Best movies like Special Bulletin
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
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 area so they may be detonated at sea. They threaten to detonate a nuclear device of their own of their demand isnt met.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: bad ending, psychological, rough, thought provoking, bleak, serious, captivating, realistic, suspenseful, disturbing
Best tv shows and movies like Special Bulletin (1983):
Similar in 81%
Down Came a Blackbird (1995)
Plot Summary:
A woman struggles with the death of her lover. He was killed by South-American fascists.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 558
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: psychological, rough, thought provoking, serious, emotional, realistic, suspenseful, disturbing
Similar in 90%
War Book (2014)
Plot Summary:
In a contemporary Commons briefing room, a government minister and several aids enact the ‘war book’ exercise: a protocol written in the 1950s which is periodically played out to test post-nuclear scenarios. Low-budget but high-concept, War Book is a terse drama of interpersonal politics with rat-a-tat-tat dialogue and sharp performances. (12 Angry Men, Sleuth and The Deal all feel like reference points.) Created by some of the UK’s most promising talents in down time between other projects, director/producer Tom Harper (Scouting Book for Boys, Woman in Black 2), screenwriter Jack Thorne (Skins, Scouting Book) and producer Lauren Dark bring together a top notch cast (including Sophie Okonedo, Ben Chaplin and Kerry Fox). Cold war anxiety is given contemporary relevance in this exploration of government arrogance and lack of accountability, and the terrifying fragility of world order when faced with the abyss of mutual destruction.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 703
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: serious, tense, thought provoking, bleak, suspenseful, realistic, apocalyptic, minimal cast
Similar in 78%
My Gal Sunday (2014)
Plot Summary:
It was love at first sight for beautiful young lawyer Sandra "Sunday" O'Brien-Parker (Rachel Blanchard) and Henry Parker (Cameron Mathison), retiring White House Secretary of State, when Sunday's dad Danny (Jack Wagner), Henry's colleague and Secret Service Agent, introduced them at the picturesque Why Worry Ranch in California. Now, a year after their wedding, Sunday and Parker, living on the ranch near Lake Tahoe after Parker's recent term as beloved state governor, are an irresistible sleuthing team who enjoy the political spotlight while taking pleasure busting the bad guys. But when Parker's mom Miriam (Janet-Laine Green) and Danny are suddenly kidnapped on their way to a high-profile family event, Parker and Sunday are immediately on the case and this time it's personal.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 531
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 80 min
Plot tags: serious, tense, captivating, psychological, emotional, exciting, rough, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 84%
Shelter (2008)
Plot Summary:
With a catastrophic event rapidly approaching, 18 people vie for 10 spots in the small town's only bomb shelter.
IMDB Rating: 4.9
IMDB Votes: 169
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: serious, suspenseful, epic, independent film, bleak, futuristic
Similar in 79%
Ladybug Ladybug (1963)
Plot Summary:
Staff and students at a rural school react to a warning of an imminent nuclear attack, not knowing whether it is real or mistaken.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 930
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 82 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, thought provoking, bleak, serious, realistic, apocalyptic, psychotronic, allegory, disaster movie
Similar in 75%
On the Beach (2000)
Plot Summary:
The world has finally managed to blow itself up and only Australia has been spared from nuclear destruction and a gigantic wave of radiation is floating in on the breezes. One American sub located in the Pacific has survived and is met with disdain by the Australians. The calculations of Australia's most renowned scientist says the country is doomed. However, one of his rivals says that he is wrong. He believes that a 1000 people can be relocated to the northern hemisphere, where his assumptions indicate the radiation levels may be lower. The American Captain is asked to take a mission to the north to determine which scientist is right.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, Sci-Fi
Country: Australia, USA
Duration: 195 min
Plot tags: tense, apocalyptic, serious, suspense, exciting, gloomy, psychotronic, disaster movie
Similar in 84%
Pu-239 (2006)
Plot Summary:
A worker at a Russian nuclear facility gets exposed to a lethal dose of radiation. In order to provide for his family, he steals some plutonium and sets out to sell it on Moscow's black market with the help of an incompetent criminal.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, cyber, cult classic, tense, bleak
Similar in 76%
The Rainbow Warrior (1993)
Plot Summary:
Peter Wilcox (Voight), as skipper of the 'Rainbow Warrior', a Greenpeace ship, docks in Auckland, July 1985, preparing for a protest against French nuclear testing in the south pacific. When a bomb rips open the vessel, killing a crew member, he must convince the police superintendent (Neill) that this is an act of terrorism. Determined not to allow outside forces to threaten their harbor, the police embark on a pursuit of the persons responsible. The events that follow nearly bring down an allied nation's government.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 303
Genere: Drama
Country: New Zealand, USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: independent film, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 79%
Countdown to Looking Glass (1984)
Plot Summary:
A fictional confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union over the Strait of Hormuz, the gateway to the Persian Gulf. The narrative of the film details the events that lead up to the initial exchange of nuclear weapons from the perspective of an on-going news broadcast.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 694
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: apocalyptic, tragic ending, mockumentary, disaster movie
Similar in 88%
PVC-1 (2007)
Plot Summary:
Shot in real time, PVC-1 is based on the true story of a woman who is turned into a human time bomb in a bizarre act of terrorism.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: Colombia, USA
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: disturbing, psychological, rough, realistic, tense, bleak, serious, tragic ending
