China Syndrome (1979)

Editor's Note A modern nightmare nearly becomes reality in this timely, tension-filled story about an "incident" at a nuclear power plant. Jane Fonda stars as Kimberly Wells, an ambitious TV reporter covering a story on energy sources who is present at a nuclear plant when a startling accident occurs that nearly causes the meltdown of the reactor. A newsreel cameraman accompanying Wells, played by a determined Michael Douglas, captures the incident on film--but the television station won't air the footage. Though the plant's corporate heads are quick to deny the possibility of any real danger, Jack Godell (Jack Lemmon), the plant's veteran engineer, discovers faulty equipment at the plant. Attempting to tell others about his findings, Jack soon realizes that someone is trying to kill him to keep him quiet, leading him to an act of utter desperation. The film is a marvel to behold--at turns gripping, stirring, exhilarating, and maddening, with fabulous performances, especially by Lemmon, who is simply marvelous. In a bizarre bit of synchronicity, the film was produced just before the March 1979 accident at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania.

	James Hampton
	Jane Fonda
	Michael Douglas
	Jack Lemmon
	Peter Donat
	Scott Brady
	James Bridges - Director
	T.S. Cook - Screenplay
	Mike Gray - Screenplay

In this socially conscious thriller, an ambitious female newscaster and her cameraman, a former 1960s radical with a penchant for conspiracy theories, witness and capture on film a potentially disastrous nuclear accident. Joining forces with a concerned engineer at the plant where the near-meltdown occurred, the reporter and the cameraman attempt to expose the subsequent cover-up. Variety
"...[A] compelling thriller about the perils of nuclear energy....Superior performances by Jack Lemmon, Jane Fonda and Michael Douglas..." 03/07/1979

New York Times
"...Smashingly effective....[Fonda] keeps getting better and better." 03/16/1979 p.C16