The China Syndrome
Tags: tragedy, dramatic, murder

Plot synopsis:
TV news reporter Kimberly Wells (Jane Fonda) and her freelance cameraman Richard Adams (Michael Douglas) visit the Ventana nuclear power plant outside Los Angeles as part of a series of news reports on energy production. Kimberly is an ambitious reporter who wants to become a "hard news" reporter, however, her superiors seem to be holding her back due to inexperience at reporting hard news and perhaps because she's a woman. As such, Kimberly reports stories of local interest that contain little substance.While watching the Ventana control room from an observation area with public relations officer, Bill Gibson, the plant goes through a reactor SCRAM, a temporary shutdown of part or all of the plant. Shift supervisor Jack Godell (Jack Lemmon), initially believing the SCRAM to be standard, notices what he believes to be an unusual vibration during the SCRAM. On the control console, a chart recorder indicates that the water level in the reactor core has risen to an abnormally high level. The crew begins opening relief valves in an effort to prevent too much water from damaging the plant, but the chart continues to indicate an off-scale level. Minutes later a crew member notices an alternate gauge on the control panel showing that the water level is dangerously low. Suspecting that the recorder pen may be stuck, Godell taps on the glass cover. He and crew chief Ted Spindler (Wilford Brimley) watch, sickened, as the pen trace rapidly drops to show that the water level is now mere inches away from exposing the reactor core, and still falling. The staff scrambles to close the relief valves and restore the coolant systems, but for several agonizing minutes no one knows whether the core is about to undergo a disastrous meltdown. Eventually, backup systems are able to slow and reverse the falling water level, and the reactor is brought under control.In the observation gallery looking over the control room, Richard, when told he was not permitted to film the control room for security reasons, has tucked the camera under his arm and surreptitiously films the incident. Because the glass is soundproof, the visitors can only guess as to what is happening, however, the panic of the crew is quite apparent, as is their relief when the danger has passed.When they return to the television station, excited about the event and the illegal footage they have of it, the station's news director, after receiving a phone call from his superior, refuses to air the footage, citing federal law and fearing criminal prosecution from Ventana's parent company. Richard, believing that there is more to the story than is indicated in the plant's official statement (which referred to the near-meltdown as an "unexpected transient"), steals the film from the station vault.Meanwhile, Godell, suspecting there is more to the strange vibration he felt at the beginning of the SCRAM, does some investigating of his own and uncovers evidence that the plant is unsafe. Specifically, he finds evidence that the welds for the water pumps were not properly X-rayed to show their integrity. Godell concludes that another reactor SCRAM at full power could cause the cooling system to be severely damaged which would result in a catastrophic meltdown. Godell asks the plant foreman to delay restarting the reactor but he refuses, under pressure from the plant's owners, who stand to lose millions of dollars each day the plant remains "off line."An official investigation by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is held and each Ventana employee present at the SCRAM is interviewed for several hours. They are later exonerated by the NRC which concludes that while some errors by personnel were recorded, they still did their jobs adequately. Kimberley Wells travels to a bar near the plant where it's employees often go and meets Godell himself, celebrating the NRC's ruling with his fellow employees. She asks him a few hard line questions about the safety of the plant, however Godell tells her the plant is safe and that there are backup systems to handle problems like the recent event that took place. Kimberly notices that Godell seems a bit nervous about the plant's safety.Suspicious that there may be more errors to investigate, Jack dons a radiation suit and examines the defective water pump himself with a Geiger counter. He finds an area where nuclear material has leaked onto the floor. His supervisor, Herman, quickly orders a cleanup and tells Jack not to reveal the problem to anyone and to get the plant up and running. Jack does so with obvious reluctance and leaves work for the day but steals some of the damning x-ray films taken by the construction company that built the plant. At a construction site, he talks to one of the firm's officers, showing him the questionable x-ray. When Jack gets no satisfaction, he threatens to go to the NRC himself. The officer tells Jack that the firm has it's own security force that could be sent to harass or harm him.Kimberley talks to Richard's business partner, Hector, and finds out that Richard, who hasn't been heard from for several days, is at a convention of nuclear scientists in LA. She finds Richard there and he tells her he's showing the film to a couple of nuclear power experts; a physicist and an engineer. The two scientists determine that the plant very nearly went into meltdown, called the "China Syndrome" where the nuclear material heats beyond the capacity of the plant's personnel and safety systems to stop it. Reaching ground water under the plant, the material