so orders a full nuclear counterstrike on the Soviet Union. Cold War themes The film focuses on a number of Cold War themes, including brinksmanship, political loyalty and the mutual distrust as both sides attempt to resolve the issue diplomatically while they escalate their military alert levels to force the other to back down. Cast The cast included Rock Hudson as the US president, Brian Keith as the Soviet premier, and Cathy Lee Crosby and David Soul as US military officers. It also included Jeroen Krabbé, Robert Prosky, Katherine Helmond and James Hampton. Production notes Robert L. Joseph wrote the miniseries. The director, Boris Sagal, was killed in a helicopter accident in Oregon during the early stages of production. He was replaced by David Greene. According to Rock Hudson and other sources, prior to Sagal's death, the ending of the miniseries was left open-ended so that either a sequel miniseries or a full season series could be spun off if the first miniseries was a ratings success. However, it was not, and the miniseries concludes with the US releasing nuclear forces against the Soviets and vice versa since the Soviets feel that the US will not abandon the grain embargo. The miniseries ends with a photo montage that is rather similar to Fail-Safe of large groups of people across the globe in various international settings looking up to the skies. It includes the sound effects of missiles and jets escalate in tone and volume and concludes with a shot of a sunset and a quick cut to black. Novelization A novelization of the teleplay, which differs from the miniseries as aired in several key respects, was written by Harold King under the pen name Brian Harris. Its 1981 publication by Pocket Books anticipated the airing of the miniseries by several months. It is undocumented whether the changes were King's, or whether they reflected an earlier draft of the script. See also Amerika (TV miniseries; US) The Day After (TV film; US) Threads (TV film; UK) The War Game (TV film; UK) Countdown to Looking Glass (made-for-cable movie; Canada) World War III (German film) References External links 1982 television films 1982 films 1980s American television miniseries NBC network original films Cold War films Films about nuclear war and weapons Films about World War III Films set in 1987 Films set in the future Films set in Alaska Films set in the