Engaging film.
Added 12/14/2008
I remember this film when it first aired on TV, and I remember how the movie just stuck with me through the years. I always thought that it was well done, and one of the best acting perfomances by Rock Hudson that I've ever recall seeing him in... the other being "Giant." His emotional scenes (the one with David Soul on the phone, and the one in the war room deciding not to recall the bombers) towards the end of the movie were very convincing. David Soul also gives a top notch performance.
The intensity and tension grows in this well paced movie, and makes "one" ponder just how fragile the balancing act is in keeping the lid on when it comes to preventing an all out nuclear war.
I would definitely recommend this movie.
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chilling and unusually poignant
Added 10/9/2008
i watched this miniseries as a kid in the 80s and was blown away at the time. Decades later, i found it on Amazon and, still being in possession of a vcr, obtained the tapes and watched it recently. This is one of the greatest miniseries scripts ive ever seen in terms of the constant one-upmanship and escalating tension. A crack team of Soviet paratroopers has covertly invaded Alaska with the goal of seizing an important Alaskan oil pumping station in a KGB scheme to blackmail the us into rescinding its grain embargo. David Soul is the troubled Colonel, exiled to Alaska, who must redeem himself leading a ragtag band of national guardsmen against a superior armed force. He communicates with the President, played with fierce intelligence by Rock Hudson in one of his best roles (compare this engaged, whip-smart leader with the current clowns we have running for president). The superpowers are caught in a world of hellish game theory, where a seemingly logical move results in unexpected and frightening consequences, as the desperate players attempt to avoid nuclear war. The story is gripping, the acting is mostly above average for a tv movie, and the dialogue does not patronize. Granted, this is a movie of its time, the world situation it represents is somewhat dated....but if the ending doesnt move you in some way, then probably little else will. Will stand the test of time.
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A remarkably good film about a plausible doomsday scenario
Added 1/17/2007
This is one of the best films I have ever seen that dealt directly with the possibility of nuclear conflict between the old USSR and the USA. The scenario was contemporary when the film came out, and still has relevance today. Russia has had crop failures, but is the subject of a US and Allied grain embargo. It refuses the president's demand for a lowering of tensions in exchange for an end to the embargo, and instead launches a covert operation in Alaska. The goal: to threaten to destroy much of the Alaska oil pipeline unless the US agrees to deal on grain.
The film masterfully shows how tensions escalate, as hard-line elements within the Kremlin take charge, and the President's own hawks counsel for a strong and unyielding response. Meanwhile, in Alaska, a small, under-equipped contingent of National Guards soldiers find themselves opposing the elite Soviet Spetznaz group whose mission is to seize the pipeline.
This picture is unusually well done for a made-for-television film, and I very much wish that it were available on DVD. I would snap it up in a second. If you can snag a copy of this one, it is well worth watching and keeping.
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World War III on the Brink
Added 7/2/2002
When starving mobs riot in the streets of Moscow and other major cities in Russia, the powers within the Russian government launch a covert mission within the United States. Their goal: Threaten to destroy 30 miles of oil pipeline in Alaska in order to force the American government to restore grain shipments to Russia. As a squad of American National Guardsmen battle Russian Spetznaz commandos at an oil pumping station, the President must try to prevent the conflict from blowing up into World War III. From a lonely battlefield in Alaska to the inner sanctums of world power, World War III delivers a powerful display of drama and action in this Cold War drama.
8 out of 8 people found this helpful.
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