Movie: "By Dawn's Early Light" from 1990 with Powers Boothe and Rebecca De Mornay. During a period of heightened Cold War tension, a limited nuclear incident sets off alarms on both sides of the globe. As automated systems respond and military forces are placed on high alert, leaders in the United States and the Soviet Union race to determine whether the crisis is the result of error or deliberate attack. Conflicting reports, damaged communications, and rigid command protocols complicate efforts to slow the situation down. Meanwhile, American bomber crews already in the air must follow orders while grappling with the reality of what those orders could mean. Decisions are made across multiple command centers as events move forward toward a critical point.