''On the Beach'' is a 2000 apocalyptic

made-for-television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

directed by

Russell Mulcahy Russell Mulcahy ( ; born 23 June 1953) is an Australian film director. Mulcahy's work is recognisable by the use of fast cuts, tracking shots and use of glowing lights, neo-noir lighting, windblown drapery, and fans. He directed music videos ...

and starring

Armand Assante Armand Anthony Assante Jr. (; born October 4, 1949) is an American actor. He played mobster John Gotti in the 1996 HBO television film '' Gotti'', Odysseus in the 1997 mini-series adaptation of Homer's ''The Odyssey'', Nietzsche in ''When ...

Bryan Brown Bryan Neathway Brown AM (born 23 June 1947) is an Australian actor. He has performed in over eighty film and television projects since the late 1970s, both in his native Australia and abroad. Notable films include '' Breaker Morant'' (1980), ...

, and

Rachel Ward Rachel Claire Ward (born 12 September 1957) is an English-Australian

.King, Susan
"Together Again for Apocalypse 'On the Beach'; Rachel Ward and Bryan Brown team on screen for just the second time since marrying 17 years ago."
'

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'', 26 May 2000, p. ESPN F1. Retrieved 11 January 2015. It was originally aired on Showtime.Moliltorisz, Sacha
"TV & Radio: On the Beach."
''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...

'', 19 April 2007. Retrieved 11 January 2015. The film is a remake of a 1959 film, which was also based on the 1957 novel by

Nevil Shute Nevil Shute Norway (17 January 189912 January 1960) was an English novelist and aeronautical engineer who spent his later years in Australia. He used his full name in his engineering career and Nevil Shute as his pen name, in order to protect ...

, but updates the setting of the story to the film's then-future of 2006, starting with placing the crew on a fictional , USS ''Charleston'' (SSN-704).

Plot

USS ''Charleston'' (SSN-704) is equipped with a caterpillar drive and is on station following a nuclear exchange, under the command of Dwight Towers. A devastating nuclear war that contaminated the northern hemisphere was preceded by a standoff between the United States and China after the latter blockaded and later invaded

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

. Both countries are destroyed, as is most of the world. The submarine crew finds refuge in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, 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 The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the principal naval force of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (CN) Vice Admiral Mark Hammond AM, RAN. CN is also jointly responsible to the Minister of ...

and is summoned to attend a briefing, partly regarding an automated digital broadcast coming from

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...

in the Northern Hemisphere. The submarine is sent to investigate, with Towers (

), Australian scientist Julian Osborne (

), and Australian liaison officer Peter Holmes (

Grant Bowler Grant Bowler (born 18 July 1968) is a New Zealand-Australian actor and television presenter who has worked in American, Australian, New Zealand, and Canadian film, television, and theatre. He is known for playing the role of Constable Wayne ...

) on board. Upon reaching Alaska, Towers and his executive officer go ashore to find no survivors. Entering a house and seeing a dead family huddled on a bed, Towers thinks of his own family and what they must have endured. The source of the automated digital broadcast is traced to a television station whose broadcast, Towers and his executive officer discover, comes from a solar-powered laptop trying to broadcast a documentary via satellite. While in Alaska, Towers' executive officer accidentally rips his suit. Instead of returning directly to Melbourne, Towers orders the submarine to

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

where the crew originated. The Golden Gate Bridge has collapsed and the city shoreline is in ruins. A crew member who is from San Francisco abandons ship, planning on dying in his home city, and is left by his shipmates after it is argued that the length of time he has spent outside has already made him irreversibly sick with radiation poisoning. Upon the ''Charleston's'' return to Melbourne, the executive officer collapses and is diagnosed with terminal radiation sickness. Towers attends his old friend in his dying days and ultimately, at his request, euthanizes the man as his deteriorating condition causes him to experience extreme suffering. Towers returns to Moira Davidson (

Rachel Ward Rachel Claire Ward (born 12 September 1957) is an English-Australian

), Holmes's sister-in-law and Osborne's ex-fiancé. As the people of Melbourne realize that the inevitable nuclear cloud will soon reach their location, their impending doom begins to unravel the social fabric; anarchy and chaos erupt. Some choose to live their final weeks recklessly in a deadly car race while others seek a more peaceful means to face the end of their lives. Holmes and his wife Mary (

Jacqueline McKenzie Jacqueline Susan McKenzie (born 24 October 1967) is an Australian film and stage actress. Early life Born in Sydney, New South Wales, McKenzie attended Wenona School in North Sydney until 1983 then moved to Pymble Ladies' College, where she ...