would explode into the atmosphere, rendering most of southern California radioactive an uninhabitable wasteland for decades and possibly causing illnesses like cancer in the region's inhabitants. Kimberly and Richard both go to Godell's house and confront him directly, saying they know that Godell and his team narrowly avoided a meltdown. Godell, more nervous than he was before, tells them that he agrees with them and tells them about the false X-rays and the cost-cutting measures done by the contracting company. He also tells them that he was threatened by the firm if he goes to the NRC. Kimberly and Richard agree to keep Godell's identity anonymous if he can get them some of the incriminating evidence to present at the conference where Richard had talked to the two nuclear scientists.Richard arranges for Godell to meet Hector with a bundle of the x-ray film, but while Hector drives to the convention to deliver them, he's run off the road by hit men from the contracting firm. Kimberly calls Godell and asks him to speak directly to the convention committee himself. On the way there, he is chased by more hit men and is unable to join Kimberly. He drives to Ventana, knowing the men following him won't be permitted past the plant's security gates.Godell rushes to the control room and finds the plant is nearly at full power. Now convinced of the evidence and unable to stop the power-up, he grabs a gun from the control room's security guard and forces everyone out. Once alone and secured inside the control room, he brings the power down to a safer level. He also tells the plant's managers that if anyone attempts to take control of the reactor from the outside or break in, he'll open valves and flood the containment building with radiation, which would render the plant unusable. He then demands to be interviewed by Wells on live television.Kimberly arrives and is escorted into the control room. Godell tells her that he'll voice his concerns about the plant's safety on live television. Kimberly contacts Richard, who contacts every other major television network. In the hour it takes for them to arrive, the plant's parent company's CEO, McCormack, orders Herman to find a way to cause a reactor SCRAM. The SCRAM, if plotted correctly, will distract Godell long enough for the rest of the team to seize control of the plant. After Richard leads the TV production teams into the same observation room he original filmed in, he misses seeing the SWAT team that also arrives to deal with Godell himself.Kimberly begins to interview Godell, who speaks frantically and makes little sense while explaining the more technical aspects of the recent accident. In the middle of the live interview, the SCRAM is started and the camera's cables are physically cut. Godell begins to panic, rushing from one control panel to the next, trying to avert a catastrophe. The SWAT team suddenly bursts into the control room and shoots Godell. Kimberly tries desperately to help him, however, Godell, near death, tells her "I can feel it..." An ominous vibration, like the one Godell felt in the first incident, shakes the room. More alarms begin to sound and the SCRAM causes significant damage to the plant, as portions of the cooling system physically collapse. The reactor is eventually brought under control by the plant's automatic systems and by Godell's co-worker, Ted Spindler. When the incident ends, Kimberley sees that Godell has died.Outside the plant, a phalanx of reporters and television crews are awaiting word on the events inside. When the plant spokesman suggests that Godell was "emotionally disturbed" and that he "had been drinking", Kimberly Wells confronts the spokesman in front of the other reporters, and eventually gets one of Godell's co-workers, Ted Spindler, to admit that Godell would not have taken such drastic steps had there not been something dangerous about the plant. Ted tells the media that Godell was a hero for averting a disaster and that there will be a much deeper investigation this time. As Kimberly, obviously upset at Godell's death, gives her closing comments, the broadcast is cut off.

Review: That little gnawing sensation that the director would hope you feel while watching his thriller.Jack Lemmon's performance is a fine one, and Jane Fonda and Michael Douglas follow.
The movie occasionally gets too technical (especially in the second-half) and could use more human interplay, however the performances by Jack Lemmon, Jane Fonda (as a puff-piece newswoman in the right place at the right time) and Michael Douglas (as a freelance cameraman) are superb.
But, when a news story about the leakage of nuclear energy breaks; let's just say - there is your monster.Jane Fonda is absolutely superb as Kimberley Wells, an ambitious Los Angeles reporter relegated only to fluff pieces by her sexist boss (Peter Donat).
You have the stellar cast - Michael Douglas in an uncharacteristic 'free-spirit' role that pretty much launched his movie career, Fonda playing her typical forthright female doing her bit for womens lib, and Jack Lemmon as assured as ever showing us a man with a crisis of confidence.
When THE CHINA SYNDROME was released, plenty of right-wing critics and pro-nuke supporters blasted this film, particularly since its three leading stars were all known for their liberal politics and their overt distrust of nuclear power.
But it only took two weeks and a near-catastrophic accident at Three Mile Island to shut those critics up.Fonda and Douglas are the L.A. news crew that witness a potentially nasty accident at the Ventana nuclear power plant.
