The China Syndrome (1979) - First-rate handle on a nuclear plant accident thriller

♥♥♥♥♥

The classy original poster for James Bridges' The China Syndrome

QUICK REVIEW:

Jane Fonda (Klute (1971)) was Oscar-nominated for playing the career-woman who report 'soft news' for an LA TV-channel, when she and her idealistic camera-man, (a long-haired Michael Douglas (Falling Down (1993)), who also produced the film), by accident witness a near-catastrophe at a nuclear plant outside of town. - That sets a row of events in motion.
The China Syndrome is a catastrophe thriller that is SPOILER missing a catastrophe. Still it undeniably falls into the generic category: It is made on a tightly written, Oscar-nominated original script by Mike Gray (Wavelength (1983)), T.S. Cook (Attack on Fear (1984)) and co-writer/director James Bridges (The Appaloosa (1966)), a tightly carried out low-action suspense picture, and its freshness and nail-biting quality is still 100 % there today.
The power struggles and the lightning-speed media world, which the film also exhibit and implicitly criticize, are just as recognizable and despicable today as they were then. Jack Lemmon (Grumpy Old Men (1993)) was also Oscar-nominated for his intense performance here. 
- The China Syndrome is solid suspense!
The film was based on several nuclear plant accidents, and it came out at a time where the issue was a big concern around the world. Moreover, just 12 days after the release of the film, the big Three Mile Island Accident on a nuclear plant in Pennsylvania made it even more eerily contemporary. That was the worst accident in US nuclear plant history, and you can read more about it here.

I know what you're thinking: Could the syndrome be that Jack Lemmon, Jane Fonda and Michael Douglas' hair is growing them together into one being? This poster for James Bridges' The China Syndrome certainly makes you think so

Watch the original trailer for the movie here

Cost: 5.9 mil. $
Box office: 51.7 mil. $ (US only)
= Huge hit
[The film most likely also enjoyed large success outside the US, where the nuclear debate was running just as high at the time in the '70s, - ideal for a film such as The China Syndrome. It had 424,927 admissions in Sweden, indicating this to be the case.]

What do you think of The China Syndrome?