By Dawn’s Early Light (1990)

by dawn's early light

By Dawn’s Early Light is an American television movie, produced by the HBO cable television network and broadcast for the first time in 1990. It stars Powers Boothe as Major Cassidy, Rebecca de Mornay as Captain Moreau and James Earl Jones as their commanding general. It depicts a fictional war between the United States and the Soviet Union. This war is starred by renegade Soviet officers, who steal a nuclear weapon and use it to launch a false flag attack. The missile is fired at the Ukrainian city of Donetsk from US-allied Turkey, alerting Soviet air defence systems. The Soviet defence system responds automatically by launching a missile salvo at military targets in the US. After launching this retaliatory strike, Moscow discovers the true origins of the Donetsk missile. The Soviet leader contacts the American president to acknowledge the error and avoid an all-out nuclear war.

While American leaders argue over how to respond, one of the Soviet missiles strikes Washington, destroying a hospital and other civilian buildings. The Americans launch a retaliatory strike, after which the president is seemingly killed. Military command is assumed by the Secretary of the Interior who, at the urging of a hawkish general, orders a more expansive attack on Moscow and other Soviet targets. The president, however, is revealed to be still alive and attempts to countermand this order. Caught between these conflicting commands is the crew of an American B52 bomber, which is flying into Soviet territory to deliver nuclear payloads. This crew, led by Major Cassidy, must withstand attacks from Soviet MiGs before deciding what to do.

By the Dawn’s Early Light is based on a 1983 novel, Trinity’s Child, by William Prochnau. In the novel, however, the initial missile strike is ordered by Moscow; is not the work of renegades. This change was made to avoid demonising or provoking the Soviet government. Broadcast as the Cold War was ending, By the Dawn’s Early Light is one of the last Cold War films to depict a shooting war between the US and Soviet Russia. Despite being made for cable television, it is a competently made film with good production values.


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