In 1984, HBO debuted the made-for-TV film Countdown to Looking Glass. Now, 38 years later, renewed tensions between the United States and Iran — including threats to shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and heightened nuclear fears — have drawn new attention to the largely forgotten Cold War thriller.
While the film did not literally predict today’s events, its depiction of escalating military conflict and nuclear brinkmanship feels newly relevant.
AT SEA, UNSPECIFIED – MARCH 1: (EDITOR’S NOTE: This Handout image was provided by a third-party organization and may not adhere to Getty Images’ editorial policy.) In this U.S. Navy released handout, Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Thomas Hudner (DDG 116) fires a Tomahawk land attack missile in support of Operation Epic Fury, on March 1, 2026 at Sea. Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was confirmed killed after the United States and Israel launched a joint attack on Iran on February 28. Iran retaliated by firing waves of missiles and drones at Israel, and targeting U.S. allies in the region. (Photo by U.S. Navy via Getty Images)
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Those who grew up in the 1990s and 2000s were spared the terror of growing up under the shadow of imminent apocalypse. The Cold War and the Reagan era of the 1980s had us staring out windows at school expecting to see ICMBs flying into the sky any moment. We awoke from nightmares of mushroom clouds and blaring sirens. We watched the number of nuclear weapons climb from thousands to tens of thousands in an insane effort to see who could blow up the world the most. And we waited, certain we had no real future because those bombs were destined to fall.
In case you’re unaware, modern nuclear warheads are not small kiloton weapons like those dropped on Japan in World War II. Today’s weapons are measured in megatons, tens or hundreds of times more powerful than the bombs used against Japan.
Today, global nuclear stockpiles remain significant, though much smaller than peak levels in the 1980s. Enough of them to drop more than 350 on every nation in the world.
Iran And Nuclear War In 1980s Cinema
That was the specter of nuclear holocaust that loomed over the 1980s, and it was like today’s nuclear fears on steroids. It was also the decade we learned about nuclear winter, which in turn brought climate change into regular public discourse. Experts like Carl Sagan and others banged the drum, convincing Hollywood to pay attention and try to generate enough public reaction to change policy and perhaps save this pale blue dot we live on.
So it was that the eighties became an era of nuclear war movies, the most famous of which remains The Day After. It was a shocking and epic presentation of what life would be like during and immediately after even a limited nuclear war. It presented a stark depiction of life after nuclear conflict, reportedly influencing public discussion and even policymakers at the time. The result is that proliferation became the primary concern about nuclear technology for decades, not the risk of full global holocaust.
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Threads was the UK’s even more hellish 1980s film about the effects of a nuclear war, so terrifying it’s often included on top horror movie lists. Like The Day After, it posited nuclear war erupting after a NATO-Russian war in Europe escalates rapidly. Other well-known 1980s nuclear war releases include the romantically themed nuclear thrillers One Night Stand and Miracle Mile, the made-for-TV nuclear terrorism story Special Bulletin, the blockbuster WarGames, the harrowing Oscar-nominated Testament, and the brilliant animated picture Where the Wind Blows. Even superheroes got into the game, with Superman IV: The Quest for Peace endorsing complete nuclear disarmament.
Iran War and the Countdown To Looking Glass
Today, international tensions run high due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and growing warnings that EU countries are preparing for the possibility of general war with Russia, as well as the U.S. attacks against Venezuela and threats against Cuba.
And of course, now there is the escalating United States and Israel war against Iran, which has expanded into neighboring countries in the Middle East and resulted in the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
It’s no wonder, then, that nuclear fears have risen again, that the public makes books like Nuclear War: A Scenario best sellers, and that Hollywood is once again turning its attention toward armageddon. The 2023 true story of the birth of atomic weapons, Oppenheimer, won Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director (Christopher Nolan). Last year’s A House of Dynamite depicted nuclear war playing out across roughly an hour and from the perspective of those who detect an incoming missile and must choose the fate of the world in mere minutes. That’s the basic setup for the book Nuclear War: A Scenario, which also has an upcoming film adaptation. Another release, last year’s The Days Ahead, offers a sharp indie version of what it’s like to experience a nuclear war and survive the aftermath.
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So with nuclear fears and fiction more relevant than ever, it’s worth looking back at HBO’s entry into 1980s nuclear genre, a semi-real time story told mostly via TV news coverage titled Countdown to Looking Glass. The story begins with a global economic downturn followed by political and military incidents around the world, most notably in the Middle East where events quickly escalate after Oman closes the Strait of Hormuz. War begins with a battle between U.S. and Iranian aircraft, followed by deployment of a massive American military armada and matching Russian deployment of submarines. Soon, nuclear weapons are used at sea, and the film ends with news footage of the Looking Glass plane taking off, followed by the activation of the Emergency Broadcast System.
While much of the specific nuances are different, the gist of the film’s warning that confrontations between non-nuclear states over energy reserves are a major flashpoint during which a nuclear war could start almost accidentally. This story, amid a sea of so many other nuclear war films focused on the threat of Soviet invasion of Europe, got middling reviews due to its admittedly stiff performances and slow, technical pacing. But the news segments and world-building of the story were excellent, the nuances of the events were impressive, and key sequences – especially most of the third act – are some of the best and most realistic of the 1980s batch of nuclear war productions.
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Whatever complaints there are, Countdown to Looking Glass is worth watching, not merely as part of the 1980s time capsule of nuclear angst, but because we are essentially living through an equivalent live-action reenactment today.
The Iran war rages on with no end in sight. President Trump has publicly threatened to target Iran’s energy, oil, and water infrastructure in a massive bombing campaign if they don’t end the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Russia is reportedly providing Iran with targeting info to strike U.S. military forces. Germany and other European countries warn citizens Russia may attack soon. The clock counts down to 2027, the year many nations’ intelligence and military experts say is the deadline for China’s plans to seize Taiwan and Russia’s plans for any general war against Europe. And somewhere over the Middle East, Looking Glass is circling the skies, waiting for the end to begin.