I first saw this movie 15 years ago; then the night before last I stumbled onto it again. All I remembered was the central device of the hero answering the fatal phone call, and that it was a *real good flick*. So I rented it again...<br /><br />Wow. From the moment Harry tosses his lit cigarette and thus sets his part in the unfolding drama into motion, it's a heartpounding, heartbreaking ride to the inevitable conclusion. The story's unsettlingly plausible -- who hasn't answered a ringing pay phone? And what would we do in a similar situation? All the characters are believable and mostly likable, albeit some of them strangely so. And despite the human depravity of thermonuclear destruction, it says a lot about the good parts of people -- the doomed attempt of the cop to save his partner, the way the grandparents reconcile, the return of the helicopter pilot for Harry and Julie.<br /><br />At the end, I looked at my partner and all I could say was "At least the old folks got to have their sandwich before it all hit", and then I busted out crying. It's that kind of movie.