Best movies like By Dawn's Early Light
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
When a nuclear missile is launched by presumably Soviet forces toward Turkey, the beginning of the ultimate war to end all wars WW 3 is started. Powers Boothe, his girlfriend and copilot Rebecca DeMornay and their flight crew take off in a B 52 on what they believe is just another drill only to find out that this is the real deal.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Action, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: bleak, serious, suspenseful, surprise ending, suspense, independent film, corny, disaster movie
Best tv shows and movies like By Dawn's Early Light (1990):
Similar in 85%
The Chairman (1969)
Plot Summary:
An American scientist is sent to Red China to steal the formula for a newly developed agricultural enzyme. What he is not told by his bosses is that a micro-sized bomb has been planted in his brain so that should the mission ever look likely to fail, he can be eliminated at the push of a button!.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Action, Drama, Thriller
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, realistic, suspenseful, surprise ending, suspense, black comedy, microfilm
Similar in 81%
Tactical Assault (1998)
Plot Summary:
In this high-flying action thriller, an expert Air Force flyer finds himself forced to use every trick he has ever learned to stop a murderous, insane former colleague and friend from exacting deadly revenge upon him.
IMDB Rating: 3.8
IMDB Votes: 572
Genere: Action, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: independent film, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, surprise ending
Similar in 81%
Miracle Mile (1988)
Plot Summary:
After 30 years of searching, Harry (Edwards) has finally met the girl of his dreams. Unfortunately, before they even have a chance to go on their first date, Harry intercepts some chilling news: WWIII has begun and nuclear missiles will destroy Los Angeles in less than an hour!.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 12000
Genere: Action, Drama, Romance, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: suspense, suspenseful, bleak, surreal, futuristic, bad ending, apocalyptic, cult classic, black comedy, depressing
Similar in 85%
Countdown to Looking Glass (1984)
Plot Summary:
A fictional confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union over the Strait of Hormuz, the gateway to the Persian Gulf. The narrative of the film details the events that lead up to the initial exchange of nuclear weapons from the perspective of an on-going news broadcast.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 694
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: apocalyptic, tragic ending, mockumentary, disaster movie
Similar in 75%
Stealth Fighter (1999)
Plot Summary:
A navy pilot fakes his own death and steals a stealth fighter plane from a U.S.A.F base. He then acts as a mercenary, targeting military installations around the world.
IMDB Rating: 3.4
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Action, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: independent film, surprise ending, exciting, serious, realistic
Similar in 75%
Freedom Strike (1998)
Plot Summary:
When a peace treaty between America and Syria is thwarted, the renegade head of the Syrian army retaliates in a major way. He steals a nuclear weapon that only the Freedom Strike team can stop! Cue an action-packed race against time to save the world.
IMDB Rating: 3.7
IMDB Votes: 476
Genere: Drama, Action
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: independent film, exciting, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, fast, surprise ending
Similar in 75%
Aurora: Operation Intercept (1995)
Plot Summary:
There have been two mysterious plane crashes in only 48 hours. The aircraft suddenly lose control and crash, killing everyone aboard. A woman of Russian descent, Francesca Zaborszin, the daughter of a slain Federal investigator, claims responsibility for the crashes. She believes her father was killed by the FBI as part of a cover-up operation and wishes to avenge his death by threatening to down more aircraft using the same electromagnetic pulse method. She also intends to crash a stolen military jet into the White House. There's no time to ground the planes: just enough time to try to stop her.
IMDB Rating: 3.6
IMDB Votes: 354
Genere: Action, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: suspense, independent film, exciting, rough, serious, futuristic, suspenseful, fast, surprise ending
Similar in 87%
Airport 1975 (1974)
Plot Summary:
"Something hit us...the crew is dead...help us, please, please help us!" With these terrifying words, 22 of Hollywood's greatest stars find themselves aboard a pilotless jumbo jet headed on a collision course with destruction in the nerve chilling sequel to the greatest disaster movie ever made.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 12000
Genere: Action, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, suspense, psychotronic, psychological, exciting, rough, serious, fast, crying, black comedy
Similar in 76%
Airport '77 (1977)
Plot Summary:
Flight 23 has crashed in the Bermuda Triangle while taking VIPs and valuable art to Philip Stevens new museum. But when hijackers take off the plane and knock everyone out with sleeping gas the plane crashes in the sea. The passengers survive but a small hole at the front is flooding the plane and 2 daring rescues must be put into action because everyone is trapped 200 feet underwater.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 12000
Genere: Action, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 114 min
Plot tags: exciting, suspense, serious, suspenseful, psychotronic, psychological, cult classic, rough, bleak, fast
Similar in 78%
The Concorde... Airport '79 (1979)
Plot Summary:
The last of the 'Airport' series again stars George Kennedy as aviation disaster-prone Joe Patroni, this time having to contend with nuclear missiles, the French Air Force and the threat of the plane splitting in two over the Alps!.
