Rent The China Syndrome (1979)
3.7 of 5 from 145 ratings
1h 57min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
- When a reporter and cameraman (Jane Fonda and Michael Douglas) are assigned to cover the daily routine of a nuclear power plant, they witness and record an accident which could have wiped out the whole of Southern California, but their bosses refuse to broadcast the footage.
- Actors:
- Jane Fonda, Jack Lemmon, Michael Douglas, Scott Brady, James Hampton, Peter Donat, Wilford Brimley, Richard Herd, Daniel Valdez, Stan Bohrman, James Karen, Michael Alaimo, Donald Hotton, Khalilah Ali, Paul Larson, Ron Lombard, Tom Eure, Nick Pellegrino, Daniel Lewk, Allan Chinn
- Directors:
- James Bridges
- Producers:
- Michael Douglas
- Writers:
- Mike Gray, TS Cook, James Bridges
- Others:
- TS Cook, George Jenkins, Arthur Jeph Parker
- Aka:
- An Element of Risk / Broken Trust / Chain Reaction
- Studio:
- Columbia Tristar
- Genres:
- Action & Adventure, Thrillers
- Collections:
- Top Films, A Brief History of Films About Television: Part 1, Acting Up: Top 10 Performances At Cannes, Award Winners, BAFTA Nominations Competition 2024, BAFTA Nominations Competition 2026, Cinema Paradiso's 2024 Centenary Club: Part 3, Cinema Paradiso's 2025 Centenary Club: January - March, Films to Watch If You Like..., A Brief History of Film..., Top 10 Films By Year, Top 10 Films of 1979, Top 100 AFI Thrills, What's Next: 10 Films to Watch if You Like Chernobyl
- Awards:
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- 25/06/2018
- Run Time:
- 123 minutes
- Languages:
- English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, English LPCM Mono
- Subtitles:
- English Hard of Hearing
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Widescreen 1.85:1
- Colour:
- Colour
- BLU-RAY Regions:
- (0) All
- Bonus:
- The John Player Lecture with Jack Lemmon (1973, 80 mins): archival audio recording of an interview conducted by Philip Oakes at London's National Film Theatre
- Assessing the Fallout (2018, 18 mins): Professor Tony Shaw, author of Rotten to the Core: Exposing America's Energy-Media Complex in*The China Syndrome', discusses the film and the issues it raises
- A Fusion of Talent (1999, 28 mins): documentary about the making of the film, featuring interviews with cast and crew, including Jane Fonda, actor-producer Michael Douglas, executive producer Bruce Gilbert, and actor Jack Larson, partner of director James Bridges
- Creating a Controversy (1999, 30 mins): a look at the film's impact and the real-life events which occurred just after its release
- Deleted Scenes (4 mins)
- Theatrical Trailer
- Image Gallery: publicity stills and promotional material
- UK Premiere on Blu-ray
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Reviews (2) of The China Syndrome
Still holds up well despite being 40 years old - The China Syndrome review by AF
Still packs punch.
The plot and acting get over some fairing basic action scenes.
The best scenes involve Jack Lemmon. Corporate greed and politics are slightly overdone, but the human aspects ring true.
2 out of 3 members found this review helpful.
No Nukes (spoiler) - The China Syndrome review by Steve
This is from a period in the 1970s when environmentalists lobbied against nuclear energy. Now that big oil is the devil, it seems incredibly dated. It makes a fairly comprehensive case, though what is most startling now is how steampunk the technology is! Those combustion chambers and cooling networks look like they were designed to wobble loose... as they inevitably do!
In 1979 this seized the zeitgeist after the near miss at Three Mile Island. Now, the complacency of wealthy corporations by-passing safety measures still resonates, but the message has mostly expired. So this is just another Hollywood thriller... and an endearing memento from the decade when fashion got lost. It looks horrible, including the very austere photography.
Jane Fonda plays an ambitious reporter reluctantly presenting lifestyle fluff on a Los Angeles tv news station... while silently tolerating the ubiquitous sexism. When she interviews the head of publicity at a nuclear power plant, it's clear that in the background something is going very wrong. Jack Lemmon is the loyal company man who threatens to blow the whistle.
He's the main reason to watch; back then he portrayed the careworn, midlife American wage slave better than anyone. Eventually it loses credibility when he takes over operations at gunpoint, but there is an impression of a nation in decline evident in many '70s Hollywood films which feels very much like now. And it's fun to see Wilfred Brimley in the Homer Simpson role!
0 out of 0 members found this review helpful.