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Countdown to Looking Glass
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<p><i>Countdown to Looking Glass</i> is a Canadian <a href="/facts/Made-for-television_movie/gsGGUltR">made-for-television movie</a> that premiered in the <a href="/facts/United_States/P0sCdLe5">United States</a> on <a href="/facts/HBO/gGSPvEEu">HBO</a> on October 14, 1984 and was also broadcast on <a href="/facts/CTV_Television_Network/N7j6DbLW">CTV</a> in Canada. The movie presents a fictional confrontation between the United States and the <a href="/facts/Soviet_Union/m7wWsPto">Soviet Union</a> over the <a href="/facts/Strait_of_Hormuz/GEQfLwb2">Strait of Hormuz</a>, the gateway to the <a href="/facts/Persian_Gulf/W78AfnC1">Persian Gulf</a>. The narrative of the film details the events that lead up to the initial exchange of <a href="/facts/Nuclear_weapons/QVdBcMdm">nuclear weapons</a>, which was triggered by a banking crisis, from the perspective of an ongoing news broadcast. </p><p>Unlike similar productions such as the previous year's <i><a href="/facts/Special_Bulletin/fNoGdlGT">Special Bulletin</a></i> and the later <i><a href="/facts/Without_Warning_(1994_film)/MDX0XKxC">Without Warning</a></i>, the producers of this film decided not to make the entire production a simulated newscast, but instead break up the news portions with dramatic narrative scenes involving characters played by <a href="/facts/Scott_Glenn/ftcAd6JV">Scott Glenn</a>, <a href="/facts/Helen_Shaver/a1wcrrD7">Helen Shaver</a> and <a href="/facts/Michael_Murphy_(actor)/VqM5sjYv">Michael Murphy</a>. The appearance of real-life newscasters, as well as noted <a href="/facts/CBC_Television/K8VcSAdJ">CBC Television</a> host <a href="/facts/Patrick_Watson_(producer)/xK5Qa6PH">Patrick Watson</a> (although he does not appear as himself in this film) lent additional authenticity to the production. </p>