IMDB Rating: 4.4
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Action, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: psychological, cult classic, rough, bleak, serious, suspenseful, fast, suspense, crying, psychotronic
Similar in 79%
Skyjacked (1972)
Plot Summary:
A crazed Vietnam vet bomber hijacks a Boeing 707 in this disaster film filled with the usual early '70s stereotypes, and demands to be taken to Russia.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Action, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: psychological, suspense, exciting, tense, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, fast, surprise ending
Similar in 88%
Black Thunder (1998)
Plot Summary:
When the top secret prototype of the Nova Stealth fighter has been stolen, the Pentagon launches big alarm; the plane shouldn't come into hostile hands.
IMDB Rating: 3.7
IMDB Votes: 611
Genere: Action, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, serious, suspense, independent film, realistic, suspenseful, fast, surprise ending, black comedy
Similar in 87%
White House Down (2013)
Plot Summary:
Capitol Policeman John Cale has just been denied his dream job with the Secret Service of protecting President James Sawyer. Not wanting to let down his little girl with the news, he takes her on a tour of the White House, when the complex is overtaken by a heavily armed paramilitary group. Now, with the nation's government falling into chaos and time running out, it's up to Cale to save the president, his daughter, and the country.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 233000
Genere: Action, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 131 min
Plot tags: exciting, suspense, action packed, action thriller, intense, realistic, suspenseful, serious, political, breathtaking
Similar in 82%
Fail Safe (2000)
Plot Summary:
Cold War tensions climb to a fever pitch when a U.S. bomber is accidentally ordered to drop a nuclear warhead on Moscow.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: tense, serious, captivating, suspenseful, political, psychological, apocalyptic, realistic, political thriller, disaster movie
Similar in 76%
Twilight's Last Gleaming (1977)
Plot Summary:
A renegade USAF general, Lawrence Dell, escapes from a military prison and takes over an ICBM silo near Montana and threatens to provoke World War 3 unless the President reveals details of a secret meeting held just after the start of the Vietnam War between Dell and the then President's most trusted advisors.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: West Germany, USA
Duration: 146 min
Plot tags: neo noir, political, political thriller, tense, rough, bleak, serious, realistic, suspenseful, disturbing
Similar in 87%
Air Force One (1997)
Plot Summary:
Russian terrorists conspire to hijack the aircraft with the president and his family on board. The commander in chief finds himself facing an impossible predicament: give in to the terrorists and sacrifice his family, or risk everything to uphold his principles - and the integrity of the nation.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 207000
Genere: Action, Drama, Thriller
Country: Germany, USA
Duration: 124 min
Plot tags: exciting, suspense, suspenseful, tension, entertaining, intense, serious, rough, realistic, action packed
Similar in 83%
Crack in the World (1965)
Plot Summary:
Dr. Steven Sorenson plans to tap the geothermal energy of the Earth's interior by means of a thermonuclear device detonated deep within the Earth.This experiment causes a crack to form and grow within the earth's crust, which threatens to split the earth in two if it is not stopped in time.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Action, Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: apocalyptic, retro, exciting, serious, suspenseful, surprise ending, suspense, psychotronic, disaster movie, cult film
Similar in 88%
Flood (2007)
Plot Summary:
Timely yet terrifying, The Flood predicts the unthinkable. When a raging storm coincides with high seas it unleashes a colossal tidal surge, which travels mercilessly down England's East Coast and into the Thames Estuary. Overwhelming the Barrier, torrents of water pour into the city. The lives of millions of Londoners are at stake.
IMDB Rating: 4.8
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Action, Drama, Thriller
Country: UK, South Africa, Canada
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: serious, suspenseful, talky, captivating, apocalyptic, exciting, suspense, action thriller, rough, independent film
Similar in 78%
Scorcher (2002)
Plot Summary:
The only hope for humanity to survive a natural disaster is to detonate a nuclear bomb in Los Angeles.