The result is a nightmarish climax that pulls various political, technological, and human interest stories together in one disturbing package.While obviously quite politically liberal in nature, THE CHINA SYNDROME, well directed and co-written by James Bridges (THE PAPER CHASE), is also fundamentally a message movie about the inherent dangers of putting technology and nuclear power together.
Wanting to get out of reporting fluff, Jane Fonda follows up to get the plant expert (Jack Lemmon) to talk.Fonda is magnificent in this film, and Lemmon shows a whole range of emotion during the accident, and afterward as a man who wants to tell the truth even if it hurts his company.When a company stands to lose a billion dollar investment, you can be sure that there will be an attempt to murder someone (Daniel Valdez) to keep things quiet.Lemmon and Fonda were both nominated for Oscars, and probably should have gotten them.Things depicted in the story have actually occurred in the past (before this film), and it was fascinating to see the reactions of the characters.
'The China Syndrome' Synopsis: A reporter finds what appears to be a cover-up of safety hazards at a nuclear power plant.'The China Syndrome' was controversial when released, but over the years, has gained a substantial fan-following among film-buffs.
Of course everyone will know about the coincidence of the Three Mile Island incident which occurred within days of the film's original release which gave it instant topicality and of course gave it a commercial boost, but subsequent nuclear-related disasters at Chernobyl and Fukishama mean that the movie's relevance doesn't diminish as time goes by.All of that would be of no matter unless it wasn't a cracking good film which it certainly is.
The film makes telling points about corporate greed over safety considerations still relevant in every walk of business today, but also confronts the limits of free speech and obviously, the debate on the use of nuclear power as an energy source in today's society, but at a more basic level it's just a top-class thriller which ratchets up the tension throughout.
The acting just couldn't be better, Fonda is convincing as the lightweight "feel-good spot" TV reporter who scents a real story for the first time, Douglas as the rule-bending maverick camera-man desperate to get the story out there and Lemmon in one of his last great roles as the company man whose loyalty is tested by his own conscience when he becomes aware of the cover-ups at the plant.Sure the fashions and depicted technology to name but two elements are dated as only a film set in the 70's can be, but the message of the movie combined with its entertainment value easily transcends these to deliver a taut, exciting and thought-provoking film which was one of the best of, in my opinion, a great decade for Hollywood movie-making..
Terrific award-winning casting of Jack Lemmon, Michael Douglas and Jane Fonda, as the TV news reporter who wants to do "real news" stories.
Story: China Syndrome stars Jane Fonda, who plays Kimberly Wells, a TV news reporter stuck doing irrelevant "fluff stories" who hopes to one day do some "real news".
TV news reporter Kimberly Wells and her cameraman Richard Adams visit the Ventana nuclear power plant where they discover an accident.They have it all on camera.Jack Godell is the supervisor on duty in the control room during the incident.He knows something is seriously wrong at the plant when he feels the vibration.He wants to talk but they want to keep his mouth shut.The China Syndrome (1979) is a thriller directed by James Bridges.The title of the movie is jokingly mentioned in the film that if an American nuclear melts down it will melt through the Earth until it reaches China.The casting of this movie is brilliant.Jane Fonda does a fine job as the red headed Kimberly Wells.The young Michael Douglas, who's also producer of this film, is great as the hot tempered Richard.I especially liked Jack Lemmon who does amazing job as Jack Godell.His performance alone can raise my review up to 9 stars.He won the best actor award at the Cannes film festival.Also in this film you can find Richard Herd who plays Evan McCormack.This movie shows us something that can happen in real life.We all remember what happened in Chernobyl back in 1986.There are plenty of breathtaking scenes in the movie.One of them is where Jack is driving and he notices he's being followed...And there's a lot of power in the end..
Says much about corporate corruption at the expense of the common person, so that the powerful can gain gain huge profits and disregard the environment and safety of others.Nearly 30 years later this film is compelling about the power of certain corporate entities that since the films release have gained ten fold in their ability to control; It shows the need for regulation of the public against powerful business interests whose primary goal is profit.Jack Lemmon is brilliant- while Jane Fonda and Micheal Douglas are as equally compelling in their roles.
Fonda, Douglas and Lemmon were known "lefties", but the accident at Three Mle Island provided shocking context to this fictional drama.This film works on many levels, taking shots at both public utilities and TV news.
Later, as Lemmon and Wilford Brimley (nicely playing Lemmon's friend/colleague, caught between duty and loyalty) fight a sudden crisis in the plant' s control room, they're obviously running a boiling-water plant (built by GE.) A small point, but curious, considering how many details the screenwriters got right.Like any good drama, the film asks more questions than it answers.
