A reporter finds what appears to be a cover-up of safety hazards at a nuclear power plant.A reporter finds what appears to be a cover-up of safety hazards at a nuclear power plant.A reporter finds what appears to be a cover-up of safety hazards at a nuclear power plant.
- Nominated for 4 Oscars
- 9 wins & 16 nominations total
Khalilah Camacho Ali
- Marge
- (as Khalilah Ali)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaWhen the film was first released on 16 March 1979, nuclear power executives soon lambasted the picture as being "sheer fiction" and a "character assassination of an entire industry". Then twelve days after its launch, the Three Mile Island nuclear accident occurred near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
- GoofsIn the United States, there are two main types of commercial power reactors: PWR (Pressurized Water Reactor) and BWR (Boiling Water Reactor). When Gibson is explaining the basic workings of the plant to Kimberly Wells, the diagram on the board shows a PWR. This is indicated by the two-loop system in which the water is pumped through the reactor under high pressure to prevent boiling, then through a steam generator to create steam for the turbine using clean secondary water. Later, the dialog of the characters in the control room suggests they are dealing with a BWR, where water is allowed to boil in the reactor vessel, and steam is directly piped to the turbine, with no steam generator. Godell is concerned that the high water level in the reactor might reach the steam lines, of which there are none on a PWR vessel. Once Goddell and the operators realize the water level is low, the dialogue refers to Auxilary Feedwater, which is a PWR system. Also, in the action hearing later, the investigator talks about how the operators began cutting off feedwater and releasing steam in order to lower the reactor water level; this would happen only on a BWR.
- Quotes
Jack Godell: What makes you think they're looking for a scapegoat?
Ted Spindler: Tradition.
- Crazy creditsThe end credits run in total silence.
- ConnectionsFeatured in The Making of 'the China Syndrome' (1979)
- SoundtracksSomewhere In Between
by Stephen Bishop
Featured review
A chilling, reality-based, horror film.
"The China Syndrome" is perhaps the first horror film that is not necessarily following the rules of the genre. It takes place in the contemporary '70's, and features people in the normal profession of broadcast television news. But, when a news story about the leakage of nuclear energy breaks; let's just say - there is your monster.
Jane Fonda is absolutely superb as Kimberley Wells, an ambitious Los Angeles reporter relegated only to fluff pieces by her sexist boss (Peter Donat). She wants something juicier, and gets it, in the form of an accident at a nuclear power plant facilitated by Jack Godell (Jack Lemmon with expressions too numerous to count). Her hippie radical cameraman (Michael Douglas, who also produced) photographs the incident without the plant's knowledge and they both agree that public safety is a valid story. The network brass doesn't think so, and soon both Fonda and Douglas are entangled in a web of legalities concerning the tape.
The crux of the film is Lemmon's character. A man torn between loyalty to his company and telling the truth - even in the face of grave consequences. What makes this horror scenario so compelling is that these are true flesh-and-blood people stuck in the most extraordinary of circumstances faced with both a threat of cosmic proportions as well as a human one.
This is a remarkably chilling thriller, and I'm disappointed that it's not taken more seriously (as both art and tract).
Jane Fonda is absolutely superb as Kimberley Wells, an ambitious Los Angeles reporter relegated only to fluff pieces by her sexist boss (Peter Donat). She wants something juicier, and gets it, in the form of an accident at a nuclear power plant facilitated by Jack Godell (Jack Lemmon with expressions too numerous to count). Her hippie radical cameraman (Michael Douglas, who also produced) photographs the incident without the plant's knowledge and they both agree that public safety is a valid story. The network brass doesn't think so, and soon both Fonda and Douglas are entangled in a web of legalities concerning the tape.
The crux of the film is Lemmon's character. A man torn between loyalty to his company and telling the truth - even in the face of grave consequences. What makes this horror scenario so compelling is that these are true flesh-and-blood people stuck in the most extraordinary of circumstances faced with both a threat of cosmic proportions as well as a human one.
This is a remarkably chilling thriller, and I'm disappointed that it's not taken more seriously (as both art and tract).
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- An Element Of Risk
- Filming locations
- Sewage Disposal Plant, El Segundo, California, USA(plant exteriors)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $6,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $51,718,367
- Gross worldwide
- $51,718,367
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