Thanks for the memories!

Overrated

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Awesome Movie

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when in less than a decade the Soviet Union collapsed rendering this exact scenario that occurs in World War III out of date.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.

I saw this on TV in 1981 or whenever it was on. It haunts me still. It's tense and claustrophobic up close where this action is depicted (to wit, it appears mostly filmed inside the studio while taking place mostly outdoors), but the overarching danger is apocalyptic. The soundtrack is lean and terrifying. The B-actors (except for the chick who doesn't appear much) actually pull it off quite well once the action is in the field. It's the only role I've seen Rock Hudson play it straight, strained, dramatic, and quite human, and I am impressed.I attribute the success to (out of necessity, given it's failings) a good script, direction, and theme. And editing I suppose to the degree I'm aware of it. I highly recommend it if, for instance, you like Carpenter's "The Thing" as it has the same mood about it that never leaves me. If you're a kid into mostly special effects, large-scale action, and other cartoons, or if you have no conception of what the Cold War was like and could have been like, you probably won't think much of it, and I understand that. But I liked it a lot.

Released during the presidency of that lovable rouge, the rootin'-tootin'-bonzo-starrin'-we-start-bombin'-in-five-minutes Ronnie Reagan, "World War III" is a fascinating time piece. A revisit to this 1982 paranoid cold war thriller creates a sense of nostalgia for the clarity of the 'enemy'. Back then, M.A.D. was the umbrella under which the world shivered, and humanity lived by the beat of the advancing Doomsday Clock.Although relentlessly outdated, this Eighties TV film is a raw depiction of death in the most brutal, chilly way. A small National Guard force battles a crack Soviet company whose goal is to take out an Alaskan pumping station and thus cripple the critical oil pipeline. Their action is ordered by high ranking KGB officials in retaliation for a US grain embargo.The Pres, Rock Hudson, stares down the Soviet Premier, Brian Keith, in a poker game played with nuclear chips. The Premier does not really hold the government's reigns, and the tense situation escalates into war as depicted in a trite montage of smiling faces and pretty sunsets; Cut To Black. BOOOOMMMM!!! (Inferred)"World War III" is packed with your favorite marginal Eighties stars on their way down the career ladder. It's the post "Don't Give Up on Us" David Soul, late of "Starsky and Hutch," as the Colonel in command of the American forces defending their homeland. A foxy-in-uniform Cathy Lee Crosby is an intelligence officer, and the Colonel's former flame. (She went from this to guest commentator on TV Wrestling in 1986.)A red blooded film, "World War III" saves the jingoism by portraying both sides as insane: US uses food as a weapon; starving Russians respond.This work pulls no punches yet labors within the venerable TV Miniseries framework. The 7 Star rating reflects the work as such. "World War III" is a passable time-waster for those who remember the Eighties and wish to take a trip down memory lane. (And maybe cheered when the US took Olympic Gold in 1980 by miraculously defeating the Russkies.)

Enjoyed it all those years ago. Would really like to see it run again. Rock Hudson's final scene showed some of his finest acting, and the fact that Brian Keith spoke fluent Russian blew me away.