The China Syndrome

For the nuclear meltdown concept, see Nuclear meltdown.

The China Syndrome
Promotional poster
Directed byJames Bridges
Written by
Produced byMichael Douglas
Starring
CinematographyJames Crabe
Edited byDavid Rawlins
Music byStephen Bishop
Production
companies
  • IPC Films
  • Major Studio Partners
Distributed byColumbia Pictures
Release date
  • March 16, 1979 (1979-03-16)
Running time
122 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$5.9 million[1]
Box office$51.7 million[2]

The China Syndrome is a 1979 American disaster thriller film directed by James Bridges and written by Bridges, Mike Gray, and T. S. Cook. The film stars Jane Fonda, Jack Lemmon, and Michael Douglas (who also produced). It follows a television reporter and her cameraman who discover safety coverups at a nuclear power plant. "China syndrome" is a fanciful term that describes a fictional result of a nuclear meltdown, where reactor components melt through their containment structures and into the underlying earth, "all the way to China".

The China Syndrome premiered at the 1979 Cannes Film Festival, where it competed for the Palme d'Or while Lemmon received the Best Actor Prize.[3] It was theatrically released on March 16, 1979, twelve days before the Three Mile Island nuclear accident in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, which gave the film's subject matter an unexpected prescience. It became a critical and commercial success. Reviewers praised the film's screenplay, direction, and performances (most notably of Fonda and Lemmon), while it grossed $51.7 million on a production budget of $5.9 million. The film received four nominations at the 52nd Academy Awards; Best Actor (for Lemmon), Best Actress (for Fonda), Best Original Screenplay and Best Art Direction.[4]

  1. ^ "The China Syndrome". Sunnycv.com. Archived from the original on February 27, 2014. Retrieved February 26, 2014.
  2. ^ "Box Office Information for The China Syndrome". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved January 28, 2012.
  3. ^ "Festival de Cannes: The China Syndrome". Festival-cannes.com. Archived from the original on January 18, 2012. Retrieved May 24, 2009.
  4. ^ "The China Syndrome (1979): Awards". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. 2012. Archived from the original on October 18, 2012. Retrieved June 27, 2018.