Countdown to Looking Glass

1984
6.9| 1h30m| en
Details

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 from the perspective of an on-going news broadcast.

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Reviews

Matrixston Wow! Such a good movie.
Linkshoch Wonderful Movie
Fleur Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.
Scarlet The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.
sydneyswesternsuburbs Director Fred Barzyk has created a classic in Countdown to Looking Glass.Starring Scott Glenn who has been in other classic flicks, Apocalypse Now 1979, The Right Stuff 1983, Silverado 1985, The Silence of the Lambs 1991, Extreme Justice 1993, The Last Marshal 1999, Training Day 2001, The Bourne Ultimatum 2007 and Into the Grizzly Maze 2015.Also starring Michael Murphy has has been in other classic flicks, White House Down 2013, Salvador 1986 and two episodes of the classic television series, Combat! 1962-1967.I enjoyed the television scenes.If you enjoyed this as much as I did then check out other classic nuclear bomb theme flicks, Special Bulletin 1983 and By Dawn's Early Light 1990.
innis57 Pretty good flick but a little unrealistic in it's premise. A previous reviewer commented that the Russian's wouldn't go to war over Saudi Arabia. Likewise, I find it hard to believe that a $10K tanker "fee" imposed by a Soviet client state would lead the US to rushing headlong towards WWIII. Far simpler and less risky to pay the relatively modest fee ( With the price of oil at the time around $70 a barrel and a modest size tanker capable of carrying well over one million barrels... well you do the math) and extract payment elsewhere. The US president came across as a total loon. The motivation just seemed contrived. Otherwise a watchable film.
Uriah43 Because of the inability of several South American countries to pay their debts the United States is plunged into an economic crisis which has far-reaching repercussions. Oman, for example, experiences a revolution and this results in a communist government which tilts the balance of power over to the Soviet Union and further escalates tension in the Middle East. Soon the United States and the Soviet Union become directly involved in a high-stakes military standoff which neither side seems to be able to resolve. Anyway, rather than disclose the rest of the story and risk spoiling the film for those who haven't seen it I will just say that for a "made-for-television" movie this was a pretty good political thriller. While I didn't particularly care for the ending I liked the performances of Scott Glenn (as "Michael Boyle") and Helen Shaver ("Dorian Waldorf"). I especially liked the scene involving the U.S.S. Nimitz when it reached the Gulf of Oman. Good tension. Be that as it may I think this is a movie that most viewers will probably enjoy and I rate it as above average.
jmd63 I first saw this movie when I was in my late teens. Would love to see it again. At that time the Soviet Union was still the menacing enemy of the free world. We also were only a few years removed from the Iranian hostage taking at the US embassy in Tehran, and just months after the bombing of the US Marine Barracks in Beirut (carried out by Hezbollah who is supported by Iran as well as Syria) and some of us started to realize that we had a new enemy, Islamo-Fascists. Without giving away too many details, the movie would still play well today. Although this movie centers around a possible military conflict with the Soviets, most it is played out in the Persian Gulf, specifically the Strait of Hormuz. One can clearly replace the Soviets with the Iranians. If you watch this movie with that in mind you will not only be entertained, but you will feel as if you are watching events as they might just unfold in the years (or months) to come. The way the film is made, in docu-drama style, really makes it as if you are watching breaking events unfold on FOX/CNN or MSNBC. The late Scott Glenn is outstanding as is the rest of the cast. It may have been 20 years since I saw this movie, but it has always stayed fresh in my mind. You will definitely see how close to reality this movie may really be someday. Very well done.