It was harrowingly close, but The China Syndrome received the worst kind of publicity when as it was going into theatrical release, the accident at Three Mile Island Nuclear Power Plant happened.
Jane is a TV News reporter who is constantly being assigned to puff feature stories and just happens to be at a nuclear power plant when an accident occurs.
Fonda plays a TV news journalist who is only given light, superficial stories to run with due to her good looks, while Lemmon is the shift-manager at the power-plant who is the only employee who is willing to admit that something is badly wrong in his place of work.
Both characters have their own individual demons to wrestle with and these they confront in the final showdown in the plant control room, where Fonda's character get's her chance at breaking a serious news story, while Lemmon is allowed to alleviate his guilt by speaking out about the very real danger the unsafe power plant presents to the public in the form of the potential disaster known as the China Syndrome.The film also looks at the role of the media.
Also, the depiction of the behind-the-scenes chaos that goes on in the making of slick news feeds is very well done, and does give an insight into the workings of this particular machine.As I said earlier Jane Fonda and Jack Lemmon are especially good in a well-acted film.
Jack Lemmon turns in a five star performance as the supervisor trying to expose a cover-up at his nuclear plant, with Jane Fonda playing the reporter trying to investigate, and Michael Douglas plays her cameraman.I don't know whether or not the current threat of a terrorist attack makes "The China Syndrome" more disturbing, but either way, it's still definitely a movie that everyone should see.I hope that those people who spent years pushing nuclear power saw this movie just so that they could know that their views and ideals are completely defunct..
TV newscaster Kimberly Wells (Jane Fonda) and her radical camerman Richard Adams (Michael Douglas) are at a nuclear power plant when a serious accident happens.
One of the central characters (Michael Douglas) IS a crank, who drives me up the wall by mispronouncing `nuclear' (why DO people do that?), and it's annoying that he should coincidentally turn out to be right; but the heroes are the saner people, Jane Fonda and, in particular, Jack Lemmon.Mind you, I don't want to make great claims about this film.
Jack Lemmon really stands out in my mind, but Jane Fonda does a good job and Michael Douglas is great as the hot-headed cameraman.
Best of all, however, is Jack Lemmon in a straight role as a worker at a nuclear power plant who soon becomes aware that something very fishy is going on at his place of work.
As one of the plant workers, played by Jack Lemmon, investigates, he realizes the problem goes deeper than initially believed.The news station refuses to allow Kimberly to show the film and puts it in a safe, where it is stolen by Richard, who thinks everyone at the station, including Kimberly, is a wimp.
Pretty soon, the nuclear people are anxious to get the news people to keep their mouths shut.The China Syndrome is an excellent film all around, including the acting, directing by James Bridges, and the editing.
The cameraman (Michael Douglas) secretly films the panicked actions of Plant Manager (Jack Lemmon) in the control room.
While a disputable debate on nuclear technology preponderates most of the receptions, if one thinks a bit deeper, it is not a film deliberately provokes its viewers to be aware of the instability of nuke per se, the real culprit is a malfunctioned organization under loose management and its money-seeking honchos' myopia in neglecting a potential and fatal glitch and preferring bankrolls to its social responsibility for the public's safety, nuke is not the reason why the tragedy happens, it only serves as an agency to trigger the chain reaction, if every and each one does their adequate job, the entire system should function faultlessly as it claims.It is not a movie with a conventional happy ending - a lone guy with rectitude fights against the merciless enterprise finally grants a victory against all odds, or a fearless journalist pursues a scoop which divulges a cover-up and prevails the justice.
If the 'China' syndrome is not to be taken literally, the nuclear danger surely is.And the subject is even more relevant today, after the infamous Three Miles Island accident, which by an irony of fate, happened a few days after the film's release, after Chernobyl and more lately, Fukushima, any normal person of the 21st century would regard nuclear energy with a certain distance.
Throw in a few conspiracy theories, and wonderful performances from Jack Lemmon, Jane Fonda and Michael Douglas, and 'The China Syndrome' is an intelligent, taut and topical thriller.Jane Fonda plays Kimberly Wells, a beautiful news presenter who's consistently frustrated with having to present the "lighter side" of the news.
Jane Fonda and Michael Douglas {who also produced the film} also contribute excellent performances, and Fonda is particularly believable in her insistence upon reporting hard news, a problem faced by countless female journalist even today.
Jack Lemmon is the employee who realizes just how dangerous the plant is and Jane Fonda is the crusading television reporter who takes the story on board and both players are at their best.The events portrayed in the film are, of course, terrifying and not in the least bit far-fetched, (much of what happens here happened in real life at Three Mile Island), and although it now looks like something a period piece it, nevertheless, highlights just how fragile and dangerous a world we have created for ourselves.
