On the Beach
- TV Movie
- 2000
- 3h 15m
After a global nuclear war, the residents of Australia must come to terms with the fact that all life will be destroyed in a matter of months.After a global nuclear war, the residents of Australia must come to terms with the fact that all life will be destroyed in a matter of months.After a global nuclear war, the residents of Australia must come to terms with the fact that all life will be destroyed in a matter of months.
- Awards
- 8 wins & 7 nominations
- Chief Wawrzeniak
- (as David Paterson)
- Director
- Writers
- Nevil Shute
- John Paxton(1959 screenplay)
- David Williamson
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaRachel Ward and Bryan Brown are husband and wife in real life. This marks their fourth on-screen collaboration.
- GoofsWhen the sub departs on its mission north, it is depicted remaining surfaced until radiation levels start rising. In real life, they would submerge just as soon as they were clear of the Australian Coast '--- a surfaced nuclear sub is barely seaworthy and can't go nearly as fast as it can submerged (and the story did emphasize time was of the essence). Also, submerging and surfacing are not nearly as dramatic as this movie depicts. Back in the early to middle 20th century, submarines like the German U-Boats were shaped like surface ships, and worked more efficiently on the surface, but that changed around the time the book was written --- since then, submarines move most efficiently underwater.
- Quotes
Cmdr. Dwight Towers: I carried warheads on my boat. That is correct. I was damn proud of it too. I served my country the best way I know how. And the only question I ask myself these days and I'm asking it every single millisecond now whatever the hell's left of what I've got, if where was I, where were you? Where were any of us? 'Cause I don't know what the hell two insane nations were doing facing each other down all those years. All that had to be done was that the brains, you know, the rational minds, the so-called best, you know all they had to do was just come, just come, come to the tables, negotiate, break a little bread. Do you know we had a combined arsenal of sixty-five thousand nuclear warheads. I have failed to find the logic in that. No logic.
- ConnectionsFeatured in The 58th Annual Golden Globe Awards 2001 (2001)
I found this tv-movie more watchable than I first suspected it would be. Being Australian and made for tv I knew that there would be a very high romance factor to secure the female half of the viewing audience. And I was not disappointed in this presumption. Love interest was there in spades. True love in the form of the Holmes family, new love between Moira and Captain Towers the US sub commander, lost love between Moira and Professor Osborn (real-life married couple Rachel Ward and Brian Brown), and a more masculine love between Towers and his crew.
The expedition to Alaska to investigate the mysterious message was handled well, as was each aspect in general. From the breakdown of society, to the pathos of seeing the portrayal of the end of humanity. All assisted by clear camera-work, excellent sets, competent acting (in the case of Armand Assante as Towers bordering on the very good) and a competent presentation of the "message" of nuclear doom.
I note in some of the other comments here a technical question about nuclear warheads on the submarine. The most obvious goof I noticed in the movie was that there should have been no need for people to have resorted to horse and pedal power so soon. Australia being self-sufficient in crude oil and possessing refineries. This was probably not the case when Neville Shute wrote the novel in the '50's. That is just one of my own little observations.
All in all a very watchable made for tv movie, even tho it be one that put a downer on the rest of my evening.
- KarlMaldensNose
- Feb 1, 2001
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- На пляжі
- Filming locations
- Sorrento, Victoria, Australia(Beach house and beach)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $10,000,000 (estimated)