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You won't be disappointed!

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Oh dear God, I wish I'd never seen this movie. It was shown to me in high school, so I didn't feel comfortable just getting up and leaving class. How I wish I'd had more guts.If "end of the world" movies are your thing, then absolutely go see this one. It's terribly famous and a very good movie for that genre. I abhor that genre. Anything futuristic scares the pants off me, let alone "end of the world" movies. Literally, my bones start crawling, I get a sickeningly panicked feeling in my tummy, and I burst into tears. And it's all because of Testament. Testament was the first "end of the world" movie I saw, and it has scarred me for life. Normally, I don't give spoilers during my reviews, but this one is pretty obvious. I can't really mention the plot without giving things away. The plot: We get nuked and die.There you go! If you really want to put yourself through that, be my guest. I am giving you my strongest anti-recommendation I can give, since I reacted so negatively to this movie. I couldn't stop crying all day, even in P.E., and I had nightmares for weeks. And even now, years later, I can't even listen to the news without panicking. This movie is one of the, if not the, biggest tearjerkers I've ever seen. So if you do go against my recommendation, bring a Kleenex box. And then get ready to curse Terms of Endearment for coming out in the same year; Jane Alexander lost the Best Actress Oscar that year.

Well, I just finished re-watching it after 30 years, and I'd have to say it was about as emotionally powerful as it was in the 80's as it is now. However, emotion is a very broad spectrum pool of feelings, and in contrast with the actual realities of nuclear war, this one is easily the less believable of the major 3 (Threads, Day After, Testament). Why? Because after a nuclear exchange in the northern hemisphere, the slow, horribly grinding days of boredom, hunger and eventual radiation sickness, slowly waiting to die, would be something we in the southern hemisphere would probably experience more at this extremely slow, and less...let's say: radical rate. Watch 'On the Beach' for an inkling into what I am getting at here. In the northern hemisphere: Billions in major cities would die in the first round of nukes, immediately vaporized, and then billions more would go a little slower (but not much) on the outskirts, yet much quicker than in this farce. Even those in the country would be dying in unimaginable physical horror for weeks on end - much more quickly gone the way of extreme violence, with extremely heavy, messy biological contamination, medical problems and radiation sickness than here 'foretold'. It's 'leisurely' pace is it's complete downfall IMO because of where it is set, it makes little to know sense, and believability is very important in these types of movies. 'Threads' by comparison, was a far more accurate portrayal of proposed sad events.

There are times when we ask ourselves in our subconscious what if this or that happened, what would we do, how would we react, how would we survive; even though it may not have happen now who's to say it won't tomorrow. This film is one of those rare films that actually broke my heart and made me cry, and it still does whenever I watch it again, it's also a film you never forget.The film is tragedy about the aftermath and what we would do and behave knowing that the world we used to live in, is gone. there are many things that I appreciate about this film, for one thing there are never any special effects. We see no big explosion or any other graphic details; instead it has a power of suggestion which actually works. We actually witness in documentary style what the end of the world could actually look like. From seeing long lines which take hours to wait to get groceries or even a tank of gas, the need for batteries which is one of the last sources of power, garbage is littered everywhere. But the two images that I found the most chilling were the breakdown in the Eco System, from seeing the leaves and vegetation turn brown and red, as well as the sky becoming darker from the dust the bombs spread and has blocked some of the sun and contaminating the air. The second image was seeing gravestones and crosses everywhere from back or front yards one neighborhood homes you would pass by. Down to the park and playground, just seeing several gravestones behind a playground and an empty swing now swinging emptily just made my heart bleed knowing kids use to play there.But what makes the film work the most is the characters themselves whom all feel like real people, both major and minor we actually get to know these people as if their people that could live in our neighborhood or pass by on the street. Were completely involved with these people and the significant moments that occur which can be touching and heartbreaking. From Carol (Jane Alexander) talking to her daughter Mary about love and sexuality which Mary will never experience, seeing Scottie (Lucas Haas) burying his action figures and thinking of running away, Carol watching a family film and listening to her husband's voice on an answering machine as if she's waiting for him to come back home. It even comes down to the minor characters and what happens around town, community leader (Leon Ames) through his radio communication activities we get a sense of what happened to the world, Phil (Kevin Costner) seeing him walk the sidewalk with a chest drawer to be used as a coffin for his baby, down to seeing the elementary school play "The Pied Piper which is a little ironic to the current situation since that play takes place in the years of "The Black Plague" an overwhelming catastrophe that cost hundreds of lives.However what makes the film all the more heartbreaking is there's a sense of familiarity to the film. The character Brad the oldest son I identify with because he is very much like myself when I was his age, the town reminds me of the towns I lived in. Even seeing the final family film footage reminds me of some of the multiple family film tapes that were made with my family. In the end of the film as the final characters pass away it made me break down and cry for a long while, just the knowledge knowing there was once a happy family with some happy memories are never going to be able to make any more. All these familiar things are things I don't think about too much but after seeing this film it made me think about how valuable all those little things really are to me.The lessons in this film are showing that no one wins in a nuclear war and the terrible results it produces. But mainly just how valuable life truly is and how little time we truly have to live it. These are lessons that should apply not just to our current era but the future in general.The family and other souls in this movie may pass away but will live in our hearts forever.Rating: 4 stars

I first saw this film back in '83 and I think for people who didn't grow up during the Cold War era this could be looked at as just another disaster film of the angry alien or global warming melting glaciers variety. The difference is, this could have really happened. People get up, leave for work on a normal day and then, in the middle of Sesame Street, the world just ends.Testament focuses on the lives of one family in a small California town surviving this fate. The tag line on the film stressed it was a 'realistic account' of how things might be after a nuclear war. No explosions or Mad Max violence, just regular people deciding 'What now?' The first half of the film deals with this pretty well and the family members are sympathetic and likable. The problem that I have, have always had with Testament, is act 2.After a few weeks of living with the shock of what has happened the family begins confronting their grief and the realization that the television isn't going to be coming back nor will the Red Cross be dropping by with coffee and blankets. They are on their own. Forever. Oh, and radioactive fallout has started making everyone sick.So what does our leading lady do? As the mother of her 3 kids plus several newly orphaned neighbour children does she load up the Volvo wagon with her family and supplies and head to Canada? No. She does not.Instead she goes to increasingly futile town meetings and talent shows. Her narrative is concerned with how people in the future will remember how they (the town) lived, not about surviving for another day. She rattles around her house as people start dying around her and the filmmaker wants us to see this as noble.The message of Testment isn't 'The human spirit overcoming terrible odds' or 'Strength of family will get you through' or even 'Modern science will doom us all.' No. The message here seems to be 'Die with dignity.' And that, it would seem, includes those dependant on you.Given the option I would rather be Mad Max.