Special Bulletin

John Woodley

Susan Myles

Megan 'Meg' Barclay

Steven Levitt

Dr. David McKeeson

Frieda Barton

Jim Seaver

Diane Silverman

George Takashima

Bernard Frost

Dr. Jason Halpern

Merritt Cunningham

Ellen Stevens

Walter S. Letteau

Morton Sanders

Arlen Surrey

Jonathan E. Herman

Dr. Neils Johanssen

(as June Kim)

Dr. Abraham Sczrsma

Jimmy Lenox

Senator from Tenn.

Bernard Frost

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.

The film was part of a 1980s cycle of films about atomic bombs and nuclear warfare which had started in 1979 with The China Syndrome (1979). The films included Silkwood (1983), Testament (1983), Threads (1984), WarGames (1983), The Day After (1983), The Atomic Cafe (1982), The Manhattan Project (1986), Whoops Apocalypse (1982), Special Bulletin (1983), Ground Zero (1987), Barefoot Gen (Barefoot Gen (1983)), Rules of Engagement (1989), When the Wind Blows (1986), Letters from a Dead Man (Pisma myortvogo cheloveka (1986)), Memoirs of a Survivor (1981) and The Chain Reaction (1980).

The bomb goes off and the screen goes to static. In actuality, the countdown clock (still counting down) and the lower third box would still be on the screen (the lower third box would have static though,) as it is coming from the network's control room (in New York) instead of Charleston, and would not have been affected by the blast.

We see the bomb detonate from a security camera in the room it's in. The cam goes into "video feedback" for about one second as it melts, then goes blank. In reality, the camera, the room, and the building would be vaporized in far less than the 1/30th of a second required to transmit even a single video frame of the explosion.

Probably for dramatic effect, the various technical events that lead to the explosion of the bomb are spread out over several minutes. They would occur in microseconds.

Bernard Frost: Oh my God! This is incredible! In all my years I've never seen anything like this! It's incredible! People are burnt beyond recognition!

Dr. Bruce Lyman: We have a demand: we want the detonating modules from every single nuclear warhead in the Charleston area, and there are 968 of them; we want them delivered to this dock by 4:30 tomorrow afternoon, so that we can take them out to sea and destroy them. This is known as unilateral disarmament, the first step on a long road with Charleston disarmed, the Soviet Union can take steps to do likewise with their westernmost installations, and we believe that this action, as radical as it is, can set in motion, the most dramatic movement for peace in the last 30 years. And if our demands are not met, it means that our government is willing to throw away the lives of the people of Charleston. It means that our leaders have not yet awakened to the grave dangers that are facing all of us. Listen to me closely once again. My colleagues and I have constructed our own nuclear device, and placed it aboard this ship; if the detonators are not delivered by 4:30 tomorrow afternoon or if our exit from the harbor is blocked in any way, the device on board this ship will explode at 6 P.M. tomorrow, and believe me it will illustrate what it is we all have to fear. I think, we do this not in anger, but as a desperate plea and in hope of lasting peace. And I believe that's all there is to say at this time.

John Woodley: Is it possible to compare the weapons deployed today, the kind of the Russians may have aimed at Charleston with what the terrorists have on that ship?