Amerika (1987)

Directed by

Donald Wrye

Genre

science fiction television series

Country

United States

Length

1 season, 7 episodes

Rated

NR

Rating

5.7 of 10 from 15 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

This miniseries takes place in the United States ten years after a peaceful takeover by the Soviet Union. It follows ordinary Americans living under occupation and shows how their spirits have been worn down over time.

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What happens

Amerika is an American television miniseries that was broadcast in 1987 on ABC. The miniseries inspired a novelization entitled Amerika: The Triumph of the American Spirit. Amerika starred Kris Kristofferson, Mariel Hemingway, Sam Neill, Robert Urich, Christine Lahti, Cindy Pickett, and a 17-year-old Lara Flynn Boyle in her first major role. Amerika was about life in the United States after a bloodless takeover engineered by the Soviet Union. Not wanting to depict the actual takeover, ABC Entertainment president, Brandon Stoddard, set the miniseries ten years after the event, focusing on the demoralized U.S. people a decade after the Soviet conquest. The intent, he later explained, was to explore the U.S. spirit under such conditions, not to portray the conflict of the Soviet coup. Described in promotional materials as "the most ambitious American miniseries ever created", Amerika aired for 14+1⁄2 hours (including commercials) over seven nights (beginning February 15, 1987), and reportedly cost $40 million to produce. The miniseries was filmed in Ontario, Canada, in the Golden Horseshoe and southwestern Ontario cities of Toronto, London, and Hamilton, as well as various locations in Nebraska – most notably the small town of Tecumseh, which served as "Milford", the fictional setting for most of the series. Donald Wrye was the executive producer, director, and writer of Amerika, while composer Basil Poledouris scored the miniseries, ultimately recording (with the Hollywood Symphony Orchestra) eight hours of music – the equivalent of four feature films. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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