I gave it a 7.5 out of 10

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

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when in less than a decade the Soviet Union collapsed rendering this exact scenario that occurs in World War III out of date.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

Like many other reviewers, I loved this when I was a child (about 11). The Carter grain embargo had just ended, the Soviets seemed to be unopposed in Afghanistan, and the Cold War could go either way. I had collected toy soldiers by the hundreds and could gravely reenact the film's last stand battle over and over again. Now that it's finally easy to buy on DVD, I saw it again. In spite of how long it's been, every word of dialog had stuck with me and I hung on each one. This is a very well-written story that refuses to follow tried and true Hollywood formulas. The actors, with Rock Hudson in his last role, gave some of their finest performances for this weightiest of subjects. The heroic little battle reminds me of movies like Zulu and other classic Army fort vs. Native siege flicks. The larger and even better story is the spiraling tensions between the world leaders caused by the this desperate, badly miscalculated gambit. As in Fail-Safe, neither side can win if total war breaks out and cool heads seem to have the upper hand. The constantly shifting assumptions about who is a trustworthy negotiator and who can truly afford to back down is what really makes the movie fascinate like only something like a major plane crash can. This should not happen. Responsible people will of course prevent this from happening. So why haven't they been able to stop it yet? Watch it to find out whether the world gets saved or not. But is it still relevant?Today's newly militarized Russia is tied down in Ukraine and its economy is tumbling as it blames surprisingly effective Western sanctions. The US is likewise happy to be even more dependent on domestic oil production than in 1982, so a showdown over dwindling essential resources could be as plausible now. I have since added a hitch as a soldier, a political science degree, and three decades more experience in the real world, so I should be so much more skeptical of almost forgotten TV miniseries scripts, right? Not this one. It's like a great novel. The more often you replay it for its depth and unique combination of realistic elements, the more you enjoy it.

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.)

This film made an enormous impression on me at 12 yrs old, so much so that it sticks with me 21 years later. The film is suspenseful. The cinematography is top of the line. The climax (no spoilers follow) involves an application of military strategy dating from ancient times, which seemed imaginative to me at the time. And the cold of Alaska, the threat of Soviet invasion, the stakes of nuclear holocaust... all had me on the edge of my seat. I'd love to buy the film, but alas, there are no releases on DVD or video.