By Dawns Early Light

February 21, 2005

Rated: PG-13 Runtime: 100 min Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

By Dawns Early Light is somewhat of a lost classic. It was a made for TV film from HBO and for me really marked the movie that made me really start paying attention to anything HBO produced. We now associate HBO with high quality, but at the time this was made the idea of a made for TV movie that was as good as a theatrical release was an anomoly.

Start with a strong cast. Excellent performances are turned in for this film by Powers Boothe, Rebecca De Mornay, Martin Landau and of course James Earl Jones. Jones potrayal of Alice in the Looking Glass plane is an absolute classic, one of those characters you just have to respect and love.

The film was made in 1990 just after the end of the cold war and paints a scenario that could possibly still happen today. A group launchs a nuke from a NATO country into the former Soviet Union. When it detonates the Russians automatically respond with a launch at strategic targets in the U.S. The film follows the resulting escalations and tough decisions that must be made in the face of failing communications. We follow the President, SAC, Air Force One, the Looking Glass plane and a B-52 bomber crew and experience what each goes through during the crisis.

As the USSR has fallen apart and the Cold War has thawed, today’s generation doesn’t think as much about all out nuclear war. But for those who were born before the 1980’s, this film presents a fascinating series of scenarios. It is one of those movies that will inspire discussion afterward of “what would you do” in the position of each of the characters. We give it 5 stars. And this is a very cheap DVD, if you’re a child of the cold war, this is a must see.

Posted by Billy Bob | Filed Under 5 Stars, DVD, Darren McGavin, Drama, James Earl Jones, Martin Landau, PG-13, Powers Boothe, Rebecca De Mornay, Thriller