I remember The China Syndrome as a much better movie than the feeling I was left with after rewatching it today. Don't get me wrong...The cast was excellent and I'm sure the thriller aspect of this was quite good back when this was made. But today?? Not so much... Today this movie just shows us that there were anti-nuclear activists back then as well. The China Syndrome was blatantly made to feed the fear the general public had about nuclear power back then. Were they right? Well...when looking at the few serious accidents we have had up till now, I would say they had a point. Other than the fact that corporate greed is still very much alive, this one has little to offer as relevant suspense. Catch it when it runs on TV...no need to go hunt for it.

A solid 7 in 2025...so I imagine it would have been higher in 1979. I'll join the others of rating it a 8 on imdb for that reason.

Released less than two weeks before the disaster at Three Mile Island, _The China Syndrome_’s depiction of near-meltdown at a Los Angeles nuclear power plant probably seemed impossibly prescient at the time. In truth, most of its plot points were drawn from other, similar near-misses and cover-ups at plants elsewhere in the nation, knowledge which lends extra credence to its firm anti-nuclear agenda. And while it could’ve been forgiven for taking the easy route, this is more than just a scare picture or disaster movie. Behind the alarmist terror of radiation in the American backyard lies an adept piece of roiling suspense and a pertinent philosophical debate. The crux of the conflict falls between a TV news team, a sympathetic atomic engineer and the bigwigs who control both sides of the narrative. With hearings already underway concerning the construction of a second plant, there’s a lot of money involved and none of the suits - neither the plant officials nor the network executives - want to rock the boat. This leads to great mutual consternation, as the reporters seek to blow whistles, the engineer struggles to get to the bottom of the anomalies and their bosses intend to just sweep the whole mess under the rug and move on. We all serve masters of one shape or another. The real question is: do you have the courage to do what’s ethical, at the expense of a comfortable lifestyle and steady paycheck? Not everyone can answer this in the affirmative. A bit pokey and redundant, especially during the tiresome setup scenes, _The China Syndrome_ hits an excellent rhythm in the second act that climaxes with an intense control room showdown on live TV. Jack Lemmon shows great range as the troubled engineer whose personal sky is falling, while Jane Fonda and a young Michael Douglas lather it on rather thick as key members of the pesky, vocal, self-righteous news crew. It’s preachy at times, hyperbolic at others, but the deeper messages hit their target and the closing scenes are spirited and well-realized.

Top notch car chase. High tension thrills. Shaggy Douglas. 1979 (52nd) Academy Award nominations: Best Actor (Jack Lemmon), Best Actress (Jane Fonda), Best Screenplay – Written Directly for the Screen (Mike Gray, T.S. Cook and James Bridges), Best Art Direction (Art Direction: George Jenkins Set Decoration: Arthur Jeph Parker)

It's a good movie that probably hit a lot harder in '79. Imagine seeing this the day before Three Mile. Now? it's a good thriller, but the impact has been lessoned somewhat by time.