) find solace in their love for each other as Towers and Moira become closer. When radiation sickness appears in Melbourne, people begin lining up for government-issued suicide pills. After Mary and their small daughter Jenny fall ill, Peter and his family share a final moment before taking their doses together, Peter sorrowfully injecting his child. Osborne races around the

Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit The Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit is a motor racing circuit located near Ventnor, on Phillip Island, Victoria, Australia. The current circuit was first used in 1956. History Road circuit Motor racing on Phillip Island began in 1928 with t ...

and finally crashes his car at Turn 10, resulting in a fiery death. With most of the ''Charleston's'' crew members developing advanced radiation sickness, they ask to take the submarine on one final voyage to San Francisco. Though they know they are unlikely to survive the trip, they wish to die together on the ''Charleston'', the only real home they have left. Towers agrees, apparently abandoning Moira to be with his men. As Moira, about to take her own suicide pill, watches the ''Charleston'' sail away, she is joined by Towers after all.

Cast

as Captain Lionel Dwight Towers *

Rachel Ward Rachel Claire Ward (born 12 September 1957) is an English-Australian

as Moira Davidson *

as Dr. Julian Osborne *

as Mary Holmes *

as Lt. Peter Holmes * Allison Webber as Jenny Holmes * Tieghan Webber as Jenny Holmes *

Steve Bastoni Steve Bastoni (born 4 March 1966) is an Award winning, Italian-born Australian actor. He became a household name in Australia for his role as Constable Yannis 'Angel' Angelopoulos in ''Police Rescue'' and as Steve Parker in ''Neighbours''. H ...

as First Officer Neil Hirsch * David Ross Paterson as Chief Wawrzeniak (credited as David Paterson) * Kevin Copeland as Sonarman Bobby Swain *

Todd MacDonald Todd MacDonald (born 1973 in British Columbia, Canada) is a Canadian Australian actor who is best known for his roles on the soap opera '' Neighbours'' and the drama series ''The Secret Life of Us'' and '' Rush''. MacDonald graduated in 1996 fro ...

as Radioman Giles * Joe Petruzzi as Lt. Tony Garcia * Craig Beamer as Crewman Reid * Jonathan Oldham as Crewman Parsons * Trent Huen as Crewman Samuel Huynh * Donni Frizzell as Crewman Rossi * Jonathan Stuart as Crewman Burns * Sam Loy as Seaman Sulman *

Charlie Clausen Charlie Clausen (born 31 July 1977) is an Australian actor most known for his role as Jake Harrison on ''McLeod's Daughters'' in 2003 and as Acting Sergeant Alex Kirby on the police drama series ''Blue Heelers'', which he starred in for the ma ...

as Seaman Byers *

Robert Rabiah Robert Rabiah is an Australian film actor best known for his roles as Hakim in ''Face to Face (2011 film), Face to Face'' for which he was nominated for a AACTA Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Film and Best Actor at the Inside Film Awards ...

as Cook Gratino * Marc Carra as Cook Walmsey *

Rod Mullinar Rodney Mullinar (born 1942) is a British Australian actor, noted for his roles on Australian television. He emigrated to Australia with his first wife, casting agent Liz Mullinar in 1969. Career Mullinar took the leading role in Australian es ...

as Admiral Jack Cunningham * Felicity Boyd as Lt. Ashton * Bill Hunter as Prime Minister Seaton * Charles "Bud" Tingwell as Professor Alan Nordstrum (credited as Charles Tingwell)

Production

In the film, the Morse code signal picked up by the submarine crew in the original novel and film was updated to an automated digital broadcast powered by a solar-powered laptop computer. The film's picture of human behaviour is darker and more pessimistic than in the original 1959 adaptation, in which social order and manners do not collapse.Turegano, Preston
"Beach's passion doesn't run deep, as radioactive love boat founders."
'' U-T San Diego'', 28 May 2000, p. TV3. Retrieved 11 January 2015. Alterations from the book and original film adaptation are made, including an ending differing from both the novel and film in that the submarine commander chooses to die with his newfound love instead of

scuttling Scuttling is the deliberate sinking of a ship. Scuttling may be performed to dispose of an abandoned, old, or captured vessel; to prevent the vessel from becoming a navigation hazard; as an act of self-destruction to prevent the ship from being ...

the submarine beyond Australian

territorial waters The term territorial waters is sometimes used informally to refer to any area of water over which a sovereign state has jurisdiction, including internal waters, the territorial sea, the contiguous zone, the exclusive economic zone, and potent ...

