The Man Who Saved the World

A brilliant mixture of a poetic documentary and a tense Cold War thriller.

Like something out of DR STRANGELOVE, THE MAN WHO SAVED THE WORLD tells the amazing story of real life Stanislav Petrov who saved our world from nuclear Armageddon on September 26, 1983,.

The movie is setting a new standard of story telling. It's filmed with the expertise of a Hollywood thriller, and the performances are simply flawless. The director has simply made a whole new genre in this densely powerful movie.

Beautifully told on both a personal and international level, this is one of the most ground breaking piece of film I have seen in years and one of the most important, and most emotional films ever made.

You simply have to see this film with your family, your friends. Russian Lt. Colonel Stanislav Petrov is a true hero, that we should all know and respect. Being a former officer in the Danish Army I can only praise this film and the this amazing hero!!!

Don't watch this movie if you are expecting a fast paced thriller. Don't watch this movie if you are banking on Kevin Costner acing yet another role. Don't watch this movie if you don't want to know why you are alive!

Any movie that follows a factual event, detailing the circumstances, adding in some personal story, combining that with moments of reverence, deserves an award. This is that movie. More of a 'docu' drama, it fills in some character turmoil, that while unrelated to the core reason for its creation, adds to the ultimate admiration that you have to feel for Stanislav. I for one would willingly line up to shake this mans hand and this movie made me feel inclined to buy a ticket to Moscow to do so.

I was truly moved by the human nature that not only showed throughout, but was the epicenter of the basis for the movie. Add the speech that Kevin Costner gave in Stanislav's honor and you would have to be made of stone not to be moved by the whole thing.

You do not need to have a car chase, a womanizing hero, a crooked cop or any of the over used clichés to make a great movie, all you need is a real hero, some humbled super stars and a dash of reality to make a blockbuster, and this was it.

The Man Who Saved the World, a feature film, tells the true yet nearly untold story of Stanislav Petrov, the Soviet lieutenant colonel who single-handedly prevented nuclear Armageddon at the height of the Cold War.

Many films aspire to tackle macro-society issues and intimate human relationships within the same story, but it often results in over-exposition or a muddy story with underdeveloped characters. "The Man Who Saved the World" succeeds in touching the audience with an important societal concern, while also developing the connective tissues to make us feel for a raw, flawed human being. This feature could not come more highly recommended. A truly wonderful and amazing film.

Since 1961 the U.S. had U.S. Army Medium Range Ballistic Missiles (MRBMs) with 1.1 Megaton Thermo Nuclear Warheads targeting Moskow from U.S. Army Bases at Italy and Turkey. U.S. Army also had Multi Role, Nike Hercules Missiles with 20 KT Nuclear Warheads as Anti Aircraft, ABM, and Surface to Surface as Short Range Ballistic Missiles (SRBMs).

1980s I was assigned to the U.S. and NATO Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Europe, I.N.F. Europe. Including doing a similar kind of Nuclear Control Order Duty, that would order the launches of the German and U.S. Pershing Missiles, starting Thermo Nuclear World War 3. Not only are you walking on a razors edge you are juggling a bunch of hollow glass balls.

Was much more serious Worldwide than portrayed, the U.S. and U.S.S.R. were at other Nations involved in actual Armed "Conflicts". The U.S.S.R was attempting to get control of Five (5) Nations in a Row, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, to get the U.S. and U.S. Allies out of the Middle East.

U.S. sent Us U.S. Army Special Forces to the Iran Iraq Wars, to assist U.S. Ally Iraq. Like Us leading U.S. Ally Iraqis Combat Units, the U.S.S.R. Spetsnaz and KGB were "Assisting" U.S.S.R. Ally Iran.

U.S. sent Us U.S. Army Special Forces attached to the CIA to Afghanistan as CIA Operation Cyclone to train, arm, lead Pro U.S. Afghans (that became Northern Alliance since 1990 fighting the Taliban) and kill as many U.S.S.R. 40th Army and Pro U.S.S.R. Afghan Military (that 1989 became the Taliban) as possible creating "Unacceptable Losses" for the U.S.S.R..

December 1982 U.S. started to prepare for Able Archer 1983, the U.S.S.R. Warsaw Pact Nation of East Germany Intelligence, Stasi East German Spies had infiltrated the Federal Republic of West Germany's Bundeswehr U.S. Pershing 1 Command and Control Center and most of NATO posing as West German Bundeswehr Officers, Stasi East German Intelligence was reporting to the U.S.S.R. that the U.S. and NATO were planning a First Strike Nuclear Attack against the U.S.S.R. from the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Europe, flight time to Moskow less than 5 minutes. The location that Lieutenant Colonel Stanislav Petrov was at as U.S.S.R. Command and Control, Early Warning, was definitely targeted by one or more West German Pershing 1a and or U.S. Pershing 2. In response the U.S.S.R. moved their Mobile Intermediate Range Ballistic Missiles from the U.S.S.R. into Warsaw Pact Nations bordering NATO Nations. A Stasi East German Spy finally convinced the U.S.S.R. that NATO's Nuclear Capabilities were Defensive, not what the U.S.S.R Intelligence believed that NATO's Nuclear Capabilities were Offensive First Strike (Attack) Weapons targeting the U.S.S.R. and Warsaw Pact Nations. After the collapse of the U.S.S.R. and Warsaw Pact Nations, the Reunified Federal Republic of Germany Government released the Stasi East German Intelligence Agencies Files, revealing how close, 1982, the U.S.S.R. was to doing a Pre Emptive Nuclear Attack against the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Europe before Able Archer 1983.

After participating with the Iran Iraq Wars, and CIA Operation Cyclone, I returned to the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Europe.

The U.S. and U.S.S.R. were already nearly at War, when this September 26, 1983 U.S.S.R. Incident happened.

So thankful that the U.S. did not treat Us like U.S.S.R. Lieutenant Colonel Stanislav Petrov.

Much later after the Fall of the U.S.S.R. and the creation of the Russian Federation, I met my Counterpart, he also was of the U.S.S.R.'s Strategic Rocket Forces like I was of the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Europe and switched to Special Forces. He never admitted that his Special Forces, U.S.S.R. Spetsnaz, were hunting Us at both the Iran Iraq Wars, and CIA Operation Cyclone (was in his U.S. Intelligence file), U.S.S.R. Spetsnaz Sniper shot and nearly killed one of my Lieutenants.

We talked about lots of things still not for Public Information.

U.S. Informal Declaration of Thermo Nuclear World War 3 from his knowledge of U.S. putting Pershing IRBMs in the upright launch mode, my guess was he wanted me to confirm that happened, I did not.

He mocked me for being only the Rank/Grade Officer I was, and he was a General.

U.S. needs to give him some kind of Medal, Award, with some kind of money, pension attached. United Nations must award him some kind of money also. Nobel Committee Nobel Peace Prize that does have money attached so that he doesn't have to live like as depicted in this movie.

Wow. Pause. Breath. Exhale gratitude. Inhale inspiration,

I watch loads, movies or docs, trying never to dip below 7.0 IMDb rating, plus a review that connects with me. I fail sometimes. But not with this.

This documentary blew me away.

This documentary elegantly and in eloquent honesty tells two intertwined stories of how humanity is saved, as a whole and also as one single mother-son relationship, both just in time, with not a minute to spare.

Well done!

Oh, and thanks Stanislav, by the way!!