Excellent, a Must See

Absolutely amazing

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

America entered what will now go down in the history books as a brief period of jubilation when in less than a decade the Soviet Union collapsed rendering this exact scenario that occurs in World War III out of date. But now with Vladmimir Putin rattling sabers in the tradition of Khrushchev and America electing neo-cons like George W. Bush World War III has assumed a new relevancy.America's economy is what did in the Soviet Union and here a grain embargo that Canada and Australia are cooperating with has brought the Soviets to a starvation point. As KGB man Robert Prosky remarks the slogan Peace, Land, and Bread put Lenin in power, now it might just topple them. The Soviets try a hail Mary gambit by sending in some elite troops into Alaska under bad weather conditions with the objective of blowing up the Alaska pipeline and robbing the lower 48 of fuel. An invasion on American soil itself a really desperate thing. The troops are led by Colonel Jeroen Krabbe and opposing them is Colonel David Soul with a bunch of National Guard troops who are all that's available.World War III shooting starts with them. But the heads of government and their respective staffs led by President Rock Hudson of the USA and Secretary-General Brian Keith for the USSR. Unlike Failsafe where all we saw was Henry Fonda with interpreter Larry Hagman at the Hotline here we see both leaders with their war/defense councils. Neither wanting to back down first in this game of nuclear chicken.As for World War III I remember seeing it on television when first broadcast with my mother and she said at the time this is how it's going to end with leaders making the crucial decisions without consultation and without knowledge of what is really going on on the other side.World War III the movie survived the Cold War, let it not survive the planet.

From the opening credits and the musical intro, you know that this is going to be a bomb. I picked up this movie thinking that it would be a classic Nuclear war classic film but all I got was a bunch of small scale skirmishing and these conference rooms shots of the President and the Russian Premier engaged in tension packed discussion about nuclear warfare. I had just watched "Threads" for the second time and another great BBC documentary that discussed the true horrors of Nuclear conflict and was looking forward to a similar quality film but this is just so low budget and with just some familiar actors in this obviously canned film for the time, I can not recommend this film in any way, shape or fashion.

David Soul and Rock Hudson star in this low budget, yet epic in scope miniseries about a Soviet invasion of Alaska to occupy an American oil valve station. I first watched this as a kid and was amazed at how seamlessly the script, the music, the acting all worked together to create more than the sum of its low budget parts. I bought a copy on VHS and have re-watched it many times. There is not much that can compare to the suspense that the script ratchets up scene after scene, until the final horrifying conclusion. Rock Hudson indeed gives his finest acting job, as other reviewers have noted. David Soul as usual is very underrated as an actor and leading man. The script is also a star here...only a little bit of Drama involving Cathy Lee Crosby, who is just adequate here. Of course it is a bit dated (this was before cellphones and internet widespread) but is still highly enjoyable and far superior to 99% of the miniseries out there. And it makes you think. Some scenes here will resonate deeply long after the viewing is over.

I was a freshman in high school when this movie aired, and my friends and I were certain we'd never live to 20 due to the threat of nuclear holocaust. Maybe that's why this movie left such a lasting impression on me, particularly the Alaskan scenes with soldiers stationed in overlapping pipes to narrow their field of fire and conserve ammunition. Few TV movies have achieved that level of suspense.It's a little ironic all these years later that my two favorite TV miniseries both starred David Soul. He was absolutely believable in this film, and he does a wonderful job of coaxing the viewer to empathize with his military unit's predicament. My other favorite from the era, Salem's Lot, still gives me goosebumps thanks to a wide DVD release. To think of all the junk that is getting released on DVD these days, it's a shame that this film hasn't.