Almost three decades after its 1983 screening on NBC, the television film Special Bulletin, from director Edward Zwick and screenwriter Marshall Herskovitz (who would go on to create thirtysomething and My So-Called Life), remains remarkably prescient. Although its plot revolves around an act of nuclear terrorism, this is not as much the center of the film as the role that the media plays in the coverage of world events.

Structured like Orson Welles’ 1938 radio production of The War of the Worlds, the story unfolds in a series of “special bulletins” on the RBS television network; a terrorist group siezes a small tugboat in Charleston, South Carolina, then demands access to RBS cameras. Once they’re provided, the terrorists reveal that they have loaded a small nuclear bomb onto the tugboat and threaten to detonate it unless the U.S. complies with demands for the nuclear triggering devices held at the Charleston naval base.

While the spectre of nuclear terrorism remains as dark as ever 27 years after the production of Special Bulletin, just as incisive is the film’s mordant critique of the media’s role in generating and manipulating fear and apathy amongst its audience, simultaneously sensationalizing and trivializing the story and the issues it raises. The hijacking does become a media event, and both reporters and terrorists are implicated in the growing danger. The cast of the film is composed largely of actors and actresses unknown at the time (David Clennon and David Rasche can be recognized among the group of terrorists; the only “star” is a toupeed Ed Flanders as anchorman John Woodley). There is a dark sense of humor that pervades the film (from beginning to end) as well: watch Woodley squirm as a sensational video graphic is played over his shoulder; and at the end of the film, the newscasts return to an endless diet of trivialized, uncontextualized videos of current events.

Given the 24-hour news cycle of cable and broadcast networks, as well as the deluge of YouTube videos and Twitter feeds, Special Bulletin remains a chilling experience and an acidic satire of mass media — if you see it, you won’t soon forget it. In the year of its premiere, the film won four Emmy Awards (including Outstanding Drama Special), Directors Guild of America and Writers Guild of America prizes for Zwick and Herskovitz, and the Humanitas Prize. It was a pleasure to find this long out-of-print video on Google video; the entire film can be seen above.