IMDB Rating: 3.7
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: serious, suspenseful, suspense, fast, surprise ending, psychotronic, independent film, freeze frame, disaster movie
Similar in 79%
Volcano (1997)
Plot Summary:
An earthquake shatters a peaceful Los Angeles morning and opens a fissure deep into the earth, causing lava to start bubbling up. As a volcano begins forming in the La Brea Tar Pits, the director of the city's emergency management service, Mike Roark, working with geologist Amy Barnes, must then use every resource in the city to try and stop the volcano from consuming Los Angeles.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 81000
Genere: Action, Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: exciting, suspense, intense, suspenseful, apocalyptic, breathtaking, cult classic, action adventure, serious, realistic
Similar in 89%
The Day After (1983)
Plot Summary:
The film portrays a fictional nuclear war between NATO forces and the Warsaw Pact that rapidly escalates into a full scale exchange between the United States and the Soviet Union, focusing on the residents of Lawrence, Kansas, and Kansas City, Missouri, as well as several family farms situated next to nearby nuclear missile silos.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 18000
Genere: Drama, Sci-Fi
Country: USA
Duration: 127 min
Plot tags: disturbing, futuristic, apocalyptic, harsh, serious, thought provoking, psychotronic, suspense, bleak, rough
Similar in 77%
Fail-Safe (1964)
Plot Summary:
Because of a technical defect an American bomber team mistakenly orders the destruction of Moscow. The President of the United States has but little time to prevent an atomic catastrophe from occurring. Director Sidney Lumet gives an atmospheric vision of the future with a Cold War backdrop.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 24000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: tense, political thriller, political, realistic, bleak, black and white, emotional, suspense, serious, suspenseful
Similar in 76%
The Bedford Incident (1965)
Plot Summary:
Richard Widmark plays a hardened cold-war warrior and captain of the American destroyer USS Bedford. Sidney Poitier is a reporter given permission to interview the captain during a routine patrol. Poitier gets more than he bargained for when the Bedford discovers a Soviet sub in the depths and the captain begins a relentless pursuit, pushing his crew, and the on-screen tension, to breaking point in this chilling cold-war tale of cat and mouse.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: exciting, suspenseful, atmospheric, political, tense, suspense, realistic, intense, surprise ending, serious
Similar in 80%
Captured (2000)
Plot Summary:
Matt Hendricks (Dolph Lundgren) is the US Navy's top Marine Special Operations Commander and is facing his toughest challenge yet - Escorting the deadliest viral weapon on the planet back to a safe Storage Faciliy.
IMDB Rating: 3.3
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Action, Drama, Thriller
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, rough, serious, suspense, independent film, exciting, fast, surprise ending, double entendre
Similar in 79%
Counter Measures (1998)
Plot Summary:
US Navy medical officer Jake Fuller is assigned to a goodwill visit aboard a Russian submarine. But he and his companion, Lt. Swain, end up alone among terrorists, who have taken over the submarine and threaten to fire its nuclear weapons.
IMDB Rating: 4.0
IMDB Votes: 503
Genere: Action, Thriller, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: suspense, independent film, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 82%
Crimson Tide (1995)
Plot Summary:
On a US nuclear missile sub, a young first officer stages a mutiny to prevent his trigger happy captain from launching his missiles before confirming his orders to do so.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 121000
Genere: Action, Drama, Thriller, War
Country: USA
Duration: 116 min
Plot tags: suspense, suspenseful, realistic, intense, rough, serious, exciting, political, tense, action thriller
Similar in 84%
The Sum of All Fears (2002)
Plot Summary:
When the president of Russia suddenly dies, a man whose politics are virtually unknown succeeds him. The change in political leaders sparks paranoia among American CIA officials, so CIA director Bill Cabot recruits a young analyst to supply insight and advice on the situation. Then the unthinkable happens: a nuclear bomb explodes in a U.S. city, and America is quick to blame the Russians.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 123000
Genere: Action, Drama, Thriller, War
Country: USA, Germany, Canada
Duration: 124 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, suspense, exciting, political, tense, intense, political thriller, serious, rough, realistic
Similar in 80%
Greenland (2020)
Plot Summary:
A detached married couple must get their son and themselves to safety after being randomly selected to enter an underground bunker, as a massive object from space threatens to destroy the world in less than 48 hours.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 129000
Genere: Action, Thriller
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 119 min
Plot tags: suspense, apocalyptic, exciting, scenic, psychotronic, psychological, tense, sentimental, serious, suspenseful
Similar in 83%
Deep Impact (1998)
Plot Summary:
A seven-mile-wide space rock is hurtling toward Earth, threatening to obliterate the planet. Now, it's up to the president of the United States to save the world. He appoints a tough-as-nails veteran astronaut to lead a joint American-Russian crew into space to destroy the comet before impact. Meanwhile, an enterprising reporter uses her smarts to uncover the scoop of the century.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 188000
Genere: Action, Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: suspense, touching, serious, suspenseful, futuristic, intense, breathtaking, apocalyptic, exciting, action adventure
Similar in 89%
Outbreak (1995)
Plot Summary:
A deadly airborne virus finds its way into the USA and starts killing off people at an epidemic rate. Col Sam Daniels' job is to stop the virus spreading from a small town, which must be quarantined, and to prevent an over reaction by the White House.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 136000
Genere: Action, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 127 min
Plot tags: exciting, suspenseful, serious, apocalyptic, suspense, intense, intellectual, breathtaking, action thriller, terrifying