Title: By Dawn’s Early Light
Author(s): Teleplay by Bruce Gilbert, based on the novel, Trinity’s Child, by William Prochnau
Director: Jack Sholder
Copyright: 1990
ASIN: B00021R7CG
Format: Made for TV Movie, Available on disk
Genre: Speculative Fiction
Rating:4 ½ out of 5
Stars Nuclear Uncertainty
We live in a generation once removed from the Cold War between the United States and the former Soviet Union and its ever-present threat of nuclear war. Our children and grandchildren don’t watch fearful adults stocking food in the basement or neighbors building bomb shelters. They don’t practice the emergency “duck and cover” in school. And that’s a good thing. It doesn’t, however, mean that those nuclear warheads have been decommissioned. On the contrary, according to an April 2013 Update from the Arms Control Association, the United States and the former Soviet Union have over 8,000 nuclear weapons. And, let’s be clear, accidents can still happen. The check and balance system in place can still fail to function. And now we live under the threat of terrorists, who may gain access to those nuclear weapons. That’s why I believe the Bruce Gilbert’s teleplay, By Dawn’s Early Light, is just as relevant today as it was when it aired on television in 1990.
By Dawn’s Early Light features an exceptional cast. Powers Boothe plays the hard-core B-52 pilot, Cassidy, and Rebecca De Mornay plays his co-pilot, Moreau, who acts as the voice of conscience. James Earl Jones stars as Alice, the general in charge of Looking Glass (an Air Force command plane), and Martin Landau as the President of the United States. But it’s not just the cast that makes this movie good. It’s the premise that terrorists might be able to access nuclear weapons and that a response system that depends heavily on computer-coordinated attacks can break down, which happens in this movie. The situation is set when a dissident group within the Soviet military uses a nuclear warhead on a Soviet city. The Soviet’s computer-controlled response system automatically sends bombs to pre-set targets within the United States. The President is warned about the ensuing attack by General Renning, played by Nicolas Coster, who is in charge of NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command). Renning needs “the codes” to initiate the counter-attack. Luckily, the Soviet leader sends a teletype directly to the President telling him the attack was automated and not an intentional act of war. The Soviet leader agrees to accept an equally devastating attack from the United States in order to stop a full-scale nuclear war. The President agrees, against the dire warning of the General Renning that he is “being conned on a level unprecedented in history.” But the President stands firm as he gives NORAD the codes with orders to limit the first counter-attack. Thus begins a dialogue between the two super-power leaders to stop an inevitable full-scale automated war. The objective is set: to “turn off” the nuclear war. Like all quests, complications and deterrents stand in the way.
To War or Not to War, That is the Question
The story complications grow when NORAD informs the President that the Soviet Union has launched a second attack. They can’t tell where these missiles are targeted, but he says, “With god as my witness, it makes no difference…” because in accordance with the current treaty, the Chinese will now automatically attack Russia. General Redding tells the President that all communication with the Soviet Union is down and the Russian President may not even be in control. Then NORAD is destroyed and the President’s helicopter is downed by an off-track missile, leaving the Secretary of the Interior in charge of the primary command plane as Condor. Condor accepts the direction of Col. Fargo, Rip Torn, and wants to “win” a nuclear war. Thus two factions emerge within the chain of command, an injured President without proper codes trying to stop the war and Condor who has them trying to escalate it, each vying for legitimacy. Each member of the military, from the rank-in-files to the generals must now choose which orders they believe are correct.
Scenes change rapidly within this face-paced movie, making it a terrific watch. Even though it contains some profanity, it’s within the context of accepted military dialogue. I’ve shown By Dawn’s Early Light to a high school class to stimulate class discussion because it makes the audience think about what they would do if they were given orders to destroy a city and the penalty for disobeying was death? Like questions about those who stood by as the Nazis committed genocide against the Jew, it forces you to think, where would you stand? By Dawn’s Early Light is definitely on my “Must Watch” list and, believe me, you won’t be disappointed. In fact, I can’t wait to read the book on which it’s based, Trinity’s Child, to compare the two.
Reviewed by Rhodes FitzWilliam