In the movie World War 3, Gorbachev is deposed immediately upon returning from his trip to East Germany in October 1989 and replaced by a hardline general who within months escalates the crisis in Eastern Europe into a thermonuclear war.
What would happen if the generals who plotted against Gorby in August 1991, made their move as in the movie? Would things seriously spiral out of control so quickly, or would the coup collapse as in OTL 1991?