If I watched this at the time it came out (1982), it would have scared the crap out of me, and I would have been obsessed with it for weeks after. Many people today may not really understand what this movie means, but for anyone who lived during the height of the Cold War, this really rings true. The level or fear and anxiety was palpable, and omnipresent -- it's not so much a question of "if" WW3 breaks out and the world is thrown into nuclear winter, it was really a question of "when". We all watchedthe clock clicking a few minutes to midnight, and the media was sprinkled with gloom and doom scenarios just like this.

The "X" in the title indicates this war takes place in the near future of the late 1980's, and imagines if the technology of "Star Wars" laser intercept systems envisioned by Ronny Raygun became a reality. The names of people are fictional, but everything else is very real - the places, the positions, the military equipment, the procedures. They really did their homework.

There are no character voice-actors in this movie, it's all presented with a background orchestral soundtrack (and occasional rock ballad), sound effects, and a voice-over narration of the main character, explaining everything in deadpan delivery. The first part of the movie puts all the chess pieces into play, giving a detailed breakdown on where all the characters in this drama are, what they are doing, and what is happening.

Then, small events turn into larger events. Misunderstandings lead to bigger misunderstandings. Mistakes lead to death, jealousy and hatred turn to more death, powerful men back-stab into even more death. World events spin out of control, and soon the entire world is thrown into war.

And what is scary, is that it paints a VERY PLAUSIBLE scenario. The paranoia and distrust you see between the Soviets and the Americans was very real; the political in-fighting inside the Kremlin was also very real. Even if the authors could not predict the fall of the Soviet Union and West/East Germany, replace those players in this 'game' with other players, and it could have played out just as easily. As the movie progressed to the halfway point, I started to get chills and a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach as the worst-case scenario was playing out, and no one could stop it.

Well. Almost.

I won't spoil it, but about three-quarters of the way through, there's a shift in the movie, and suddenly there's that "one chance" of a Jack Ryan-type character saving the world, and it becomes less of a docu-drama and turns into a cinematic-action-thriller. The movie sort of goes off the rails of realism at that point (otherwise I would have given it a higher rating).

Artwork and animation are perfunctory and unimpressive, with the notable exception that they made sure they got all the military hardware correct. But the point of this chilling movie is not about the artwork, it's about the scenario it paints. And for people of a certain age (like me) who lived through the latter part of the Cold War, it really hits home.

And it can also serve as a warning for today. The world is a different place than it was half a lifetime ago, and some of the players are different. But history has a nasty habit of foretelling the future, and we aren't too far off from a possible hell scenario like this today.