"
Amerika" Miniseries,
1987
"Amerika" -- suggesting a Russified name for the
United States -- is an
American television miniseries that was broadcast in 1987 on
ABC. It starred
Kris Kristofferson,
Mariel Hemingway,
Sam Neill,
Robert Urich, and a 17-year-old
Lara Flynn Boyle in her first major role. "Amerika" was about life in the United States after a bloodless takeover by the
Soviet Union. Not wanting to depict the actual coup,
ABC Entertainment president
Brandon Stoddard instead chose to set the action of the miniseries ten years after the event, focusing on the demoralized
American people a decade after the
Soviet conquest. The intent, he later explained, was to explore the
American spirit under such conditions, not to portray the conflict of the Soviet takeover.
Described in promotional materials as "the most ambitious American miniseries ever created," Amerika aired for 14½ hours (including commercials) over seven nights, and reportedly cost
US$40 million to produce.
The program was filmed in
Toronto,
London, and
Hamilton, Ontario, as well as various locations in
Nebraska -- most notably the small town of
Tecumseh and
Milford, the setting for most of the action of the series.
Donald Wrye was the executive producer, director, and sole writer of Amerika, while composer
Basil Poledouris was hired to score the miniseries, ultimately recording (with the
Hollywood Symphony Orchestra) eight hours of music -- the equivalent of four feature films. (from
Wikipedia)
Main characters:
Devin Milford (Kris Kristofferson)
Colonel Andrei Denisov of the
KGB (Sam Neill)
Peter Bradford (Robert Urich)
Peter Bradford's wife,
Amanda (
Cindy Pickett)
Devin Milford's ex-wife,
Marion (
Wendy Hughes)
Devin's sister Alethea (Christine Lahti)
Bradford's teenage daughter,
Jackie (Lara Flynn Boyle)
"
Kris played the part of right-leaning former presidential candidate Devin Milford, who leads a rebellion against the
Soviets.
The Soviet's forces are kitted out in uniforms much like those of
United Nations peacekeeping troops.
The series managed to upset just about everybody; the Soviet Union threatened to shut down
ABC's Moscow bureau,
American conservatives felt that the Soviet brutality was understated, while left-wingers saw it as a case of right-wing paranoia that might threaten détente" (
Stephen Miller in his Kris Kristofferson -- biography)
Kris about this movie in an interview (
2003):
Q: And you mentioned "Amerika," which was a controversial show about if the Nazis had actually won
World War II.
Kris:
Yeah. Well, you know, I was trying to justify how that could have happened, that scenario where the - I think it was the
Russians that end up taking over the
U.S. - and I thought at the time, it could only happen if the rest of the world finally got together and said, "
Enough." Now, what's been going on lately could cause that - to the rest of the world to just finally just say, "
Listen, you got no right to be the only superpower of the world, going around fighting anybody you want to in whatever name you want to call it". I mean, they look at what we did in
Iraq as terrorism. And it was state-sponsored terrorism, you know? I'm in an awkward position because I grew up in the
Second World War, and before, during, and after, and believing in God and honor and country and duty.
And, I still respect the troops. I just don't agree with the policy."
This mini series represents the type world the Banking
Cartel who pull the strings of most of the world governments would like to bring in.
Google the
Reece Committee and or watch this video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUYCBfmIcHM
- published: 02 Sep 2012
- views: 1036