10 Movies That Changed Everything In Ways You Didn't Expect
9. The U.S. & Russia Reduced Their Nuclear Arsenals - The Day After
Post-apocalyptic TV film The Day After aired in November 1983 and became an immediate water cooler phenomenon, its tale of nuclear apocalypse between the U.S. and Soviet Union being viewed by more than 100 million people during its original broadcast.
The highly disturbing account of the aftermath of a nuclear apocalypse was praised for its apparent authenticity, enough that it actually ended up having a very real impact on global policy-making.
Then-U.S. President Ronald Reagan viewed the film and said it was "very effective and left [him] greatly depressed," enough that it prompted him to alter his more aggressive prior stance on nuclear armament.
In 1987, Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev ended up signing the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, which severely limited their respective nuclear arsenals.
It's even been apocryphally suggested that Reagan later sent director Nicholas Meyer a memo reading, "Don't think your movie didn't have any part of this, because it did," though Meyer has called it a myth.
Even so, if the true measure of cinema's power is to enact major social change on a literally global stage, then The Day After is almost unrivalled in curbing gung-ho attitudes towards nuclear warfare.