FILM · 1980 · AUSTRALIA
The Chain Reaction
27 archived facts 6 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (27)
- #001
Mel Gibson, who is not credited in the titles, plays a bearded mechanic who crawls out from under a car in The Chain Reaction.
- #002
Several crew members who worked on The Chain Reaction had also worked on the classic Australian cult film Mad Max (1979), released about a year earlier. These included actors Steve Bisley, Hugh Keays-Byrne, Roger Ward, Tim Burns, David Bracks and Mel Gibson, as well as producer-director George Miller.
- #003
George Miller was originally set to direct The Chain Reaction, but he withdrew from the project and ultimately ended up directing the stunt scenes and second unit only, uncredited. Miller is credited as associate producer on the film. He directed the second unit and stunt scenes out of necessity rather than invention, as the production had fallen behind schedule and the money had run out.
- #004
The Chain Reaction's working titles were 'The Man at the Edge of the Highway' and 'Nuclear Run'. The longer of these titles was considered too long and too pretentious. Producer David Elfick also manually researched film titles beginning with the word 'The' and found that they had been disappointing at the box office. Elfick further suggested that the film be titled 'Contaminated'. In the end, the title was changed to 'The Chain Reaction' to create a more effective title. This title was apparently devised by Hans Pomeranz.
- #005
The Chain Reaction is considered an Ozploitation film, an Australian exploitation film.
- #006
British BBC-trained makeup artist Lesley Lamont-Fisher spent several months researching the appearance of radiation burns in medical textbooks for The Chain Reaction.
- #007
Lead actor Steve Bisley once said of his character Larry Stillson in The Chain Reaction: "Larry is one of those determined guys who doesn't like being pushed around. The role is completely different from Goose [Bisley's character in Mad Max (1979)], but the film has a bit of the same calm style."
- #008
According to Thrills and Nuclear Spills: The Making of 'The Chain Reaction' (2005), The Chain Reaction was the first Australian government-funded film to be sold to a major Hollywood studio.
- #009
The two types of vehicle seen in the chase scenes were a modified Holden Ute and a Ford Landau Sedan.
- #010
The Chain Reaction is notable for the emergence of an army of faceless people in dark helmets, wearing white nuclear decontamination suits and holding atomic detector guns. Such a photograph appeared as the cover image of the February-March 1980 issue of the Australian film magazine 'Cinema Papers'.
- #011
The Chain Reaction was selected as the Closing Night Film of the 1980 Sydney Film Festival, which opened on 28 June 1980.
- #012
Producer David Elfick once said of director George Miller's role on The Chain Reaction: "I wanted his expertise in action car chase scenes. Those were areas where Ian [Ian Barry] and I had no experience at all. His career had really taken off by then, so his time was limited."
- #013
The Chain Reaction was the first feature film directed by Ian Barry.
- #014
The Chain Reaction's budget was reduced by its investors from $630,000 to $450,000 (Australian). After exceeding the budget, the film's cost rose to $600,000, so the film reached its originally estimated cost.
- #015
The Chain Reaction was nominated for six Australian Film Institute (AFI) Awards, mostly in technical categories, but won none of them.
- #016
The original screenplay for The Chain Reaction was written long before the nuclear meltdown disaster at the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, on 28 March 1979. However, the film was shot about six months after that real-life nuclear accident.
- #017
The Chain Reaction had a number of production problems, including those related to accidents, weather and night shooting. The complexity and ambition of the project greatly strained the shooting schedule. Filming ran about a week over and went roughly $150,000 over budget.
- #018
The Chain Reaction's production shoot was to last six weeks. With overruns, it reached nearly seven weeks.
- #019
The Chain Reaction was shot in September and October 1980.
- #020
The Chain Reaction features the only nude scene of Arna-Maria Winchester's career.
- #021
Writer/director Ian Barry's original aim was to make a serious, dramatic film about the dangers of nuclear energy, similar to The China Syndrome (1979). The Chain Reaction was in fact released in Australian cinemas about a year after The China Syndrome (1979) opened. The original screenplay for The Chain Reaction had actually been written long before The China Syndrome (1979) was released. However, the film was actually shot about six months after The China Syndrome (1979) opened in cinemas.
- #022
Principal photography on The Chain Reaction included a significant amount of night shooting.
- #023
On one DVD release, actor Mel Gibson is prominently featured in the cover artwork and receives most of the attention, even though he makes only a brief, uncredited cameo appearance in the film.
- #024
In the film, the acronym WALDO, which forms the name of the atomic storage facility, stood for "Western Atomic Long-term Dumping Operation." WALDO has also been said to stand for "Western Atomic Long-term Disposal Organisation," reflecting the more formal phrasing typical of bureaucracy.
- #025
Embassy Home Entertainment's American laserdisc and home video releases in the 1980s did not depict a full likeness of lead actor Steve Bisley on the sleeves or in the promotional artwork.
- #026
The Chain Reaction was the first cinema film of Australian actor and comedian Kym Gyngell, who played the crabs.
- #027
Steve Bisley received top/ first billing, Arna-Maria Winchester received second billing and Ross Thompson received third billing.
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