By Dawn's Early Light
| By Dawn's Early Light | |
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Tagline: "Four People. Three Minutes. Two Choices. One Chance For Survival."
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| Directed by | Jack Sholder |
| Produced by | Thomas M. Hammel |
| Written by |
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| Based on | Trinity's Child |
| Starring | |
| Music by |
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| Cinematography | Alexander Gruszynski |
| Edited by | Tony Lombardo |
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Production
company |
Paravision International
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| Distributed by | HBO Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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100 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
By Dawn’s Early Light (AKA The Grand Tour) is an HBO Original Movie, aired in 1990 and set in 1991. It is based on the 1983 novel Trinity's Child, written by William Prochnau. The film is one of the last to depict the events of a fictional World War III before the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War.
In the late 1980s, a group of dissident officials in the Soviet Union have grown afraid of losing power as relations improve with the United States. Hoping to oust the Soviet President, they steal a nuclear missile and launch it at the Ukraine from a site in NATO member Turkey. Soviet automated defense systems, believing a NATO attack is in progress, execute a measured launch of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) at the United States.
The US Strategic Air Command (SAC) scramble its forces. SAC Commander General Renning urges the President of the United States to authorize a full counterattack.
The Soviet President contacts his US counterpart, explaining the dissidents' actions. He asks the US to stand down, but is willing to accept a US counterstrike if it is exactly equal to the Soviet's first strike, costing each side 6 to 9 million people. If the US launches an all-out attack, the Soviets will respond in kind, dooming the planet.
The US President and General Renning argue about the message from the Soviet leader, until it appears that the Soviets have launched a second attack. The President authorizes a multi-part all-out attack, with US ICBMs launched immediately, then submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) in a few hours, coincident with the arrival of US nuclear bombers over the Soviet Union. General Renning issues the orders just before the first wave hits SAC headquarters, then quickly passes command of SAC to "Alice"—code name of the US General in command of Looking Glass, a flying command platform for the US military.
The President is ushered to Marine One. As the helicopter lifts off, he learns that the second Soviet attack was not directed at the US but at China – which had launched their own missiles at the Soviets, adding untold millions of deaths in those two countries. As he tries to cancel his orders for the all-out US retaliation, a nearby nuclear detonation knocks his helicopter out of the sky.
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Wikipedia