Underplayed Gems

Countdown to Looking Glass (1984)

Countdown to Looking Glass poster
Directed by
Fred Barzyk
Genre
docufiction, drama fiction
Country
Canada
Runtime
1h 30m
Rating
6.1 of 10 from 16 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

A made-for-TV movie about a crisis between the United States and the Soviet Union over the Strait of Hormuz. It shows the political and financial events leading up to a nuclear exchange, using a mix of news broadcast segments and dramatic scenes with reporters and officials.

tensebleakthoughtfulurgentclinicalgrippingominousdocumentary-style

What happens

Countdown to Looking Glass is a Canadian made-for-television movie that premiered in the United States on HBO on October 14, 1984 and was also broadcast on CTV in Canada. The movie presents a fictional confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union over the Strait of Hormuz, the gateway to the Persian Gulf. The narrative of the film details the events that lead up to the initial exchange of nuclear weapons, which was triggered by a banking crisis, from the perspective of an ongoing news broadcast. Unlike similar productions such as the previous year's Special Bulletin and the later Without Warning, the producers of this film decided not to make the entire production a simulated newscast, but instead break up the news portions with dramatic narrative scenes involving characters played by Scott Glenn, Helen Shaver and Michael Murphy. The appearance of real-life newscasters, as well as noted CBC Television host Patrick Watson (although he does not appear as himself in this film) lent additional authenticity to the production. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

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