The European general release version of the film features an open ending, where Kirk Douglas is in exile with his newborn child, and his adult son now successfully operating the nuclear plant that is intended to cause Armageddon. In the shortened version released in U.S. theaters, home video, and network television, a new ending was added where Douglas returns to America and blows up the plant, sacrificing himself in the process. The U.S. DVD from Lionsgate retains the original darker ending.