By Dawn's Early Light is one of the last timely Cold War thrillers, and despite it's made-for-cable-TV-origins, it's also one of the best. Even though it's made on a limited budget, it feels as epic in scope as most apocalyptic thrillers you'd care to name, and is in fact a better film because it doesn't rely on heavy duty visual effects. This bare-bones disc from HBO Video doesn't feature any supplemental material, but at least it offers the viewer a chance to see a tense, unnerving thriller that doesn't deserve to be forgotten.

It's the present day, and a renegade missile is launched and detonated inside the Soviet Union. Thinking it's a pre-emptive attack by NATO, the Soviets launch a counterstrike against the U.S., only to soon discover they were wrong. Unable to call off the attack, the Soviet president contacts the U.S. president (Martin Landau), begging him either to retaliate with a strike which would result in an equal number of casualties, or not respond at all, two actions which could end the accidental war right then and there. Before he can make the decision to turn off this war, the President's helicopter crashes after a missile hit, and the next man in succession is the Secretary of the Interior (Darren McGavin), who just happens to be a war-mongering looney. Despite the urging of nearly all those around him to take steps to cease hostilities, the new President wants to launch a massive counterstrike in order to win this unwinnable war. Meanwhile, NORAD is placed on full alert, scrambling their submarines and bombers; much of the film centers on the bomber crew of Polar Bear One (led by Powers Boothe and Rebecca De Morney), who face a moral dilemma upon receiving their orders. As the bombers venture ever-closer to their fail-safe points, the crew of Polar Bear One begins to question whether or not to follow orders or turn the plane around. What By Dawn's Early Light lacks in visual spectacle (at least by modern Hollywood standards), it more than makes up for with a smart script, sharply drawn characters and tight pacing. I don't know whether or not much of the technical jargon uttered is authentic, but it sounds like it is, and that's what's important. Jack Sholder (who directed the underappreciated The Hidden) takes a well-distilled screenplay (from William Prochnau's novel) and creates a disarmingly suspenseful nail-biter, every bit as intelligent and seemingly plausible as the Cold War classic, Fail Safe. The film belies its low-budget, made-for-cable origins every step at every turn, coming up with ingenious ways to present apocalyptic horror without relying on spectacular visuals; we may never actually see a city decimated by a nuclear blast, but through the reactions of key characters, along with a few small scale - but well-choreographed - destruction sequences, the viewer is convinced the fate of the world is at stake. The performances are uniformly outstanding. Powers Boothe (always an underrated actor) exudes authority and vulnerability in the lead role as Cassidy, the bomber's pilot. Rebecca De Morney is less effective as his lover/co-pilot, who's sometimes a bit too melodramatic. Darrin McGavin is his usual great self as the newly-appointed president, as is James Earl Jones, who must have felt just a bit of deja vu, being that he also appeared in the definitive Cold War commentary, Dr. Strangelove.

No extras are included on this disc.

Similar Films: Fail Safe, Dr. Strangelove, Twilight's Last Gleaming Summary: The audio and video transfer discrepancies notwithstanding, By Dawn's Early Light is definitely a disc worth owning. It's a taut, believable film, with great performances and creative direction. This is a small winner all around, and one of the better made-for-TV thrillers ever made.