Amerika

When this aired in 1987, I taped it but rapidly lost interest.

After reading the novelization, I re-watched this recently after discovering torrents of it on 3 DVD's at conspiracycentral.net. It was(to me)a very interesting concept. I liked the archetypes of the three main characters, and a few of the supporting cast. Unfortunately, it was undone by a horrible pace and far too many cardboard characters. Really, we didn't need to stop for 60-120 seconds every time someone says something "important", just to play dramatic music over a montage of people looking pensive.

At heart, I found it an interesting exercise in paranoid fantasy, undone by horrible direction.

For those of you folks who have wished for a modern version of this miniseries showing America under Sharia law, pick up "Prayers of the Assassin", a novel by Robert Ferrigno. It's even more unreadable than Amerika was unwatchable, but plays to paranoids just as well as this. I've seen it on a number of clearance tables at bookstores, so you folks shouldn't have much trouble getting a copy.

Forgive me, but when this was first shown on TV, the reaction from the public was with a collective yawn. American audiences just weren't ready for a TWELVE HOUR movie, and the Nielsen ratings for the series were embarrassingly low (If I remember correctly, they were the lowest for any mini-series). There was a paperback book tie-in with the mini-series, which was released several days before the TV show began (Can you say "give away the plot"?). What little I saw of AMERIKA when it was originally broadcast was as exciting as watching paint dry, and the series was savaged in the press as being the work of paranoid imaginations.

What I took as being very odd is that the patriotic hero was played by Kris Kristofferson, a man who has championed many liberal-to-left political causes that the most patriotic fans of this mini-series would oppose.

It's been said that a work of genius is never fully appreciated when first released to the public. It's also been said that people will read their own interpretations into the most innocuous of things. Patriotic epic or paranoid raving? Make your own decision about this mini-series.

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.

We (my Dad and I) taped the AMERIKA miniseries on its premiere air dates and I'm so glad we did. I've read a couple reviews here at IMdB that claim this milestone is boring. I believe they are misinterpreting the decided communist slant of this production. The production seems off-kilter because of it is presented through "a weary and wintry Russian eye", which might be compared to the powerless angst of the Russian characters of the Dr. Zhivago film. The characters are all doomed to communism and it's fascinating to view their ways of coping. Kristofferson and Urich are both powerhouses in this vein. My favorite theme is the outlawing of sentimental media, my favorite scene when Mariel Hemingway attends the illegal performance of "The Fantasticks". Shades of George Orwell's "1984", about a communist state where things that are illegal for the masses are allowed (but not admittedly) for the elite party members. So I say "God Bless AMERIKA". I think I'll watch it again next week.

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.