Operação Nuclear

This film is, in my mind, all about what could happen if terrorists got their hands on nuclear weapons and technology did not take account of it. Russia's automatic retaliation to the strike on Donetsk triggers utter political turmoil as Russia realise, too late, that they are victims of terrorism, rather than under US attack. The big mistake was not keeping China informed of what was happening.

The acting in this film is excellent. Most of it seems very plausible, but would anyone really agree to a limited retaliation? Of course, the Soviet Union probably could not have made much contribution to rebuilding back then, so maybe it would be more plausible for the time.

The mind battle between Condor and the real President is excellent. This is a "must see" film for anyone interested in world politics.

An terrorist nuclear strike on a Russian target leads to a limited nuclear exchange between the superpowers while a gravely injured President attempts to stop both sides before going all out. Top notch production values capped off by excellent performances. "Welcome to Tomorrow."

There have been many attempts to portray some of the overall horror of supposed conflict between the Soviet Union and the United States. For many who have been in the forces, By Dawn's Early Light came very close to everything we were taught, everything we had to prepare for, if the real thing ever happened.

Whilst some films seek to show the madness of nuclear conflict (Strangelove) and others try to portray what might happen if things went wrong (Fail-safe), By Dawn's Early Light shows the picture from both the crew doing their job, delivering nuclear ordnance, to the President trying to turn the war off whilst his successor, badly advised, seeks to strike back with all his might to destroy the enemy and win the war. In the end, the conclusion that both the crews and the executive branches reach, is that global thermonuclear war IS madness and that the only safe solution is not to play.

In the film, the conflict is started with a renegade/terrorist attack on the Soviets. All we can hope, is that when the first terrorist nuclear weapon is used (probably on the west), the executive branch realise that the only solution is to find a way to a) take the weapons out of the hands of the irresponsible and b) try not to take retaliatory action.

The performances by James Earl Jones, Rebecca De Mornay and Powers Boothe are exceptional. The film would have been better without the personal relationship between the last two, but even with the limited budget for special effects, they managed to pull off a believable and tense drama.

If America ever has to commit to nuclear war, I hope they have men of the character of James Earl Jones's General. A man who follows orders, but is just as prepared to question if the orders are illegal and insane and act against them.

There have been many global nuclear war stories, and this is not the best, but I've always loved this film.

It's a combination of cast and perspective. Whereas most films have a single strong storyline, and maybe a couple of smaller sub plots, this film bypasses that usual structure, preferring instead to use 3 or 4 main plotlines, all moving forward, all converging on the same point. Good non-traditional approach managed by a great non-traditional director, Jack Shoulder (The Hidden).

And for a film that did not go to theatres, this one has a strong cast: Powers Booth teams with Rebecca DeMornay to fly the nuclear bomber. James Earl Jones and Jeffrey DeMunn battle Darren McGavin and Rip Torn as they try to overthrow our world during the ensuing panic. And Martin Landau as the Prez trying to keep it all together.

Nice story, good pace, strong finish. I like it.

This movie was one that makes you really think about our leaders and what type of decisions they would make in regards to our Nations defense in time of war. It would actually scare the hell out of me if this is what is is really like.

Hell, dealing with some of these same type people I have in the military scares the crap out of me.

The movie had it's share of sub-plots that all made their way into the big story made the film better.

However, had this film been based on acting alone, it would not have done so well. The acting in some parts had seemed to be a bit overdone and unrealistic. Thank god for the decent story line or this movie would have truly flopped.