PiraBit if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

Invaderbank The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

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

Geraldine The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

d-millhoff While ABC was making its epic The Day After and BBC its counterpart, Threads, NBC produced this low-budget but VERY effective sleeper.As noted in other reviews, its premise borrows from Orson Welles' infamous Mercury Theater production of War of the Worlds, adopting the format of a live TV "breaking news" broadcast.As others point out, it's dated, but only because it accurately reflects TV news in the early 1980's. The media has changed in the 30 years since it was broadcast - and some of the 'anchorperson' acting feels a little flat - but this is pre-9/11, where there was little precedent for such events.It's well-done, using low-budget local news format to its best advantage to deliver story and drama without expensive production values. The science, while imperfect, is convincing and pretty close to the mark, and the 'breaking news' format allows for 'experts' to explain technical stuff without dumbing anything down or insulting the audience's intelligence.An interesting sub-plot is how it delves into the media's commercial hype and influence on the events it covers.I finally obtained a DVD of this - not very good quality, obviously transferred and edited from a VHS of live broadcast, but you have to take what you can get. Curiously, the lower quality isn't bothersome - if anything, it adds to the feeling of authenticity.It's far from a perfect movie, but for a modest production, it is quite ambitious and accomplished a lot.Highly recommended.

suspiria10 Special Bulletin (1983) 5 of 5 Dir: Edward Zwick Stars: Ed Flanders, Christopher Allport, Mary ArmstrongA reporter and his cameraman are covering an impending dock workers strike when a vehicle roles up and a fire fight ensues. Next thing you know he is broadcasting live from a ship stating the demands of a group of terrorists who threaten to set off a nuclear device if they demands are not met.This taunt and very well acted TV film grabs you from the beginning and won't let go. The film is told as live breaking news situation, 'Special Bulletin' benefits from excellent edition and a tight script. It will keep you on the edge of your seat up until the final fatal frame. The film seems even more deadly urgent now post 9/11. Highly recommended.

Quincy Hughes ...simply the best TV movie I've ever seen. I was 10 when it first aired, and I was forbidden to watch it. I finally did years later, and especially for a "made-for-TV" movie, this just totally is riveting, gripping, and even frightening entertainment. Amazing realism that fans of the style (think "The Blair Witch Project" mixed in with some "War of the Worlds" employed for most of this film) will totally get lost in. There have been plenty of pretty bad "nuclear disaster" flicks since 1983...go rent this and you'll have a hard time being able to even closely compare any others to this. It may be a bit of a search for this one, but it's worth it. I can honestly say I'm glad my parents didn't let me watch this at age 10, or I'd have dug myself a bunker and never come out!

W4HTX Having someone from Toronto, Canada pontificate about what is and isn't said by people in The South is like having Gandhi comment on what it's like to be a mass murderer. He's never done it, so how would Gandhi know? "No one refers to the Civil War as 'the late unpleasantness with the North'." Really? My beloved Grandmother referred to the 'late unpleasantness' as "The War of Northern Aggression" and as the "Late unpleasantness with the north" - she never referred to the north with a capital N. She also followed ANYONE who said 'Civil War' with an admonition that "There was nothing civil about that war!" People in Charleston still to this day speak in a reverent tone of the men and boys killed on both sides."That's not what a Wheeling, W.Va. accent sounds like." I beg to ask the question, how does someone in Toronto find out what persons from Wheeling West Virginia sound like? I admit the person in question may have traveled to Wheeling, but the probability seems rather low."Local TV news reporters don't use words like "flabbergasted", except in teleplays written by novices. And so on." This person has likely never watched the local news in Charleston, SC. It never ceases to amaze me at what local newscasters, especially Southerners, say on the air.I'll say that for the record, I was born and raised in Charleston, SC and know a bit of the history of The Holy City and The South. It's referred to as The Holy City because it has more churches per square mile than anywhere else in the world.Ancestors of mine fought in The War of Northern Aggression, some of them for the North, some for the South.Oh, yes, don't let me forget. I was actually IN the film. Un-credited extra, I portrayed a Charleston City Police Officer. Since I had the costume already, and the motorcycle, I was 'typecast' as the only motorcycle cop in the film. I was on screen for maybe 1.5 seconds, if that. Chasing looters with a pal of mine in a CPD cruiser, I was following his cruiser on the Honda 750 police motorcycle.All in all, I enjoyed the film being made as much as getting to watch it. I also enjoyed being able to talk with Lane Smith; he was friendly, personable, and a pretty sharp conversationalist. (Mr. Smith, himself a Southerner from Memphis, Tennessee has been famous as Perry White on the 'New Adventures of Superman' with Dean Cain in the title role.) Working off duty on the film's security detail, I was able to me lots of other interesting people as well. No one from Toronto Canada though. ;-)