(as in the novel) or attempting to return with his crew to the United States (as in the earlier film). In this version, the Golden Gate Bridge has collapsed and the city shoreline is in ruins, indicating an adjacent nuclear detonation, as in the book but not the first film version. The film ends with the reunion of Towers and Moira while their implied suicides occurring offscreen, as did the original version of Moira in the first film. Unlike the first film, there is no final postmortem scene of deserted Melbourne streets, with the absence of human life depicted.Kronke, David
"'Beach': It's the End of the World As We Know It."
'' Los Angeles Daily News'', 28 May 2000. Retrieved 11 January 2015. The film contains various technical errors, such as in military uniforms and terminology. The film ends with a quotation from

Walt Whitman Walter Whitman (; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among ...

's poem "On The Beach at Night", describing how frightening an approaching cloud bank seemed at night to the poet's child, blotting the stars out one by one, as the father and child stood on the beach on Massachusetts' North Shore. As much as it resembles the plot of the movie and of Shute's novel, however, the book gives only an incidental reference to the Whitman poem,Shute 1957, p. verso. and the phrase "on the beach" is a

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

term that means "retired from the Service". However, there seems to be little doubt about the provenance of the book's title, since at least some editions of it bear on the flyleaf two stanzas from the

T.S. Eliot Thomas Stearns Eliot (26 September 18884 January 1965) was a poet, essayist, publisher, playwright, literary critic and editor.Bush, Ronald. "T. S. Eliot's Life and Career", in John A Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (eds), ''American National B ...

poem "

The Hollow Men "The Hollow Men" (1925) is a poem by the modernist writer T. S. Eliot. Like much of his work, its themes are overlapping and fragmentary, concerned with post–World War I Europe under the Treaty of Versailles (which Eliot despised: compare " ...

": ''In this last of meeting places'' / ''We grope together'' / ''And avoid speech'' / ''Gathered on this beach of the tumid river''. ''This is the way the world ends / This is the way the world ends / This is the way the world ends / Not with a bang but a whimper''.

Reception

The film received mixed reviews because with its three-hour account of impending doom, reviewers considered it "slow going"."'On the Beach' Revival is Slow Going Until the End."
'' Akron Beacon Journal'', 28 May 2000, p. ESPN F1. Retrieved 11 January 2015. Some film reviewers still found aspects to praise, however. Richard Scheib, the ''Science Fiction, Horror and Fantasy Film Review'' critic, saw the film as benefiting from the lengthier timeline: "The mini-series certainly has the luxury to pad the story out and tell it with more length than the film did. As a result there is a greater degree of emotional resonance to the characters than the 1959 film had ... Mostly the mini-series works satisfyingly as a romantic drama, which it does reasonably depending on the extent to which one enjoys these things. Crucially though the mini-series does manage to work as science-fiction and Russell Mulcahy delivers some impressive images of the aftermath of the

nuclear holocaust A nuclear holocaust, also known as a nuclear apocalypse, nuclear Armageddon, or atomic holocaust, is a theoretical scenario where the mass detonation of nuclear weapons causes globally widespread destruction and radioactive fallout. Such a scenar ...

. There are some fine scenes with Armand Assante and the submarine crew walking through the ruins of Anchorage discovering how the people there committed suicide en masse, and some excellent digital effects during the periscope tour of the ruins of San Francisco".Scheib, Richar
"On the Beach."
''moria.co''. Retrieved 11 January 2015. ''On the Beach'' received two Golden Globe award nominations and was nominated as Best Miniseries or Television Film. Rachel Ward was nominated in the Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television category for her role as Moira Davidson."Golden Globes announce TV, film award nominees."
'' Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' (

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...

), 22 December 2000, p. 8B. Retrieved 11 January 2015.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* Shute, Nevil. ''On The Beach''. New York: William Morrow and Company, 1989, First edition 1957. .

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:On The Beach (2000 Film) American television films Apocalyptic films APRA Award winners Australian television films 2000s English-language films Remakes of American films Films about nuclear war and weapons Films based on Australian novels Films directed by Russell Mulcahy Films set in Alaska Films set in California Films set in Melbourne Films set in 2006 Films set in the future Science fiction submarine films 2000s survival films Films about the United States Navy Films about World War III 2000 television films 2000 films