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Bulletin Spécial

Original title: Special Bulletin
  • TV Movie
  • 1983
  • 1h 43m
IMDb RATING
7.5/10
1.5K
YOUR RATING
Bulletin Spécial (1983)
Drama

A TV reporter and cameraman are taken hostage on a tugboat while covering a workers strike. The demands of the hostage-takers are to collect all the nuclear detonators in the Charleston, SC ... Read allA TV reporter and cameraman are taken hostage on a tugboat while covering a workers strike. The demands of the hostage-takers are to collect all the nuclear detonators in the Charleston, SC area so they may be detonated at sea. They threaten to detonate a nuclear device of their ... Read allA TV reporter and cameraman are taken hostage on a tugboat while covering a workers strike. The demands of the hostage-takers are to collect all the nuclear detonators in the Charleston, SC area so they may be detonated at sea. They threaten to detonate a nuclear device of their own if their demand isn't met.

  • Director
    • Edward Zwick
  • Writers
    • Marshall Herskovitz
    • Edward Zwick
  • Stars
    • Ed Flanders
    • Kathryn Walker
    • Roxanne Hart
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.5/10
    1.5K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Edward Zwick
    • Writers
      • Marshall Herskovitz
      • Edward Zwick
    • Stars
      • Ed Flanders
      • Kathryn Walker
      • Roxanne Hart
    • 47User reviews
    • 9Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Won 4 Primetime Emmys
      • 8 wins & 2 nominations total

    Photos5

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    Top cast64

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    Ed Flanders
    Ed Flanders
    • John Woodley
    Kathryn Walker
    Kathryn Walker
    • Susan Myles
    Roxanne Hart
    Roxanne Hart
    • Megan Barclay
    Christopher Allport
    Christopher Allport
    • Steven Levitt
    David Clennon
    David Clennon
    • Bruce Lyman
    David Rasche
    David Rasche
    • David McKeeson
    Rosalind Cash
    Rosalind Cash
    • Frieda Barton
    Ebbe Roe Smith
    Ebbe Roe Smith
    • Jim Seaver
    Roberta Maxwell
    Roberta Maxwell
    • Diane Silverman
    Mary Armstrong
    Bernard Behrens
    Bernard Behrens
    • Dr. Neils Johanssen
    Ivan Bonar
    Ivan Bonar
    Frank Dent
    • Dr. Jason Halpern
    Woody Eney
    Robert Fields
    Robert Fields
    Ron Frazier
    Ron Frazier
    • Robert Grafton
    Bruce French
    Bruce French
    Elizabeth Gill
    • Director
      • Edward Zwick
    • Writers
      • Marshall Herskovitz
      • Edward Zwick
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews47

    7.51.4K
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    Featured reviews

    JohnnyReb

    BROUGHT BACK MEMORIES OF WOTW

    I was in the studio of WMAR-TV the night this excellent "disaster" film was shown, due to the fact that the Management heard about our OTR Club and that we had WOTW in our collection. I was invited to watch the show and to compare it with the panic b/cast on the 11 o'clock news that followed.

    I told them it was very well done, and was very realistic. Had they not had the disclaimers on the screen it could have well been taken for the real thing. I told them if they would have cast real reporters in the major roles it would have added something to the show. Orson Welles used real names of NY based reporters for the broadcast of WOTW which really gave it that authentic feeling. And with the "Secretary Of State" sounding like Roosevelt was the icing on the cake.

    I pointed out that at the time Special Bulletin was aired the American public was not as gullible as they were in 1938.(We even played some clips of WOTW to compare it with Special Bulletin). We were on the brink of War and any program like that, would of course cause concern, which, unfortunately it did.

    Al in all this film was very well done and was more or less a tribute to Orson Welles and WOTW.

    JohnnyReb
    8David_Powell3006-1

    Fascinating - Why no video release?

    Very ahead-of-its-time story, tremendous commetary on the media and politics among other things. Someone else referred to modern day disaster coverage by the media and disaster response by the federal government, and boy do those both come into play here, amazing for a telefilm made in 1983.

    The dialogue was also pretty good, and if you look at some of the films that the writers/producers of this gem went on to make, definitely a lot of material there.

    Also some good performances from great actors, which is always a good thing, of course! Why was this never released on video? The original (and excellent) "Brian's Song" came out on DVD, so certainly a TV movie could be doable for DVD.

    "Countdown to Looking Glass" is another good one. IMO both of these are tons better than "The Day After" which I found cheesy even then. "Special Bulletin" almost has a surreal quality that is very hard to match.
    8lrcdmnhd72

    Very realistic, believable and convincing.

