Twilight's Last Gleaming ( Das Ultimatum ) ( Nuclear Countdown )

Twilight's Last Gleaming (DVD) (*)

$27.99

Original Title: Das Ultimatum
Alternate Title: Nuclear Countdown
Screened, competed or awarded at:
Other Film Festival Awards

Language Selections:
English ( Mono )
Spanish ( Mono )

Product Origin/Format:
Spain ( PAL/Region 2 )

Running Time:
135 min

Aspect Ratio:
Fullscreen

Special Features:
Interactive Menu
Scene Access

Movie filmed in 1977 and produced in:
Germany ( Germany, Central Europe )
United States ( USA, Canada )

Directed By:
Robert Aldrich

Written By:
Ronald M. Cohen
Edward Huebsch

Actors:
Burt Lancaster ..... Gen. Lawrence Dell
Roscoe Lee Browne ..... James Forrest
Joseph Cotten ..... Arthur Renfrew - Secretary of State
Melvyn Douglas ..... Zachariah Guthrie
Charles Durning ..... President David T. Stevens
Richard Jaeckel ..... Capt. Stanford Towne
William Marshall ..... William Klinger - Attorney General
Gerald S. O'Loughlin ..... Brig. Gen. O'Rourke
Richard Widmark ..... Gen. Martin MacKenzie - Commanding General SA
Paul Winfield ..... Willis Powell
Burt Young ..... Augie Garvas
Charles Aidman ..... Bernstein
Leif Erickson ..... Ralph Whittaker - CIA Director
Charles McGraw ..... Air Force Gen. Peter Crane
Morgan Paull ..... First Lt. Louis Cannellis

Synopsis:

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.

After escaping from a military prison, rogue Air Force general Lawrence Dell (Burt Lancaster) and accomplices Powell and Garvas infiltrate an ICBM complex and gain launch control over its nine nuclear missiles. They then make direct contact with the US government (avoiding any media attention) and demand both ten million dollars ransom and, more importantly, that the President (Charles Durning) go on national television and make public the contents of a top-secret document. The document, which is unknown to the current president but not to certain members of his cabinet, contains conclusive proof that the US government knew there was no realistic hope of winning the Vietnam War but continued fighting it for the sole purpose of demonstrating to the Soviet Union their unwavering commitment to defeating communism. While the President and his Cabinet debate the practical, personal, and ethical aspects of agreeing to these demands, they also authorize the military to send an elite team led by General MacKenzie (Richard Widmark) to penetrate the ICBM complex and incinerate its command center with a very low-yield tactical nuclear device. When this attempt is discovered, the hostage takers respond by initiating a missile launch. As the military and President Stevens watch the underground missile silo launch covers begin to open, they agree to call off the attempt and the launch is aborted. Eventually the President agrees to meet the demands, which include allowing himself to be taken hostage and used as a human shield while Dell and his team make their escape from the complex. As the president leaves the White House he asks the Secretary of Defense to release the document should he be killed in the process. US Air Force snipers kill the general but also shoot the President, who with his dying breath asks the Secretary of Defense if he will release the document. The Secretary can not bring himself to answer.

1981: A cashiered U.S. Air Force officer seizes a nuclear missile site to force public disclosure of secret Vietnam war policy goals.

This product was added to our catalog on Monday 09 April, 2012.

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