Similar in 87%
Boxed (2002)
Plot Summary:
The thriller Boxed addresses the little-known fact that the Irish Republican Army would bring in sympathetic priests to administer last rites to those they were about to execute. The film analyzes the fallout that occurs when one of these priests ha a change of heart, deciding to fight for the life of the captive. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 52
Genere: Drama
Country: UK, Ireland
Duration: 80 min
Plot tags: disturbing, rough, thought provoking, suspenseful, serious, realistic
Similar in 83%
Dirty War (2004)
Plot Summary:
After years of meticulous planning, a terrorist operation is reaching its final stages. The authorities have received no intelligence; they are in a race against time but don't yet know it. As the operation unfolds, we see the working lives of men and women directly affected by terrorism. Among them: a firemen worried about the increasingly dangerous conditions he and his men are expected to work under; the head of the anti-terrorist branch whose responsibility it is to protect London and a female Muslim detective brought into Scotland Yard to investigate another suspected terrorist cell. But it is too late to stop the attack.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Thriller, Drama
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, serious, suspenseful, tense, captivating, detective, bleak, realistic
Similar in 76%
Innocent Saturday (2011)
Plot Summary:
A group of friends and bandmates look to escape from the Chernobyl disaster.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 637
Genere: Drama
Country: Russia, Germany, Ukraine
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: disturbing, sincere, serious, suspenseful, tense, bleak, captivating, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 77%
Waterborne (2005)
Plot Summary:
Heera Bhatti, an American-Sikh, runs a corner store in Los Angeles with the help of her son, Vikram, and Gulu. She does not approve of Vikram's Caucasian girlfriend, Lillian, and would prefer that Vikram marry a Punjabi girl, but Vikram has made up his mind. Then the lives of all Californians are turned upside down when one morning eight people are dead after drinking contaminated tap water.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 777
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 80 min
Plot tags: psychological, serious, realistic, suspenseful, bleak, apocalyptic, captivating, intercultural, inter cultural
Similar in 88%
Comet Impact (2007)
Plot Summary:
A comet hits Ireland, and a bigger one is on its way towards the U.S. where 900 million people have to be evacuated.
IMDB Rating: 5.0
IMDB Votes: 487
Genere: Drama
Country: UK
Duration:
Plot tags: tense, captivating, psychological, suspense, serious, suspenseful, disaster movie
Similar in 75%
Counterstrike (2002)
Plot Summary:
A Secret Service agent and his brother, a reckless ATF agent, try to stop a group of extreme right-wing U.S. military mercenaries, led by a fanatic Taiwanese vixen, who hijack the Queen Mary 2 ocean liner with the U.S. and Chinese presidents on board with the aim to steal China's nuclear codes to arm China's ICBM missiles to use as bargaining chips for their personal crusade against China.
IMDB Rating: 4.3
IMDB Votes: 606
Genere: Action, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 85%
October (1994)
Plot Summary:
In October 1970, one group from the Front de Liberation du Quebec kidnapped the British Consul in Montreal. Few days later, a second group did the same with one of the Minister of the Quebec Government. If the first was released, the second was murdered. This is the story of the second group from the stand point of the political kidnappers.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 835
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: political, sad, psychological, rough, bleak, serious, realistic, suspenseful, disturbing
Similar in 90%
The Taking of Flight 847: The Uli Derickson Story (1988)
Plot Summary:
This made-for-television film documents the takeover of the TWA airliner in flight from Athens to Rome in 1985. The focus is on the flight attendant, Uli Derickson, whose courage and hope helped save all but one of the passengers on the plane. The movie chronicles the first 2 days and the aftermath.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 374
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, bleak, serious, captivating, realistic, suspenseful, disturbing
Similar in 82%
Freefall: Flight 174 (1995)
Plot Summary:
True story of a brand-new Canadian airliner running out of fuel in-flight and forced to glide to the nearest airfield.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 960
Genere: Drama
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, disturbing, disaster movie
Similar in 75%
Samaritan: The Mitch Snyder Story (1986)
Plot Summary:
No overview found.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 128
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: sincere, uplifting, thought provoking, serious, realistic
Similar in 90%
Afterburn (1992)
Plot Summary:
Based on a true story, one woman takes on the U.S. military and General Dynamics; maker of the F-16, thought to be the very best tactical fighter in the world. Air Force Captain Theodore T. Harduvel was one of the best F-16 pilots the U.S. had to offer. After much digging, Janet Harduvel discovers a joint military and General Dynamic cover-up. She proves to be unwavering in her search for the truth to clear his name.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 670
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: captivating, disturbing, thought provoking, serious, suspenseful, realistic
Similar in 89%
Citizen Verdict (2003)
Plot Summary:
Marty Rockman, the notorious producer of the hit reality-TV show "So Sue Me", has a brand new concept: "Citizen Verdict". Each week a real criminal case will be tried before the American people, but this time they're also the jury. If the defendant is voted guilty in a death penalty case, Rockman will televise the execution. When an escalation in violent crime and terrorism hits the state of Florida, Governor Tyler, desperate to be seen as a tough-on-crime Republican leader in the upcoming Presidential race, decides to give Rockman his chance and "Citizen Verdict" goes into production in Tampa. Selected by phone-in vote, the show's first contestant is Ricky Carr -- a man accused of the rape and murder of popular celebrity-chef Dolly Hamilton. The case is a surefire ratings winner. But when an investigation begins, it becomes apparent that Ricky may be innocent of murder.
