By Dawn's Early Light (1990)

Boothe and DeMornay are just two of a very great cast in this film. Martin Landau turned in a bravura performance as the President of the United States, who is disabled in the aftermath of a nuclear strike on Washington and who alone holds the key to stopping the conflict. I loved Darren McGavin's trigger-happy Secretary of the Interior who, thinking the President is dead, issues orders that could lead to the destruction of his country. James Earl Jones was great as "Alice", commander of Strategic Air Command's "Looking Glass" plane and a man with moral and ethical doubts of his own about this conflict, and Ally McBeal's Peter MacNicol as Sedgwick, the young Emergency War Orders officer who is with the President when he is injured, was just terrific. I also want to give a nod to Daniel Benzali as Bascombe, director of the FEMA bunker at Olney. Although his was a minor role, he made the most of it.

As stated before, this is a superb film, but it's definitely not for the faint-hearted. It probes deeply into the American psyche and forces us all to think of just what we would do in a situation such as the one presented. Overall, though, it is an excellent film.

As a retired military man, I found that this film grew more frightening as the initial nuclear exchange faded into the background and both the civilian and military leadership struggled with the apocalyptic question of how or even whether to turn off the brutal cycle of escalating retaliation. The technical accuracy of the film, both in the equipment and the tactics displayed, heightened the effectiveness.

What makes this movie stand out from other doomsday thrillers is its ability to show the terrible strain of responsibility and indecision on people at all levels of the command structure, and the personal price paid by those who could handle the pressure and those who could not. One particularly harrowing and very plausible scenario shows two Navy fighters in the process of preparing to shoot down an Air Force bomber that has been judged to have "turned", both figuratively and literally.

There are many superb dramatic performances in this film. Foremost among them are Martin Landau as a desperate and badly injured President, Darren McGavin as the Secretary of the Interior, suddenly thrust into a position of leadership for which he is unprepared, and James Earl Jones as an Air Force General commanding the Looking Glass command center aircraft.

Powers Boothe is excellent as a hot-shot pilot who finds himself slowly beginning to question his black and white view of the nature of warfare and his place in the overall picture. Rebecca DeMornay shows that, when she isn't given the makeup and fancy costumes to rely on, she has considerable acting talent to fall back on.

This is a nerve-wracking, very credible journey on the tightrope of nuclear devastation, tautly directed and masterfully paced, from its suspenseful beginning to its thought-provoking end. By Dawn's Early Light remains an effective thriller even after the end of the cold war. Highly recommended.

As a strategic analyst who has done extensive research on nuclear strategy, the representation of the roles of the General (James Earl Jones) in the EC-135 Looking Glass plane, and the 'Presidential Replacement' (Darren McGavin)in the E-4B NEACP plane are quite accurate, with a dramatic conclusion perfectly timed. The movie also explores the interesting aspect of the psychological pressures on the crew of the B-52, knowing their families are dead, and their world destroyed.

Good special effects with a dramatic confrontation between two MiG-25s and the BUFF over the pole, and an innovative counter to the Foxbats keep the movie going at a cracking pace.

Also interesting is the idea of 'intra-war' deterrence and dialogue. The movie takes quite a sophisticated approach to the issue of whether the US National Command Authority would want to talk with the Soviets even after the missiles had flown on both sides, and the importance of preserving command and control assets on both sides in order to allow war termination.

This certainly is one of the best nuclear war thrillers since 'Failsafe', and 'The Bedford Incident'. Powers Boothe and Rebecca DeMornay do a great job as the pilot and copilot of the B-52, but they are overshadowed by the best thing about this movie - its a realistic representation of nuclear war, something that is often lacking in many other movies of this sub-genre.

I recommend this movie for both the defence/security studies enthusiast, and also for someone just wanting a good, dramatic movie that makes you think.