Product: Special Bulletin (TV-Movie) [VHS] (1983)
Rating: 4.0
one of the best TV movies of the 1980s!
SPECIAL BULLETIN (1983)dir. Edward Zwickapprox. 1 hour 40 minutesThis is an excellent movie about nuclear anxiety during the Cold War.It is shot to resemble a series of TV broadcasts, cutting between a newsroom and its correspondents. The story involves a group of anti-nuclear activists who threaten to set off a nuclear explosive in Charleston, South Carolina. They say that they will dismantle their own device if the government agrees to let them destroy a surplus of nuclear items being housed in the Charleston area. A newsman covering a nearby event is taken hostage, and the terrorists use his reporting equipment as a megaphone for their crusade. The terrorists declare a deadline when their bomb will explode if their demand isn't met. The movie grows more and more intense as the deadline approaches.The movie raises a lot of interesting questions, and not only about nuclear weapons. For example, there is a debate about whether or not the TV station should air any of the terrorists' opinions, even if it makes them angrier. This is similar to the debates that occurred after several US newspapers published the so-called Unabomber manifesto in 1995. When the station decides to broadcast live feed from the boat that the terrorists are occupying, it becomes clear that they are somewhat attention-starved and unstable. The station interviews several experts who analyze the situation, and one terrorists complains that he is being exploited by the media. It is never evident who is in control of the situation, or whether the media really did make matters worse (or how much of a choice they had in the matter). The movie also shows that while the anti-nuclear fanatics shown are indeed terrorists, the possibility of nuclear flames is still a horrifying one.This movie certainly deserves to be on DVD!Director Edward Zwick went on to direct several big movies such as 'THE SIEGE' and 'GLORY'.