She and her crew (the cameraman played by post-'Coma' Michael Douglas who is also the producer of the movie) witness an accident in a nuclear power plant while they were on a visit.
It contains almost no preaching, but rather follows a naive TV reporter who gradually comes to realize the threat presented by nuclear power plants, not because of an inherent danger, but because the purveyors are more interested in the bottom line than in the safety of those affected.Many hated the film because they saw it as a political tract made by ultra-liberals like Jane Fonda and Michael Douglas, but if you view it simply as a drama, it's gripping, exciting, full of well-developed, distinctive characters and, ultimately, a truly suspenseful contemporary thriller that hits close to home.Historical note: For some, especially those in the energy industry and inhabitants of the Harrisburg, PA metro area, it hit perhaps a little too close to home, as less than a week after this film was released, the devastating explosion at the Three Mile Island nuclear facility occurred.Update, 04/08/2007: In the nearly a decade since I first wrote this critique, I've heard a lot of commentary on the film.
There are several worthy actors of note, including the great Lemmon(who steals the film), Michael Douglas, Jane Fonda, Wilford Brimley, the underrated Scott Brady, James Karen, James Hampton, and Richard Herd.
Jane Fonda plays Kimberly Wells an up and coming TV reporter who wants to expose the accident, when she and Adams are ordered by their station and threatened by the power company to keep silent or face retaliation.
James Bridges directed this nuclear-age thriller that stars Jane Fonda as TV newswoman Kimberly Wells, who, along with her cameraman Richard Adams(played by Michael Douglas) do an investigative report on a nearby nuclear power plant when a near-meltdown occurs, though plant management deny it as such, Kimberly isn't convinced, and manages to persuade nervous technician Jack Godell(played by Jack Lemmon) to go on air to tell what he knows; this leads to a hostage situation with potentially disastrous consequences...
This is a pretty good thriller at a nuclear power plant in southern California that was directed by James Bridges and stars Jane Fonda, Jack Lemmon and Michael Douglas.
Fonda and Douglas are sent on a routine assignment at a nuclear power plant and an accident almost happens and they get it all on film.
The China syndrome starts with a bang- Jane Fonda and Michael Douglas are at a nuclear power plant when something goes wrong and they manage to capture it on camera.
The China syndrome starts with a bang- Jane Fonda and Michael Douglas are at a nuclear power plant when something goes wrong and they manage to capture it on camera.
basically,a reporter and her cameraman discover a cover-up at a nuclear plant.it was alright,i guess.it had some exciting moments and some tension, and the acting is good,but it also seems too long.there are a lot of slow spots.Jack Lemmon,Jane Fonda and Michael Douglas star.Douglas looks quite different with a full beard.Wilford Brimley also stars in the movie.James Bridges directed the movie.he co-wrote The China Syndrome with T.S.Cook and Mike Gray.for me,this movie is no classic,though many people may disagree.if it didn't have so many slow spots,i would give it a higher rating.as it is,i give The China Syndrome a 6/10.
Although very slow and dated by today's drama/thriller standards, this brilliantly-acted movie is perhaps the best ever done on the subject of nuclear power plants.
She plays a reporter who, in the words of the trailer, is "paid to smile, not to think", and while she's visiting a nuclear power plant with her cameraman Michael Douglas, they witness an emergency shutdown.If you've seen the famous clip of Jack Lemmon looking at his shaking cup of coffee, you've seen a clip from this movie.
And the film turned out to be awfully prophetic: the real life notorious "Three Mile Island" incident occurred not long after.A small time news station is doing a series of stories on nuclear power, and while they are present at the Ventana power plant, an accident takes place.
All the roles were well-played: Jane Fonda ("Kimberly Wells"), Jack Lemmon (Jack Godell") and producer Michael Douglas ("Richard Adams") are all excellent in their roles, plus all of the rest of the cast.
She gets her big break covering a routine story at a nuclear power plant with her freelance cameraman Richard Adams, played by Michael Douglas.
The movie stars Jane Fonda as a young news anchor named Kimberly Wells who works for a local Los Angeles news network who with the help of her cameraman Richard Adams (Michael Douglas) expose the problems of a nuclear power plant which are so dire that if nothing gets done to solve it, it could mean the end of our world.
I also found the performances by both Jane Fonda (who also got an Oscar nomination for best actress) and Michael Douglas (who also produced the film) to be so good that I'm convinced that nobody could have played their characters better than they did.