History Film / TheManWhoSawTomorrow

The film starts off by recounting the life and times of Nostradamus, mixing in some bits of folklore about him. It then tells us about his supposed predictions of UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolution, UsefulNotes/TheNapoleonicWars, the abdication of Edward VIII, UsefulNotes/TheAmericanRevolution, the presidency of UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln, the two Kennedy assassinations, the Chappaquiddick incident, the UsefulNotes/SpanishCivilWar, Louis Pasteur, hot air balloons, airplanes, space travel, submarines, UsefulNotes/NaziGermany, UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust, UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, the UsefulNotes/StatueOfLiberty, UsefulNotes/NuclearWeapons, and the Iranian Revolution. And yes, this is the very non-chronological order in which they are covered by the film.

** As usual, the Soviet Union is assumed to still exist in the 1990s and beyond.* GraveRobbing: The film repeats an old myth about grave-robbers who dug up Nostradamus' remains, and found a skeleton wearing a plaque with the current date on it, meaning Nostradamus must have predicted the date on which his own grave would be robbed. Different versions of this myth disagree on what this date actually was. In the film's version, it's 1791, during the French Revolution.

* GraveRobbing: The film repeats an old myth about grave-robbers who dug up Nostradamus' remains, and found a skeleton wearing a plaque with the current date on it, meaning Nostradamus must have predicted the date on which his own grave would be robbed. Different versions of this myth disagree on what this date actually was. In the film's version, it's 1791, during the French Revolution.

* TheGreatPoliticsMessUp: As usual, the Soviet Union is assumed to still exist in the 1990s and beyond.

** Ted Kennedy will be elected president in 1984 (he didn't even run that year, after his failed bid in 1981).

** An earthquake will strike UsefulNotes/SanFrancisco in May, 1988 ([[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989_Loma_Prieta_earthquake This would actually occur in October, 1989]]).

''The Man Who Saw Tomorrow'' is a 1981 SpeculativeDocumentary about UsefulNotes/{{Nostradamus}}, in which we learn that he predicted everything accurately up to 1981, but then [[FailedFutureForecast he started getting everything wrong for some reason]]. Either that or this film is guilty of the SharpshooterFallacy. It was hosted by Creator/OrsonWelles, who would later disown it.

But you're here for the wacky "future" predictions, aren't you? Of course you are. For the 1980s, Nostradamus is said to predict horrible disasters like droughts, famines, earthquakes, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking Ted Kennedy becoming president]]. The 1990s will see a Middle Eastern warlord launch WorldWarIII, which will last twenty-seven years and include the nuking of New York City. Ultimately, the United States and Soviet Union will [[EnemyMine join forces to defeat this warlord]], ushering in a thousand years of peace. And then the world will end in the year 3797.

* ConspiracyKitchenSink: In addition to the prophecies of Nostradamus, the film endorses the predictions of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeane_Dixon Jeane Dixon]], and the conspiracy theories surrounding the [[UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln Lincoln]] and [[UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy Kennedy]] assassinations.

** Ted Kennedy will be elected president in 1984. (He didn't even run that year.)

** An earthquake will strike UsefulNotes/SanFrancisco in May, 1988. ([[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989_Loma_Prieta_earthquake This would actually occur in October, 1989.]])
** A worldwide deluge. (At the same time as the worldwide drought?)

* {{Qurac}}: The scenes with the "future" Middle Eastern warlord have somewhat this vibe.

''The Man Who Saw Tomorrow'' is a 1981 SpeculativeDocumentary about UsefulNotes/{{Nostradamus}}, in which we learn that he predicted everything accurately up until 1981, but then [[FailedFutureForecast he started getting everything wrong for some reason]]. Either that or this film is guilty of the SharpshooterFallacy. It was hosted by Creator/OrsonWelles, who would later disown it.

** Ted Kennedy will be elected president in 1984.

** A Middle Eastern warlord will invade Russia, capture Soviet nuclear weapons, and launch WorldWarIII by 1999. This will be followed by a nuclear exchange in which New York City is nuked. The war will last twenty-seven years and devastate the world. Ultimately, this warlord will be defeated by an unlikely U.S.-Soviet alliance, leading to a new era of peace that will last a thousand years.

