Movies Like The Day After (1983)

The Day After is a 1983 drama, science fiction, tv movie film from Nicholas Meyer with a MovieMagicScore of 6.8/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with Threads and Five.

Drama Science Fiction TV Movie

Threads

1984

Documentary style account of a nuclear holocaust and its effect on the working class city of Sheffield, England; and the eventual long run effects of nuclear war on civilization.

7.6

MagicScore

Five

1951

The film's storyline involves five survivors, one woman and four men, of an atomic bomb disaster. The five come together at a remote, isolated hillside house, where they try to figure out how to survive.

6.6

MagicScore

On the Beach

1959

In 1964, atomic war wipes out humanity in the northern hemisphere; one American submarine finds temporary safe haven in Australia, where life-as-usual covers growing despair. In denial about the loss of his wife and children in the holocaust, American Captain Towers meets careworn but gorgeous Moira Davidson, who begins to fall for him. The sub returns after reconnaissance a month (or less) before the end; will Towers and Moira find comfort with each other?

6.6

MagicScore

Day the World Ended

1955

After a nuclear attack, an unlikely group of survivors, including a geologist, a crook and his moll, and a prospector, find temporary shelter in the remote-valley home of a survivalist and his beautiful daughter, but soon have to deal with the spread of radioactivity - and its effects on animal life, including humans.

4.9

MagicScore

Panic in Year Zero!

1962

While on a fishing trip, Harry Baldwin and his family hear an explosion and realize that Los Angeles has been leveled by a nuclear attack. Looters and killers are everywhere. Escaping to the hills with his family, he sets about the business of surviving in a world where, he knows, the old ideals of humanity will be the first casualties.

6.2

MagicScore

The War Game

1966

A docudrama depicting a hypothetical nuclear attack on Britain. After backing the film's development, the BBC refused to air it, publicly stating "the effect of the film has been judged by the BBC to be too horrifying for the medium of broadcasting." It debuted in theaters in 1966 and went on to great acclaim, but remained unseen on British television until 1985.

7.7

MagicScore

Bullets of Justice

2020

During World War III, the American government initiates a secret project codenamed ‘Army Bacon’ in order to create super soldiers by inbreeding humans with pigs. 25 years later the hybrid Muzzles have occupied the top of the food chain, eating and farming humanity. Ex-bounty hunter Rob Justice works for the last line of human resistance - a group of survivors hiding in a nuclear bunker deep underground - and his mission is to search and destroy Muzzle Central.

4.9

MagicScore

The World, the Flesh and the Devil

1959

Ralph Burton is a miner who is trapped for several days as a result of a cave-in. When he finally manages to dig himself out, he realizes that all of mankind seems to have been destroyed in a nuclear holocaust. He travels to New York City only to find it deserted. Making a life for himself there, he is flabbergasted to eventually find Sarah Crandall, who also managed to survive. Together, they form a close friendship until the arrival of Benson Thacker who has managed to pilot his small boat into the city's harbor. At this point, tensions rise between the three, particularly between Thacker, who is white, and Burton, who is black.

6.3

MagicScore

Moonfall

2022

A mysterious force knocks the moon from its orbit around Earth and sends it hurtling on a collision course with life as we know it.

6.3

MagicScore

#10

Geostorm

2017

After an unprecedented series of natural disasters threatened the planet, the world's leaders came together to create an intricate network of satellites to control the global climate and keep everyone safe. But now, something has gone wrong: the system built to protect Earth is attacking it, and it becomes a race against the clock to uncover the real threat before a worldwide geostorm wipes out everything and everyone along with it.

6.1

MagicScore

#11

When the Wind Blows

1986

With the help of government-issued pamphlets, an elderly British couple build a shelter and prepare for an impending nuclear attack, unaware that times and the nature of war have changed from their romantic memories of World War II.

7.4

MagicScore

#12

Silent Hill

2006

Rose, a desperate mother, takes her adopted daughter, Sharon, to the town of Silent Hill in an attempt to cure her of her ailment. After a violent car crash, Sharon disappears, and Rose embarks on a horrific journey to get her back and begins to uncover the truth behind the apocalyptic disaster that burned the town 30 years earlier.

6.6

MagicScore

#13

San Andreas

2015

In the aftermath of a massive earthquake in California, a rescue-chopper pilot makes a dangerous journey across the state in order to rescue his estranged daughter.

6.2

MagicScore

#14

Miracle Mile

1989

After 30 years of searching, Harry has finally met the girl of his dreams. Unfortunately, before they even have a chance to go on their first date, Harry intercepts some chilling news: WWIII has begun and nuclear missiles will destroy Los Angeles in less than an hour!

6.9

MagicScore

#15

Nina

2004

After losing her job, an unstable woman sinks further and further into a violent fantasy world.

5.6

MagicScore

#16

The Last Man

2018

Tov Matheson is a war veteran with PTSD who perceives that the apocalypse is coming. After starting a relationship with a dubious Messiah, he leaves his normal life and begins the construction of a shelter underground, training himself, in an extreme way, at the cost of losing everything and making people believe he is insane. When he also believes it, something extraordinary happens.

5.6

MagicScore

#17

Doomsday Machine

1972

Following the discovery of a doomsday machine capable of destroying Earth, the launch of a US space mission to Venus is taken over by the military.

3.1

MagicScore

#18

The Rapture

1991

A lonely telephone operator leading an empty, amoral life finds God – only to have her faith continually tested in ways beyond what she could have imagined.

5.8

MagicScore

#19

When Worlds Collide

1951

When a group of astronomers calculate a star is on a course to slam into Earth, a few days before, it's accompanying planet will first pass close enough to the Earth to cause havoc on land and sea. They set about building a rocket so a few selected individuals can escape to the planet.

6.3

MagicScore

#20

Z for Zachariah

2015

In the wake of a nuclear war, a young woman survives on her own, fearing she may actually be the proverbial last woman on earth, until she discovers the most astonishing sight of her life: another human being. A distraught scientist, he’s nearly been driven mad by radiation exposure and his desperate search for others. A fragile, imperative strand of trust connects them. But when a stranger enters the valley, their precarious bond begins to unravel.

5.7

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like The Day After?

The top films similar to The Day After by MovieMagicScore are Threads (7.6), Five (6.6), On the Beach (6.6). Each shares drama/science fiction/tv movie themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is The Day After worth watching?

The Day After holds a MovieMagicScore of 6.8/10 from 418 viewer ratings.

What kind of movie is The Day After?

The Day After (1983) is a drama, science fiction, tv movie film directed by Nicholas Meyer, starring Jason Robards, JoBeth Williams, Steve Guttenberg.

Where can I find more recommendations like The Day After?

Browse the full ranked list above, or explore more drama recommendations on MovieMagicScore, where every list is ordered by genuine viewer ratings.

Keep exploring

Movies like Threads Movies like Five Movies like On the Beach Movies like Day the World Ended Movies like Panic in Year Zero!Movies like The War Game

About movies like The Day After

This ranked list pairs The Day After (1983), a drama and science fiction and tv movie film from Nicholas Meyer, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of Jason Robards take note). Unlike critic-driven sites, every position here is ordered by MovieMagicScore — a rating built only from real viewers, with no studio marketing or paid placement. Scores update as more people rate, so the list stays current.

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