A TV reporter and cameraman are taken hostage on a tugboat while covering a workers strike. The demands of the hostage-takers are to collect all the nuclear detonators in the Charleston, SC...
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Title: Special Bulletin (TV Movie 1983)
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Edit
Cast
| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Ed Flanders | ... | John Woodley | |
| Kathryn Walker | ... | Susan Myles | |
| Roxanne Hart | ... | Megan 'Meg' Barclay | |
| Christopher Allport | ... | Steven Levitt | |
| David Clennon | ... | Dr. Bruce Lyman | |
| David Rasche | ... | Dr. David McKeeson | |
| Rosalind Cash | ... | Frieda Barton | |
| Ebbe Roe Smith | ... | Jim Seaver | |
| Roberta Maxwell | ... | Diane Silverman | |
 |
Robert Kay | ... | George Takashima |
|
|
J. Wesley Huston | ... | Bernard Frost |
|
|
Frank Dent | ... | Dr. Jason Halpern |
|
|
Charles Lanyer | ... | Merritt Cunningham |
|
|
Mie Hunt | ... | Ellen Stevens |
|
|
Bruce Fields | ... | Walter S. Letteau |
Edit
Plot Summary
|
Add Synopsis
Storyline
A TV reporter and cameraman are taken hostage on a tugboat while covering a workers strike. The demands of the hostage-takers are to collect all the nuclear detonators in the Charleston, SC area so they may be detonated at sea. They threaten to detonate a nuclear device of their own if their demand isn't met. Written by Keith Chang <changk@ucs.orst.edu>
Genres:
DramaParents Guide:
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See full technical specs »
Details
Country:
USALanguage:
EnglishRelease Date:
20 March 1983 (USA) See more »Also Known As:
Boletín especial See more »Company Credits
Show more on
IMDbPro »
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Sound Mix:
MonoColor:
ColorAspect Ratio:
1.33 : 1
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Did You Know?
Trivia
When this film was first broadcast, the network superimposed the word "dramatization" on the bottom of the screen every few minutes and ran disclaimers after every commercial break, to remind people it was only a movie. That didn't stop some people in Charleston, S.C. from panicking anyway. See more »Goofs
When the RBS newsroom transfers to their reporter Megan Barclay in Charleston, she begins her report saying; "The situation began approximately 1 hour ago". The report then screens some video from their reporting team and then shows some Super-8 footage which was filmed by a tourist on a sightseeing boat. Super-8 is a film, not video, format. Normally the cost of the film cartridge included postage to a Kodak laboratory where it would be developed and then mailed back to the owner. In this instance, After the boat had reached shore, it would have been necessary to take the film to a Kodak developing facility to be processed, after which it could be taken to the news studio. Due to the time required to get the film to a laboratory for processing and then to get to the news studio it would have been impossible to do this within the time allowed. See more »Quotes
Megan 'Meg' Barclay: [crying] Is the radiation coming now? Does anybody know that? I mean are we hurt? Are we going to die?See more »
Crazy Credits
Opens with a commercial advertising shows for the fictional RBS network, followed by the title "Special Bulletin" as the commercial is interrupted. There are no opening credits, making this one of the first TV movies ever produced without some sort of opening credits. See more »Alternate Versions
The video release omits the "dramatization" on-screen disclaimer seen throughout the original TV broadcast. The DVD released through the Warner Archive Collection does contain the on-screen disclaimers. See more »Frequently Asked Questions
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I saw about the last 20 minutes of a rerun at about 3am, without the precautionary warnings used in the original airing, and still remember how believable and intensely effective the movie was. Based on what I saw of it and remember after about 15 years [I probably saw this in the late 80s or very early 90s], very well done. I might even add it to my "to rent" list so I can see the whole thing :-). I even woke my grandfather [I was living in his house at the time] to ask him if we knew anyone in Charleston. Once we worked out that it had only been a movie, he was sympathetically amused. His sister had been taken in by the War of the Worlds radio broadcast, so he apparently readily understood how easy it had been for me to be confused by an apparent newscast with no commercials or warnings.