World War III (TV miniseries)
| World War III | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Drama Thriller |
| Written by | Robert L. Joseph |
| Directed by |
David Greene Boris Sagal |
| Starring |
Cathy Lee Crosby David Soul Brian Keith |
| Theme music composer | Gil Mellé |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
Bill Finnegan Patrick Finnegan |
| Producer(s) |
Bruce Lansbury Scott Winant (associate producer) |
| Location(s) | Oregon, USA |
| Cinematography | Stevan Larner |
| Editor(s) |
Robert L. Kimble Parkie L. Singh |
| Running time | 200 min. |
| Production company(s) |
David Greene Productions Finnegan Associates NBC |
| Distributor | NBC |
| Release | |
| Original network | NBC |
| Original release | January 31, 1982 |
World War III is a miniseries that aired on the NBC network television in January 1982.
The miniseries begins in 1987 with a secret Soviet incursion into Alaska. The Soviets have inserted a cold weather special operations assault force of approximately 35-40 KGB desant ski troops, with a track-driven armored vehicle, into northern Alaska. Their orders are to seize control of a strategically located pumping station along the Trans-Alaska Pipeline so as to threaten placement of floating explosive devices in the stream of oil. This operation is being conducted in response to America's grain embargo of the Soviet Union, just as the 1980 grain embargo was in response to the 1979 Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan. The governments of Canada, Australia, and Argentina have joined the U.S. in the embargo. This has caused severe food shortages and domestic unrest inside the Soviet Union. A small company-sized force of lightly armed Alaska Army National Guardsmen and Alaskan Scouts, who are on a training exercise, discover the presence of the Soviet invaders. Colonel Jake Caffey (David Soul), U.S. Army, a combat veteran of the Vietnam War, is sent to locate one of the groups of soldiers, who have already been ambushed and killed by the Soviet assault force. Colonel Caffey takes command of the Guardsmen when his senior officer, who did not believe the news of the invading Soviet troops, is killed in the first encounter with the Soviets. Caffey notifies his chain of command by radio.
Upon learning of the situation, the U.S. President Thomas McKenna (Rock Hudson) orders Caffey's National Guard troops to be federalized and orders Caffey to do all he can to stop the Soviet troops. The President orders a media blackout on the emergency but then orders U.S. forces to be mobilized in response to the Soviet incursion, under the pretext of unscheduled training exercises. The President fears that the people of the United States will demand a declaration of war against the Russians for this attack. Fierce winter weather is preventing U.S. military units from bases and forts in southern Alaska from reinforcing Caffey's unit. Caffey deduces the Soviet assault unit's goal. He uses the few U.S. Army helicopters at his disposal to move his unit to the pumping station ahead of the Soviets.
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