Editing The Day After (section)

=== Deleted and alternative scenes ===
{{more citations needed section|date=October 2011}}
The film was shortened from the original three hours of running time to two, which caused the scrapping of several planned special-effects scenes although storyboards were made in anticipation of a possible "expanded" version. They included a "bird's eye" view of Kansas City at the moment of two nuclear detonations as seen from a [[Boeing 737]] airliner approaching the city's airport, simulated newsreel footage of U.S. troops in [[West Germany]] taking up positions in preparation of advancing Soviet armored units, and the tactical nuclear exchange in Germany between NATO and the Warsaw Pact after the attacking Warsaw Pact force breaks through and overwhelms the NATO lines.

ABC censors severely toned down scenes to reduce the body count or severe burn victims. Meyer refused to remove key scenes, but reportedly, some eight and a half minutes of excised footage still exist, significantly more graphic.{{cn|date=October 2024}} Some footage was reinstated for the film's release on home video. Additionally, the nuclear attack scene was longer and supposed to feature very graphic and very accurate shots of what happens to a human body during a nuclear blast. Examples included people being set on fire; their flesh [[carbonization|carbonizing]]; being burned to the bone; eyes melting; faceless heads; skin hanging; deaths from flying glass and debris, limbs torn off, being crushed, and blown from buildings by the [[shockwave]]; and people in [[fallout shelters]] suffocating during the [[firestorm]]. Also cut were images of radiation sickness, as well as graphic post-attack violence from survivors such as food riots, looting, and general lawlessness as authorities attempted to restore order.

One cut scene showed surviving students battling over food. The two sides were to be athletes and the science students under the guidance of Professor Huxley. Another brief scene that was later cut related to a firing squad in which two U.S. soldiers are blindfolded and executed. In that scene, an officer reads the charges, verdict, and sentence as a bandaged chaplain reads the [[Last Rites]].{{Citation needed|date=November 2020}} A similar sequence occurs in a 1965 British-produced faux documentary, ''[[The War Game]]''. In the initial 1983 broadcast of ''The Day After'', when the U.S. president addresses the nation, the voice was an imitation of President Reagan, who later stated that he watched the film and was deeply moved.<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211205/7QdZqBKwTMs Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20131209131151/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QdZqBKwTMs Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QdZqBKwTMs| title = The Day After: "Reagan-esque" Presidential Address | website=[[YouTube]]| date = July 11, 2010 }}{{cbignore}}</ref> In subsequent broadcasts, that voice was overdubbed by a stock actor.

Home video releases in the U.S. and internationally come in at various running times, many listed at 126 or 127 minutes. [[Fullscreen (aspect ratio)|Full screen]] (4:3 aspect ratio) seems to be more common than widescreen. [[RCA]] [[videodisc]]s of the early 1980s were limited to 2 hours per disc so that full screen release appears to be closest to what originally aired on ABC in the U.S. A 2001 U.S. VHS version ([[Anchor Bay Entertainment]], [[Troy, Michigan]]) lists a running time of 122 minutes. A 1995 double laser disc "director's cut" version (Image Entertainment) runs 127 minutes, includes commentary by director Nicholas Meyer and is "presented in its 1.75:1 European theatrical aspect ratio" (according to the LD jacket).

Two different German DVD releases run at 122 and 115 minutes respectively; the edits reportedly downplay the Soviet Union's role.<ref>[https://www.movie-censorship.com/report.php?ID=193898 Movie-censorship.com]</ref> A two disc Blu-ray special edition was released in 2018 by the video specialty label [[Kino International (company)|Kino Lorber]] and present the film in high definition. The release contains the 122-minute television cut, presented in a 4:3 aspect ratio as broadcast, as well as the 127-minute theatrical cut, presented in a [[16:9 aspect ratio|16:9 widescreen aspect ratio]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.kinolorber.com/product/the-day-after-2-disc-special-edition-blu-ray|title=The Day After (2-Disc Special Edition)|access-date=January 25, 2021|archive-date=January 27, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210127142842/https://www.kinolorber.com/product/the-day-after-2-disc-special-edition-blu-ray|url-status=dead}}</ref>