea what's going on in this world? Dr Landowska: Yeah. Stupidity... has a habit of getting its way.
Bruce Gallatin: What are the chances of something like that happening way the hell out here in the middle of nowhere? Joe Huxley: Nowhere? Ha-ha-ha! There's no "nowhere" anymore. You're sitting right next to the Whiteman Air Force Base right now. That's about 150 Minuteman Missile silos spread halfway down the State of Missouri. That's... an awful lot of bullseyes.
Joe Huxley: This is Lawrence. This is Lawrence, Kansas. Is there anybody there? Anybody at all?
Joe Huxley: You know what Einstein said about World War III? He said he didn't know how they would fight World War III, but he knew how they would fight World War IV: With sticks and stones.
(intercontinental ballistic missiles are being fired) Cynthia: What's going on? Joe Huxley: Those are Minuteman missiles! Cynthia: Like a test, sort of... like a warning? Joe Huxley: (shakes his head, staring at the missiles in awe and disbelief) They're on their way to Russia. They take about thirty minutes to reach their target. Aldo: So do theirs, right?
Stephen Klein: You can't see it... you can't feel it... and you can't taste it. But it's here, right now, all around us. It's going through you like an X ray. Right into your cells. What do you think killed all these animals?
First Air Force Officer: Confidence is high. I repeat, confidence is high. Roger, we've got thirty two targets in track and ten impacting points. I want it confirmed... is this an exercise? Roger, copy. This is not an exercise! Second Air Force Officer: Roger, understand. Major Reinhardt, we have a massive attack against the U.S. at this time. ICBMs... numerous ICBMs... Roger, understand. Over three hundred missiles inbound now.
Dr Sam Hachiya: (intensely) What did you see? You come from Kansas City. What did you see? Dr Russell Oakes: (in shock) I was on the freeway, about thirty miles away. I'm not sure... it was high in the air, directly above downtown. Like the sun... exploding.
Stephen Klein: Well... I don't know what happened at Lawrence. I was pretty close to Harrisonville when it all started. There must have been five or six of them to the north, and... a whole string of them to the south. Jim Dahlberg: They must have hit every missile silo from Sedalia to Eldorado Springs.
Julian French: We tried hooking up an auxiliary pump up to a backup generator, and we're still only getting a trickle. Dr Sam Hachiya: I don't understand. Did they burn out? Dr Austin: They could have been subject to the EMP effects. Dr Russell Oakes: What's that? Dr Austin: 'Electro-Magnetic Pulse.' When a large nuclear device is airburst at high altitude, a lot of electrical disruption can be created, principally with radios, communication systems, electrical wires, computers, cars, transistors. Of course, it's all theoretical. It's never happened before. In short, very little electricity. Dr Sam Hachiya: Forever? (Dr Austin shrugs)