The film starts off by recounting the life and times of Nostradamus, mixing in some bits of folklore about him. It then tell us about his supposed predictions of UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolution, UsefulNotes/TheNapoleonicWars, the abdication of Edward VIII, UsefulNotes/TheAmericanRevolution, the presidency of UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln, the two Kennedy assassinations, the Chappaquiddick incident, the UsefulNotes/SpanishCivilWar, Louis Pasteur, hot air balloons, airplanes, space travel, submarines, UsefulNotes/NaziGermany, UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust, UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, the UsefulNotes/StatueOfLiberty, UsefulNotes/NuclearWeapons, and the Iranian Revolution. And yes, this is the very non-chronological order in which they are covered by the film.

But you're here for the wacky "future" predictions, aren't you? Of course you are. For the 1980s, Nostradamus is said to predict horrible disasters like droughts, famines, earthquakes, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking Ted Kennedy becoming president]]. The 1990s will see a Middle-Eastern warlord launch WorldWarIII, which will last twenty-seven years and include the nuking of New York City. Ultimately, the United States and Soviet Union will [[EnemyMine join forces to defeat this warlord]], ushering in a thousand years of peace. And then the world will end in the year 3797.

** A Middle-Eastern warlord will invade Russia, capture Soviet nuclear weapons, and launch WorldWarIII by 1999. This will be followed by a nuclear exchange in which New York City is nuked. The war will last twenty-seven years and devastate the world. Ultimately, this warlord will be defeated by an unlikely U.S.-Soviet alliance, leading to a new era of peace that will last a thousand years.

* TheGreatPoliticsMessUp: As usual, the Soviet Union is assumed to still exist in the 1990s and onwards.

But you're here for the wacky "future" predictions, aren't you? Of course you are. For the 1980s, Nostradamus is said to predict horrible disasters like droughts, famines, earthquakes, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking Ted Kennedy becoming president]]. The 1990s will see the start of WorldWarIII, launched by a Middle-Eastern despot who wears a signature blue turban. This war will last twenty-seven years, after which there will be a thousand years of peace. And then the world will end in the year 3797.

* YouCantFightFate: Welles muses about whether this is the case with regards to Nostradamus' predictions. He decides that you can, which only raises the question of why none of Nostradamus' pre-1981 predictions were averted.

* WhoShotJFK: Turns out Nostradamus said there was a shooter on the grassy knoll, so there!

* StockFootage: Lots and lots of it. Most amusingly, some of the Napoleon footage is taken from ''Film/{{Waterloo}}'', which Welles cameoed in.

* GraveRobbing: The film repeats an old myth about grave-robbers who dug up Nostradamus' remains, and found a skeleton wearing a plaque with the current date, meaning Nostradamus must have predicted the date when his own grave would be robbed. Different versions of this myth disagree on what this date actually was. In the film's version, it's 1791, during the French Revolution.

** An earthquake will strike UsefulNotes/SanFrancisco in May, 1988. ([[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989_Loma_Prieta_earthquake This would actually occur in 1989.]])

** A earthquake will strike UsefulNotes/SanFrancisco in May, 1988.

* ConspiracyKitchenSink: In addition to the prophecies of Nostradamus, the film endorses the predictions of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeane_Dixon Jeane Dixon]], and the conspiracy theories surrounding the Lincoln and [[UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy Kennedy]] assassinations.

* TheAntichrist: Nostradamus predicted three antichrists to arrive in the future. The film identifies the first two as UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte and UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler. The third is a warlord who will come "within the next twenty years" and launch WorldWarIII.

The film starts off by recounting the life and times of Nostradamus, mixing in some bits of folklore about him. It then tell us about his supposed predictions of UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolution, UsefulNotes/TheNapoleonicWars, the abdication of Edward VIII, UsefulNotes/TheAmericanRevolution, the presidency of UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln, the two Kennedy assassinations, the Chappaquiddick incident, the UsefulNotes/SpanishCivilWar, Louis Pasteur, hot air balloons, airplanes, space travel, submarines, UsefulNotes/NaziGermany, UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust, UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, the UsefulNotes/StatueOfLiberty, UsefulNotes/NuclearWeapons, and the Iranian Revolution. And yes, this is the very non-chronological order in which they covered by the film.