On the Beach | |
---|---|
DVD cover
|
|
Written by |
John Paxton (1959 screenplay) David Williamson and Bill Kerby (teleplay) |
Directed by | Russell Mulcahy |
Starring |
Armand Assante Bryan Brown Rachel Ward Grant Bowler Jacqueline McKenzie Steve Bastoni |
Theme music composer | Christopher Gordon |
Country of origin | United States Australia |
Original language(s) | English |
Production | |
Producer(s) | John Edwards |
Cinematography | Martin McGrath |
Editor(s) | Mark Perry |
Running time | 195 minutes |
Production company(s) | Australian Film Commission Coote Hayes Productions Edwards/Sullivan Productions Southern Star Entertainment |
Distributor | Showtime Networks |
Release | |
Original release |
|
On the Beach is a 2000 apocalyptic made-for-television film directed by Russell Mulcahy and starring Armand Assante, Bryan Brown, and Rachel Ward. It was originally aired on Showtime.
The film is a remake of a 1959 film, which was also based on the 1957 novel by Nevil Shute, but updates the setting of the story to the film's then-future of 2005, starting with placing the crew on the fictional Los Angeles-class submarine, USS Charleston (SSN-704).
The USS Charleston (SSN-704) is equipped with a caterpillar drive and is on station following a nuclear exchange, under the command of Dwight Towers.
The nuclear war which contaminated the northern hemisphere was preceded by a standoff between the United States and China after the latter blockaded and later invaded Taiwan. Both countries are destroyed, as is most of the world. The submarine crew finds refuge in Melbourne, Australia, which the radioactive fallout has not yet reached (though radio communications with several radio operators farther north than Australia indicate that radiation has reached their countries and will be in Australia in a few months). Towers places his vessel under the command of the Royal Australian Navy and is summoned to attend a briefing.