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By Dawn's Early Light (1990)

Directed by: Jack Shoulder
Teleplay by: Bruce Gilbert
Starring: Rebecca DeMornay (Moreau), Powers Boothe (Cassidy), Martin Landau (President), Darren McGavin (Minister of Interior), James Earl Jones (Alice), Glenn Withrow (Lt. Tyler) and others.
Rated: PG-13 (USA), PG (Ontario). Language.


By Dawn's Early Light is an HBO original movie that aired in 1990 and was set in 1991. It dealt with nuclear war and miscommunication.

The whole reason I bought By Dawn's Early Light was because I heard Glenn Withrow had a good sized part in it and was really good in his role. I'd seen him in smaller roles (Outsiders, Rumble Fish, Peggy Sue Got Married), so I was excited to see it. Not to mention it was his last acting credit at IMDb (insert sad face here).

When a rebel Soviet terrorist group attacks a Soviet city, the Soviet Union blames the United States and launches its own attack. As the military is scrambling to prepare for a nuclear attack that will hit the United States within minutes, the President (Martin Landau) must decide how much to retaliate as he gets word from the Soviet President that they will only accept an equal amount of casualties in a retaliation or risk an all out nuclear war.

Meanwhile, at Fairchild Air Force Base in Washington State, the Air Force is sent into action. A B-52 bomber crew is in the air when a nuclear explosion rocks the base they have just left, destroying the base and pretty much all of Spokane, WA.

The B-52 crew includes Major Cassidy (Powers Boothe) the pilot, Captain Moreau (Rebecca De Mornay) the co-pilot, Major O'Toole (Randal Patrick) as the electronic warfare officer (bomber), Lt. Hooker (Ronald William Laurence) as the gunner (which confused me at first because I didn't realize B-52 crews used to have 6 man crews - they use 5 man crews now. There are no gunners since the gun turrets were removed), Lt. Radnor (Kieran Mulroney) as the radar officer and Lt. Tyler (Glenn Withrow) as the navigator.

When the President is presumed dead and the Minister of Interior is made the new President (Darren McGavin), chaos ensues as he must decide how to handle the situation. Convinced that full retaliation is the only answer, the new President orders the bombers to systematically destroy the Soviet bunkers housing their leaders, to the consternation of just about everyone, including 'Alice' (James Earl Jones), the head officer on the Looking Glass plane, which gives instruction to the bombers.

On the bomber, things are complicated by Lt. Tyler's denial of what happened to the base - and his family, including a young son. We gradually see Lt. Tyler's grief and pain as he begins to realize the devastation and slowly lose his grip.

When the pilot and co-pilot decide to turn back and not follow orders to bomb the Soviets, Tyler is set off and begins to self-destruct. As it turns out, the decision to turn back causes the Russian fighter jets to turn back and effectively begins the end of the confrontation. When the original President is found alive, a race against time begins to prevent the 'grand tour', pitting the old President against the new, everyone unsure of who to take orders from. Turning the situation off begins to fall on the shoulders of those not usually authorized to make these big decisions.

The movie was frightening in its portrayal of the power of misinformation, miscommunication and split-second decision making. My biggest nitpick is that there is a totally unnecessary subplot where we see that Cassidy and Moreau are lovers as well as co-workers (which is against policy since they're in the same chain of command). I think the relationship between the two characters as co-workers and friends alone would have been powerful enough, and making it a romance didn't have a positive effect. We don't need to have the characters be in love or sleeping with each other in order to see they care about each other and that they are in a difficult position while doing their jobs - I think this could have been more effective if they hadn't been romantically involved. As it was, the relationship was a bit cliché. I would rather have seen a man and woman struggle with their friendship in the face of a war and the decisions that come with it, rather than have the fact they're sleeping together become an issue.

There were also a few things that stood out as odd - after the President's chopper crashes, a child wandering around in the bush finds it and the injured President and his aide. I still have a hard time trying to figure out what mother lets her kid out to play in the bush alone in the middle of the night after a nuclear bomb has gone off.

