Has the writing and production values of a TV show. A bad TV show. And is Milland supposed to be the good guy? Barely an hour ater hearing about the nuclear blast he's buying guns and holding up the hardware store owner. Frankly I saw the whole thing as some kind of right-wing survivalist nutjob's wet dream. Oh, and those hipster rapists? Were they supposed to be scary?

I've never heard of Ray Milland but I will never watch another one of his movies. This atrocity starts with a family leaving to go camping at 4 am and they don't even try to make it look dark. They soon find out a nuclear bomb has destroyed Los Angeles and now they must fight to survive. Milland drones on about things that don't make sense, when he's not lying. At one point they can't pull out on to a road because there is a non-stop line of traffic.He dumps a bucket of gasoline on the road and throws a book of lit matches at it like a girl. The ensuing inferno instantly ignites another car, pay no attention to the liquid on the car. It just gets worse and worse and you hope everyone dies.Then it ends,WITHOUT an ending. Not only is the daughters rape scene the best part of the movie but by the time it happens, you'll be happy she gets raped. I would say watch it just to see how stupid it is.I gave it 2 stars because you can't give 1/2 stars,I'd like to give it 1 1/2.

WARNING - this review contains details which may be considered by some to "spoil" a movie, which, in my opinion, is already so BAD that it is BEYOND spoiling! Apparently, I chose a rather unconventional approach to viewing this film; rather than to shut one eye, squint thru the other and do my absolute best to "enjoy" it, regardless of all the glaring inconsistencies - or perhaps seek to superimpose a Post-Katrina America commentary on it all (as many "reviewers" have done), I simply watched it with my normal objective outlook, taking the story at face value. And that story failed miserably! Starting with the big, cloudy, barely-discernible (supposed) "explosion"... we don't ever learn what it truly WAS - or the cause behind it (as in "who" or "why") - but just seeing the thing is good enough for Ray Milland to pack up his family and head for the hills before "the bad people" can get on the move. What comes next is unbelievably silly to the point of being laughable - because terminally-grouchy Mister Milland begins taking steps to BECOME one of those "bad people" - eagerly getting involved in theft, assault, armed robbery, manslaughter (or murder, you decide)... all in the name of "preserving civilization". Sure, okay. It is perfectly acceptable to be a violent thug as long as HE is the one doing it! I won't get into the details of all the ensuing foolishness, since other reviewers have gone out of their way to make excuses for all of the illogical claptrap which follows. Long, tedious and ludicrous story short - if you are able to find this plot "interesting" enough to sit through it to the bitter end, then you probably won't even mind that the "hero" of the tale NEVER finds out what actually happened in the outside world; whether or not the entire continent was obliterated by nuclear holocaust, or if there had been an invading army (and a ground war which could still be raging)... no, he has NO idea what he will be returning to. And that is supposed to be a good enough reason for the viewer, as well. Because what it all boils down to is that this family went off and hid in the hills to behave like savages for a while, and now it suddenly has become a Happy Ending.Wow - what A GREAT movie! (NOT)

As luck would have it, "Harry Baldwin" (Ray Milland) and his family are leaving Los Angeles to go camping and fishing. While they are traveling, an atomic war starts and destroys all of the major cities, to include Los Angeles. Harry then acquires a single-minded focus to keep his family alive and comes up with several innovative decisions to ensure their survival. Now, rather than revealing the entire story I will just say that, although certainly dated, this is a pretty good film dealing with the subject of the aftermath of a nuclear war. And while I thought Harry was correct in adopting a survivalist mindset, I didn't care for his autocratic "father knows best" attitude or for the way his wife "Ann" (Jean Hagen) continued to question every single decision he made. It got old after the first few times. Still, the movie remained fairly interesting and I recommend it to those who enjoy films of this particular genre.