    When I first saw this movie, I thought it was a legitimate news broadcast. This was due to the fact that, on my first viewing, I didn't watch it from the start. The TV station that I first watched it on broke away for commercials, just like a regular TV cable news channel would do. To me, this made it even more convincing. The close attention to detail and accuracy of news journalism format made this movie very powerful and frightening. I highly recommend this movie to Journalism majors and anybody who enjoys strong and powerful drama...
    10mmears-1

    Far ahead of its time

    Though this originally aired (on NBC, if I remember correctly) in 1984, it was prescient in how it depicted news media coverage of a "breaking news" event.

    Complete with glitzy (for their time) graphics, concerned anchors, wall-to-wall coverage, talking heads, and gripping live reports, it does not seem dated (except for the hair styles!), even today.

    Though it depicts the coverage of a hostage crisis by a fourth broadcast network, this aired a year before the Fox network came into existence. The RBS network's graphics, promotional spots, and anchors are so realistic that the real network that aired the film really didn't have any choice but to continually remind viewers that what they were watching was fiction. And though we're all familiar today with the news networks' saturation coverage of live events, this originally aired only 4 years after the inception of CNN -- before that network was the major force that it is today.

    Depicting a gripping series of events, it's as much or more of a commentary on how the news media handles such situations than anything else. The way that the events are presented will seem eerily familiar to anyone in today's world, but remember that terrorism was not a big concern to many people 20 years ago.

    The acting and production values combine to make for one of the most powerful films ever produced for television. I highly recommend this film not only for its impact, but for its almost too accurate portrayal of events that are all too easy to imagine in today's world.
    searchanddestroy-1

    Reality Show

    When I watched this wonderful TV movie, I rightaway thought of a novel : REALITY SHOW, written by Larry Beinhardt, a total different story but with the same kind of chilly topic, so real and creepy in the same kind, involving news and gruesome events, manipulation of the medias.... I also think that Sidney Lumet would have loved making such a film, even for TV. It is rather complex, unbelievable - but 9/11 was also unbelievable - gloomy. A pure masterpiece by the then young director Edward Zwick, who is so promising here. It would have been impossible to present it in movie theaters, it is a purely TV stuff. But aweome piece of work.

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      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.
    • Goofs
      The cameraman would not be able to film the explosion. Either the pyroclastic storm or the electromagnetic pulse would render the camera unusable, and at least erase the magnetic tape in the camera.
    • Quotes

      Susan Myles: Good evening, this is News Watch. Emergency efforts continue in Charleston, South Carolina, where 3 days ago a nuclear explosion destroyed the heart of the city. Estimated at an yield of 23,000 tons of TNT was seen and heard up to 400 miles away and created a firestorm that is still burning in several areas. Due to early evacuations, the number of dead is estimated at less than 2,000, but at last count there were more than 25,000 injured. Many of those are burnt and have been flown to hospitals around the country for treatment, but altogether the burn care centers in the United States have only 2,400 beds, less than half the number needed for the victims of the Charleston blast. Because onshore winds spreading radiation fallout west of the city, 250,000 more people have been evacuated from outlying areas. In all, half a million are homeless. Scientists estimate that it may be years before the region is safe to reoccupy. Trauma care centers are being set up for survivors, many of whom are physically uninjured but suffering from shock and delayed stress. Authorities are also caring for hundreds of children who are either orphaned or cannot find their parents. Counselors tell of recurring nightmares and shock. One child of 9 apparently committed suicide. After 3 days the shock seems to be just setting in. Early talk of rebuilding have been forgotten in the wake of radiation estimates. Hundreds of thousands of refugees face the prospects of starting new lives elsewhere in an already depressed economy. As for Charleston itself, the city of gardens and narrow streets and beautiful old houses, that city is gone forever. A new city may someday grow there years from now, or it may remain a desert, whichever, the staggering loss of once was can never be eradicated.

    • Crazy credits
      Opens with a commercial advertising shows for the fictional RBS network, followed by the title "Special Bulletin" as the commercial is interrupted. There are no opening credits, making this one of the first TV movies ever produced without some sort of opening credits.
    • Alternate versions
      The video release omits the "dramatization" on-screen disclaimer seen throughout the original TV broadcast. The DVD released through the Warner Archive Collection does contain the on-screen disclaimers.
    • Connections
      Featured in The 35th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards (1983)

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • May 5, 1987 (France)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Special Bulletin
    • Production companies
      • National Broadcasting Company (NBC)
      • Ohlmeyer Communications Company
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 43m(103 min)
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.33 : 1

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