The crew of a Trident missile submarine, on a training mission simulating an attack on Russia, is stricken by toxic poisoning. One of the poison's effects is to make its victims hallucinate...
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Title: The Fifth Missile (TV Movie 1986)
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Cast
| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Robert Conrad | ... | Cmdr. Mark Van Meer | |
| Sam Waterston | ... | Capt. Allard Renslow | |
| Richard Roundtree | ... | Cmdr. Frederick Bryce | |
| Jonathan Banks | ... | Ray Olson | |
| Art LaFleur | ... | 'Animal' Meslinsky | |
| Dennis Holahan | ... | Warden | |
| Sergio Fantoni | ... | Pietro | |
| Yvette Mimieux | ... | Cheryl Leary | |
| David Soul | ... | Capt. Kevin Harris | |
| Ed Bishop | ... | Adm. Stewart Cullinane | |
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Michael Aronin | ... | Ernie Gradow |
| William Berger | ... | Dr. Strickland | |
| David Gilliam | ... | Longstreet | |
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Trevor Thomas | ... | McCune |
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Donald Stewart | ... | Adm. Howard |
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Storyline
The crew of a Trident missile submarine, on a training mission simulating an attack on Russia, is stricken by toxic poisoning. One of the poison's effects is to make its victims hallucinate, and the sub's Captain imagines that he has been given an order to actually attack Russia. He prepares to do exactly that.
Plot Keywords:
submarine | psychiatrist | u boat | world war three | race against time |Certificate:
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Robert Conrad, a commander on a submarine, is called into The Pentagon for secret information about his next assignment. They tell him he's going to be involved in a test case mission: a pre-recorded tape is going to hidden aboard the vessel, and messages will be released to the crew in intervals to make them believe WW3 has started. The ship will then fire four dummy missiles at Russia, which will show that the United States is ready if the Cold War escalates. Only Robert Conrad, the ship's captain, David Soul, and a psychologist, Richard Roundtree, are aware that all the information is fake; the rest of the crew will think it's real! When the first messages start coming in and David Soul takes them seriously, it makes everyone question what's real and what's fake. . .
Believe it or not, that's the short version of a plot teaser. There's a lot more to the setup, but I wanted to tell you just enough to get you excited. The Fifth Missile is a very fun, exciting, suspenseful thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat during the entire ride—and I've already seen it twice! While the crew flounders underwater, each trying to hold onto their sanity, Sam Waterston and Yvette Mimieux try to solve the mystery from dry land. Even though this is a television movie from the 1980s, Eric Bercovici's script isn't as cheesy as one would expect. There are lots of twists and turns, and countless moments that will make you gasp. I highly recommend this psychological thriller, and since I'm deathly afraid of water and still enjoyed the movie, you can be sure it'll live up to my review.