History Film / CountdownToLookingGlass

* DeadlineNews / RedShirtReporter: Michael Boyle, aboard the USS Nimitz in the end when the nuclear war begins. Even were the war to have stopped then and there, the initial radiation from the first blast would have been deadly at that range...

Notable for its realism at the time (though not so much anymore) and for occasionally being HarsherInHindsight. One of the less famous of the nuclear war movies of the 1980s along with ''Film/{{Threads}}'', ''Film/TheDayAfter'', and ''Film/WorldWarIII''. Notable along with ''Threads'' for being on the "hard" end of the SpeculativeFiction spectrum in that, at the time, such an attack could have happened exactly as it depicted *and* that it even bears some relevance in the present.

''Countdown to Looking Glass'' is a 1984 Canadian AlternateHistory and SpeculativeFiction {{film}} starring Creator/ScottGlenn and Helen Shaver among others, centered around the events that lead up to a [[UsefulNotes/NuclearWeapons nuclear war]] between the USA and the Soviet Union, as depicted in a series of evening newscasts that becomes a [[TwentyFourHourNewsNetworks 24 Hour News Network]].

* HonorBeforeReason: Because one source just wasn't enough to go forward with a story that could have saved the world. A large dose of sexism seems to be involved too - it is implied that had Dorian been a man, the men would have been willing to go forward on one source due to the extremity of the situation.

* WorstNewsJudgmentEver: The higher-ups at CVN are more interested in HonorBeforeReason with a large dose of sexism than in listening to their best reporter and saving the world from nuclear war.

* LostInTransmission: [[Spoiler:In regards to Deadline News above, there were two nuclear bombs detonated outside of the Nimitz while Michael Boyle was reporting, the first nuke detonated far away while Michael was reporting on the flight deck (with Michael assuming it was a nuclear depth charge dropped by one of the Nimitz's picket ships to attack a Russian submarine), the second nuke detonated much closer and shook around but didn't sink the Nimitz, a sound of an nuclear explosion and the camera image blurred and frozen shortly after Michael reporting how "calm" the Strait of Hormuz looked after the previous fireball disappated implies Nimitz was incinerated/sunk by a third nuclear explosion.]]

* LostInTransmission:[[Spoiler: In regards to Deadline News above, there were two nuclear bombs detonated outside of the Nimitz while Michael Boyle was reporting, the first nuke detonated far away while Michael was reporting on the flight deck (with Michael assuming it was a nuclear depth charge dropped by one of the Nimitz's picket ships to attack a Russian submarine), the second nuke detonated much closer and shook around but didn't sink the Nimitz, a sound of an nuclear explosion and the camera image blurred and frozen shortly after Michael reporting how "calm" the Strait of Hormuz looked after the previous fireball disappated implies Nimitz was incinerated/sunk by a third nuclear explosion.]]

%% ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.

%%* HotScoop: Dorian Waldorf.

** Slightly subverted in that the only nuclear exchange seen in the film is in a naval battle. Though by the end it's heavily implied that the ICBM's will soon be launched if they haven't been already.

* UsefulNotes/ColdWar

* AlphabetNewsNetwork
* AlternateHistory
* ApocalypseHow: Class 1-2 begins at the end.
* ApocalypticLog: As it is being written.

* HotScoop: Dorian Waldorf.
* JustBeforeTheEnd

* ThisJustIn
* TwentyFourHourNewsNetworks: What "CVN" becomes.

* WeInterruptThisProgram

!!Tropes included in CountdownToLookingGlass are:

''Countdown to Looking Glass'' is a 1984 Canadian AlternateHistory and SpeculativeFiction {{film}} starring Scott Glenn and Helen Shaver among others, centered around the events that lead up to a [[UsefulNotes/NuclearWeapons nuclear war]] between the USA and the Soviet Union, as depicted in a series of evening newscasts that becomes a [[TwentyFourHourNewsNetworks 24 Hour News Network]].

''Countdown to Looking Glass'' is a 1984 Canadian AlternateHistory and SpeculativeFiction {{film}} starring Scott Glenn and Helen Shaver among others, centered around the events that lead up to a [[TheDeadliestMushroom nuclear war]] between the USA and the Soviet Union, as depicted in a series of evening newscasts that becomes a [[TwentyFourHourNewsNetworks 24 Hour News Network]].

* EverybodySmokes: That said, for being set in the 1980s and during the UsefulNotes/ColdWar becoming [[TheDeadliestMushroom very, very hot]] it is a JustifiedTrope.

Countdown To Looking Glass is a 1984 Canadian AlternateHistory and SpeculativeFiction {{film}} starring Scott Glenn and Helen Shaver among others, centered around the events that lead up to a [[TheDeadliestMushroom nuclear war]] between the USA and the Soviet Union, as depicted in a series of evening newscasts that becomes a [[TwentyFourHourNewsNetworks 24 Hour News Network]].

Notable for its realism at the time (though not so much anymore) and for occasionally being HarsherInHindsight. One of the less famous of the nuclear war movies of the 1980s along with {{Threads}}, TheDayAfter, and WorldWarIII. Notable along with {{Threads}} for being on the "hard" end of the SpeculativeFiction spectrum in that, at the time, such an attack could have happened exactly as it depicted *and* that it even bears some relevance in the present.

SugarWiki/NeedsMoreLove, Administrivia/NeedsABetterDescription?

* NewscasterCameo: Eric Sevareid. Newt Gingrich also appeared.

* PhonyNewscast

* ColdWar

* EverybodySmokes: That said, for being set in the 1980s and during the ColdWar becoming [[TheDeadliestMushroom very, very hot]] it is a JustifiedTrope.

SugarWiki/NeedsMoreLove, UsefulNotes/NeedsABetterDescription?

NeedsMoreLove, NeedsABetterDescription?

Countdown To Looking Glass is a 1984 Canadian {{Mockumentary}}, AlternateHistory, and SpeculativeFiction {{film}} starring Scott Glenn and Helen Shaver among others, centered around the events that lead up to a [[TheDeadliestMushroom nuclear war]] between the USA and the Soviet Union, as depicted in a series of evening newscasts that becomes a [[TwentyFourHourNewsNetworks 24 Hour News Network]].

* HonorBeforeReason: Because one source just wasn't enough to go forward with a story that could have saved the world.

Countdown To Looking Glass is a 1984 Canadian {{Mockumentary}}, AlternateHistory, and SpeculativeFiction {{film}} starring Scott Glenn and Helen Shaver among others, centered around [[ItGetsWorse the events]] that lead up to a [[TheDeadliestMushroom nuclear war]] between the USA and the Soviet Union, as depicted in a series of evening newscasts that becomes a [[TwentyFourHourNewsNetworks 24 Hour News Network]].