IMDB Rating: 4.3
IMDB Votes: 491
Genere: Drama
Country: UK, Germany
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: serious, disturbing, thought provoking, bleak, realistic, clever, cynical, biting, suspense
Similar in 79%
Fail Safe (2000)
Plot Summary:
Cold War tensions climb to a fever pitch when a U.S. bomber is accidentally ordered to drop a nuclear warhead on Moscow.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: tense, serious, captivating, suspenseful, political, psychological, apocalyptic, realistic, political thriller, disaster movie
Similar in 88%
Twilight's Last Gleaming (1977)
Plot Summary:
A renegade USAF general, Lawrence Dell, escapes from a military prison and takes over an ICBM silo near Montana and threatens to provoke World War 3 unless the President reveals details of a secret meeting held just after the start of the Vietnam War between Dell and the then President's most trusted advisors.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: West Germany, USA
Duration: 146 min
Plot tags: neo noir, political, political thriller, tense, rough, bleak, serious, realistic, suspenseful, disturbing
Similar in 79%
Contagion (2002)
Plot Summary:
In the 21st Century, terrorists have developed a new way to strike: disease. Not only have they created a deadly Level Four Ebola virus, their first victim is the President of the United States. The virus is particularly contagious and is spreading. If a cure cannot be found, the only chance for saving the world from epidemic is for the army to destroy the hospital and the town where the victims, including the President, are currently contained. The clock is ticking. As doctors search for a cure the military seeks to annihilate them all in a race to stop the deadly path of the contagion. Can the spread be stopped before its too late?.
IMDB Rating: 4.1
IMDB Votes: 801
Genere: Drama, Sci-Fi
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, suspenseful, bleak, intellectual, disaster movie
Similar in 89%
By Dawn's Early Light (1990)
Plot Summary:
When a nuclear missile is launched by presumably Soviet forces toward Turkey, the beginning of the ultimate war to end all wars WW 3 is started. Powers Boothe, his girlfriend and copilot Rebecca DeMornay and their flight crew take off in a B 52 on what they believe is just another drill only to find out that this is the real deal.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Action, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: bleak, serious, suspenseful, surprise ending, suspense, independent film, corny, disaster movie
Similar in 83%
Testament (1983)
Plot Summary:
Nuclear war in the United States is portrayed in a realistic and believable manner. The story is told through the eyes of a woman who is struggling to take care of her family. The entire movie takes place in a small suburban town outside San Francisco. After the nuclear attack, contact with the outside world is pretty much cut off.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama, Sci-Fi
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: depressing, bleak, disturbing, emotional, tense, apocalyptic, thought provoking, serious, touching, realistic
Similar in 81%
The Day After (1983)
Plot Summary:
The film portrays a fictional nuclear war between NATO forces and the Warsaw Pact that rapidly escalates into a full scale exchange between the United States and the Soviet Union, focusing on the residents of Lawrence, Kansas, and Kansas City, Missouri, as well as several family farms situated next to nearby nuclear missile silos.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 18000
Genere: Drama, Sci-Fi
Country: USA
Duration: 127 min
Plot tags: disturbing, futuristic, apocalyptic, harsh, serious, thought provoking, psychotronic, suspense, bleak, rough
Similar in 82%
Fail-Safe (1964)
Plot Summary:
Because of a technical defect an American bomber team mistakenly orders the destruction of Moscow. The President of the United States has but little time to prevent an atomic catastrophe from occurring. Director Sidney Lumet gives an atmospheric vision of the future with a Cold War backdrop.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 24000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: tense, political thriller, political, realistic, bleak, black and white, emotional, suspense, serious, suspenseful
Similar in 77%
Attica (1980)
Plot Summary:
A behind the scenes look of the 1971 prisoners revolt at the Attica prison.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 526
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: political, rough, thought provoking, serious, captivating, realistic, suspenseful, disturbing, tension, suspense