Special Bulletin (1983)
* * ½
Back in 1983 this won 4 Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Drama Special and Outstanding Writing in a Limited Series or a Special and was nominated in two other categories, including Zwick for Directing. Now I love the faux newscast format, or any faux reality approach, but it comes with a list of demands in order to be effective and Special Bulletin fumbles to the point of wondering if a more direct presentation would've worked better.
The cast here is packed with familiar faces, many of which were known before 1983, so it can't be excused with actors discovering fame later on. This single-handedly blows apart any impact the immediacy of the technique can provide. The more long-term misstep is the rigidly structured script (by frequent Zwick partner Marshall Herskovitz from a story by Zwick.) The initial incident leads right into important background information (that realistically wouldn't have been learned until well after the incident) and each turn of the plot and character reveal lands right on schedule. Talking points of nuclear panic and media culpability are unnaturally jammed into the narrative until all that's left is the question of will the film have the guts to take the darker ending. That and the potential such an approach could've yielded.