The China Syndrome (1979)
- Directed by
- James Bridges
- Genre
- drama film, action film, science fiction film, disaster film
- Country
- United States
- Runtime
- 2h 02m
- Rated
- PG
- Rating
- 7.1 of 10 from 522 voters
- Elsewhere
- IMDb
The catalogue in 3D
The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.
How it feels
A TV reporter and her cameraman uncover evidence of safety violations at a nuclear power plant. They try to expose the truth while facing resistance from the plant's operators.
tensesuspensefulurgentparanoidgrippingseriousdisturbingmethodical
What happens
The China Syndrome is a 1979 American thriller film directed by James Bridges and written by Bridges, Mike Gray, and T. S. Cook. The film stars Jane Fonda, Jack Lemmon, and Michael Douglas (who also produced). It follows a television reporter and her cameraman who discover safety coverups at a nuclear power plant. "China syndrome" is a term that describes a fictional result of a nuclear meltdown, where reactor fuel melts through reactor containment structures and into the underlying earth, "all the way to China". The China Syndrome premiered at the 1979 Cannes Film Festival, where it competed for the Palme d'Or while Lemmon received the Best Actor Prize. It was theatrically released on March 16, 1979, twelve days before the Three Mile Island nuclear accident in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, which gave the film's subject matter an unexpected prescience. It became a critical and commercial success. Reviewers praised the film's screenplay, direction, and performances (most notably of Fonda and Lemmon), while it grossed $51.7 million (equivalent to $229,343,000 in 2025) on a production budget of $5.9 million (equivalent to $26,173,000 in 2025). The film received four nominations at the 52nd Academy Awards: Best Actor (for Lemmon), Best Actress (for Fonda), Best Original Screenplay and Best Art Direction. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)
More like this
Alien (1979)
Disaster on the Coastliner (1979)
Meteor (1979)
City on Fire (1979)
Apocalypse Now (1979)
Escape from Alcatraz (1979)
Red Alert (1977)
The Fantastic Seven (1979)- More like this film, on a shelf you can walk up to.It's the lit case on the top shelf.