Useless Movie Trivia For

The China Syndrome


Memorable Movie Quotes

Ted Spindler: He was not a loony. He was the sanest man I ever knew in my life.

Trivia

All of the music in the film, including the title song "Somewhere In Between" by Stephen Bishop, comes from normal sources of music within the film: car radios, barroom jukeboxes, television commercials, etc. There is no traditional "soundtrack" of music that the audience can hear but the characters cannot.

The movie was released on March 16, 1979. By a bizarre irony, the disaster at the nuclear power plant at Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island happened just 13 days later on March 28th.

Richard Dreyfuss was originally cast as the cameraman but pulled out shortly before filming was to start and Michael Douglas, who also produced the film, was replaced in the role instead.

Jane Fonda broke her ankle towards the end of shooting and had to be flown away for treatment. Scenes were shot around her after that, though through editing, it's hard to notice.

The Ventana Powerplant was based on the experimental nuclear reactor that Rocketdyne operated at its Santa Susana Field Laboratory east of Thousand Oaks, California, in Ventura County. The Rocketdyne reactor also had numerous failures and accidents (due to its experimental nature, not shoddy workmanship), and was finally shut down, but to this day it remains in place as one of the first nuclear reactors in California.

The model for the control room of the plant was based upon the control room at the Trojan Nuclear Power Plant in Rainier, Oregon (along the Columbia River). At the time, it was the only nuclear plant in the US to offer tours that included a tour of the gallery that looked down into the control room.

This is one of only a few American movies where no music is played over the end credits.

The movie's title is based on the theoretical but implausible notion that if a nuclear meltdown were to occur in the United States, the nuclear core would melt all the way through the Earth's core and emerge on the other side of the world. However, China is simply a metaphor for the other side of the world. If such an event could occur it would emerge in the Indian Ocean.

California Gas & Electric (CG&E) in the film is a thinly veiled reference to Pacific Gas & Electric, (PG&E) which operates the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant in San Luis Obispo County, California.

Goofs

During the opening credits sequence, the helicopter carrying the camera is reflected in the rear window of the Bronco.

In the scene where Hector's car is forced over the cliff you can see that the gas tank has been removed when his car stops tumbling.

In the United States, there are two main types of commercial power reactors: PWR (Pressurized Water Reactor) and BWR (Boiling Water Reactor). In the scene where Gibson is explaining the basic workings of the plant to Kimberly Wells, the diagram on the board shows the former type, PWR. This is shown by the two loop system in which the water is pumped through the reactor under high pressure to prevent boiling, and then through a steam generator, or boiler, to create steam for the turbine using clean secondary water. In subsequent scenes, the dialog of the characters in the control room seems to suggest that they are dealing with a BWR system, where water is allowed to boil in the reactor vessel and steam is directly piped to the turbine, with no steam generator. Godell is concerned by the high water level in the reactor reaching the steam lines, of which there are none on a PWR reactor vessel. As well, in the action hearing later, the investigator talks about how the operators began cutting off feedwater and releasing steam in order to lower the reactor water level, which would only happen on a BWR.

Michael Douglas's cameraman more than once supposedly films something - including the footage of the reactor control room - without having a battery pack connected to the camera. The camera simply wouldn't work without it. He also frequently uses the light meter incorrectly - the white dome has to be pointed towards the light source you are measuring.

Box Office Info In USA

Gross $51,718,367

Filming Locations

1000 N. Crescent Drive, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA
California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, California, USA
El Segundo, California, USA
Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA
Los Angeles, California, USA
Playa del Mar, Los Angeles, California, USA
San Fernando, California, USA (entrance to plant)
Scattergood Power Plant - 12700 Vista del Mar, El Segundo, Los Angeles, California, USA
Sewage Disposal Plant, El Segundo, California, USA (plant exteriors)
Valencia Fairways Housing Development, Valencia, California, USA (Jack Lemmon's house)