World War III (film) - Differences Between German and English Versions

Differences Between German and English Versions

  • The German version is preceded by a disclaimer clarifying that that the events of the film are based on actual contingency plans of various governments, but that, "Thankfully for us all", the situations they were created for never happened.
  • The news broadcasts which make up a significant part of the film are different: the German version, as a ZDF production, uses that network and its on-air personalities for the segments, while the English version shows various reporters working for an unnamed American network (for the opening scene, the English version shows Daniel Schorr's full report, while the German one has a ZDF report before switching to Schorr for the nuclear explosion).
  • Similarly, in the German version, Senator Gramm's statements on the coup are replaced by those of Schleswig-Holstein Governor Björn Engholm, leader of the opposition SPD at that time.
  • In the English version, other languages are subtitled (except for a Gorbachev speech about perestroika); in the German version, other languages are translated (except for interviews with two US Army field officers).
  • The two West German characters, Gen. Frohm and Dr. Bruckner, speak in German in that version, but English in that one.
  • The English version contains two scenes not included in the German one: an interview with two East German soldiers who escaped west during the Brandenburg Gate massacre, and a pair of "man on the street" interviews (one bellicose, delivered with the accent and demeanor of a stereotypical New Yorker, the other nervous but optimistic) in Times Square.
  • The English version mentions West German, British, Dutch, and American soldiers meeting the initial Baltic attack; in the German version, Belgian forces take part as well.
  • In the German version, the decisive NATO air assault is named "Operation Bloody Nose"; in English it is never given a name.
  • The rewound montages between the missile-launch "ending" and the celebratory images of the actual events are slightly different.
  • While the German version concludes with scenes from both the events of November 1989 and reunification (along with the "different course" line), the English narration has no such coda, and the montage is entirely from the fall of the Wall.

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