The acting was very solid, but I found Boothe a little over-the-top at times - especially in regards to the relationship aspect. Sometimes it seemed a little forced - from handing her cyanide one second to caressing her face the next, it was a little overdone. I think was more that Boothe's character was a bit cliché - 'cocky male pilot' is pretty overdone, as is the emotional female co-pilot. I really wish they had made Cassidy the one who's unsure and second guessing and emotional about what they have to do, and make Moreau the cocksure one who thinks it'll be no problem to drop bombs on a real city and ultimately changes her view. It was too gender stereotypical to have the female co-pilot be emotional and upset over it, while the male's are all stoic and accepting of their duty.

Martin Landau does a great turn as the President, while James Earl Jones is great as 'Alice'. Darren McGavin does a great job as the Minister of Interior who's suddenly thrust into a difficult position and begins making decisions without much information.

My favourite performance was Glenn as Lt. Tyler. I think the character was so important to bring a little humanity to the movie - Tyler is really the only person that reacts to the bombing emotionally - everyone else is caught in politics and making decisions and not thinking about what's actually happened, but it hits home for Tyler immediately. His reactions are the same as anyone's would be - and when Tyler gives over to his grief and begs Radnor to meet him half way - that he can accept it's happened, just not to his son - you can identify with his pain. When Tyler announces he is EWO (emergency war order) ready - you can tell the moment he says it that this is a man with nothing to lose. When the bomber crew turns back, Tyler literally has nothing - no family, no home, and now, no one to fight. It leads to his ultimate attempt to punish the crew for turning away and not allowing him to get any kind of revenge.

Glenn is especially wonderful with his eyes in this film. The bomber crew characters are often wearing bulky equipment - full helmets and masks - and the only thing visible are their eyes. Glenn is by far the strongest with his eyes out of all of the actors playing the bomber crew, they say something in every scene he is in. I find little details like that wonderfully enhancing to characterization - when Tyler is upset and agitated, we can see it in his eyes, darting from side to side before he even utters a word. It's the subtle things like that I find so great about Glenn's performances.

The bomber crew is really where the heart of the film was for me - the guys at the low end of the totem pole, who are given the job of actually carrying out the war, people with families and lives outside of their job. You don't get to see this with the political and higher echelon military characters - really, the only one I felt anything for was 'Alice' who was caught in the middle as much as anyone and ultimately carries out a plan which saves the day.

I'd recommend By Dawn's Early Light if you enjoy political suspense, military suspense or Cold War era stories. It may move a little slowly in parts, this isn't an action flick, and anyone expecting one will be disappointed. If you're a fan of Glenn, this is a must-have.

Purchase Information

DVD - Available at CDUniverse.com, Amazon.com and other online retailers.

Pictures
(Click to enlarge)



Right after they get word they're on a real mission and it's not a drill. The eyes! The word soulful was invented for him.



Tyler's a little confused. Who can blame him? It's nuclear war.



He's also surprised. Again, it's nuclear war. Surprised me too.



Tyler looks at a picture of his son, who couldn't have survived.



Tyler finds a civilian radio station and is convinced that everything is just a drill.



Until Major Cassidy rains on his parade...



I don't think he can get any better at being expressive.



Tyler finally realizes this is not a drill. Damn, he's good. Tyler = woobie.



"I just wanna get my MBA and get outta here, man." Tyler's heartbreaking in this scene.



"You gotta meet me halfway." Again, Glenn just nails this scene.



Tyler is EWO ready. Now he's got something to fight against.



He says so much with his eyes, I love it.



Someone got in a tussle with Tyler.



Uh-oh. Someone's got an idea.



His look says everything here - there's nothing you can do to Tyler that's going to affect him now. Everything's been done.



And he doesn't care what happens next. I freaking love Glenn's expression in this whole scene and how it leads up to it. He does unbalanced grief so well.

Video Clip



Lt. Tyler picks up a civilian radio station and convinces himself the nuclear blast was an elaborate joke.