Amerika

I taped this 17 years ago. Recently, I dusted off the tapes for a second look. This series is not an anti-Russian polemic as claimed by the critics of the time. Rather, it is an examination of what it is like to live in a defeated and occupied totalitarian country. I decided to watch it because what happened to us in this series is comparable to the experience of Iraq under US occupation. If anything, the Russians were much kinder to us in AMERIKA than we are to the Iraqis now.

Despondent as they were, the Americans of AMERIKA had a much greater appreciation for freedom than we do today. Today, we have lost much of our freedom, and we have done it to ourselves. For a glimpse of what is in store for us if we persist in our present course, watch AMERIKA.

I was very much into talk radio at the time this minis series was on.

It seemed that it offended everyone. The conservatives didn't think that ANY US president would ever just voluntarily turn over the country to the Soviets and liberals got pissed because the movie depicted the Soviets as using the United Nations as being complicit in the Soviet take over.

I thought that it was actually a very good fantasy story. The ONLY way the "Stars and Stripes" that we now see displayed EVERYWHERE could be displayed was in a flag that combined the US flag with the Soviet Hammer and Sickle Flag and the UN Crest. You should know that it was done during the Reagan Administration when Republicans were calling the Soviet Union the single biggest provider of EVIL in the history of Earth and Democrats were trying to make peace with them. Conservatives on the FAR right have long advocated our withdrawing from the UN and liberals have long been in favor of giving more and more precedence to the UN in world affairs.

I enjoyed Kris and Robert in it but my main recollection was how sexy Cindy Pickett was in it. SHE was Robert's wife and Kris's ex wife. THAT made for some interesting tension.

See if for yourself. With all the flaws you'll read about here it's still worth the time.

I am one of the many of thousands who viewed the mini series Amerika and loved it. It was one of the most moving and realistic mini series I have ever seen, actually making one "believe" that we could be invaded by one of our enemies and how vunerable we all are. Since the initial viewing, I have been puzzled as to why it was never shown again, why it is not available in video stores and why half the population has never seen it.

Although parts of it are still vivid in my mind, I live to see it again. Many movies have been made but not with the power that this one relayed. Fantastic acting, realistic plot, awesome ending. It should be made available again, each and every year as with other mini series. I think any and all who have seen it would agree. I know my life stopped each night it aired as I lived in the film. My children were moved as any viewer had to be. We all needed to know that our country was as great as we believe it to be and it was. As a novelist, I believe the writers, as well as the actors all deserved to be nominated for an academy award.

I remember when this stinkburger came out. I was a senior in High School and remember all the hype surrounding this. One thing stands out and that is when T.V. Guide had an article on the miniseries. The director was whining about how it's O.K. for Tom Cruise to shoot down Russians in Top Gun and that it wasn't O.K. for the Russians to occupy the United States. I thought fine, move to the Soviet Union if you don't like it here! Anyways beyond Kristofferson's overacting and downright annoying character, this could have been done much better. For instance, we get just a snippet of how this happened. No detail so I guess this dumb dumb director left it up to our imaginations, a definite sign of someone who belongs in High School theater. At least Red Dawn gave us a basis this was ridiculously vague at best. Cindy Pickett looked like a zombie in this. She had an annoying and whiney character that made me want to throw her into a Gulag A.S.A.P. If some folks liked it, hey you have the right to but this had no reality or credibility whatsoever. The only person that gave it any kind of life was Sam Neil who looked like he would rather do another Omen movie instead of this tripe. Even the Soviets at the time thought the miniseries was unprobable. I whole heartedly agree with the reviewers who say that after spending up to 10 hours watching this that at least we would get a good bang at the end, you know a CONCLUSION! It ended like a balloon running out of air, wilting into the end. I would much rather watch Red Dawn for 10 hours than this snoozefest. Unprobable plot, cheap effects and sets, dry and uninteresting characters, and finally shotty acting. Kristofferson's younger son looked creepy as well and couldn't act to save his life. One more thing, the reason this isn't shown anymore is that it sucked so bad that networks avoid it like the plague and cable stations don't want a riot outside their studios. This will eventually go down as nothing but a low budget boring MST3K caliber joke.

Certainly, after twelve long years, one tends to forget quite a bit of the content of a long movie. I'm no exception. It was hard to believe just how much I'd actually forgotten.

It remains one of the best pictures I've ever seen, from beginning to end. Theoretically, the events that occur are imaginable, the powerful acting awakens a feeling of patriotism and kinship with fellow Americans.

Although some feel the ending offers little closure, they were captivated by the plot as the rest of us were, feeling like one of the people of Milford with little else to lose but our self respect.

What can I say. . . everyone should see this movie at least once in their lives.