Trinity and Beyond: The Atomic Bomb Movie (1995 Video) User Reviews

Prepare to be horrified...

[catch22000 · 9/10 · 22 December 2004]

This film would have been nothing were it not for the outstanding scoring by the Moscow Symphony Orchestra. The music amplifies the horror, the bizarre and grotesque beauty, the grandiose irony of this film and its subject. Shatner's fact-like voice is like monochrome, and never distracts from the subject with character. It is a purposefully amoral film to good effect. Without stretching far beyond the immediate implications of a nuclear blast, and by staying devoid of ideology, we are left with the terrible phenomenon itself - the atomic blast.

To me, this was a real horror movie... sitting paralyzed, bug eyed, shocked, mouth agape and all that, complete with surround sound and weighty, ponderous Russian orchestrations in grotesque minor keys. You pray to God they make presidents watch films like these.

I also thought the ending "However..." sequence was perfect. To say that weapons find rest in the hands of fools becomes a truly shocking understatement when you see the sheer unhinged lunacy of the final scene.

The Demon of the Other

[jason-320-325606 · 7/10 · 21 July 2012]

I grew up fearing a demon. I wasn't alone. Many of us learned, whether in school or through the news, that this demon was out to get us. The demon was different than us. They didn't believe the same as we did. They wanted to hurt us, hurt us so much that they had these horrible weapons pointed in our direction. The demon was called the United Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

A specter of nuclear war hovered right outside my young mind. I didn't know why the USSR was the demon. No one ever took the time to actually teach me anything at all about the USSR. I just knew I was supposed to be scared. I also knew that I wasn't supposed to like "those" people.

My knowledge of the USSR? Minimal. Really none. My eighth grade history teacher, known for coming to class in a Elizabethan period outfit, skipped the lesson on the Soviet Union to "punish" us. He was mad, for some reason now faded from my memory, and refused to teach us. "This will be important stuff to you some day," the teacher said. "You'll be sorry you didn't get the lesson. We'll sit here in silence today."

Yeah. My public school wasn't the most progressive experience. I've come a long way from Center Junior High School. Hopefully they too have come a long way.

We have new demons to fear now. The process, however, is still the same. The xenophobia and ignorance is still the same. Children raised in the world since the World Trade Center came down have been taught by fearful adults to enact xenophobic fears toward people in Muslim countries--and people of the Muslim faith who are our neighbors in our own country.

The cycle continues. Someday a new demon will rise and replace our fear of Muslim people. When we turn our eyes away from the Muslim world they too, might turn their eyes away from us. They'll grow fearful of another demon as shall we.

We seem to be unable to find our way out of this cycle of fearing that which is different.

You can find this same xenophobia in the movie Trinity and Beyond: The Atomic Bomb Movie. Narrated by William Shatner, Trinity offers up stunning visual imagery of the destructiveness of the weaponry. It provides an engrossing and terrifying spectacle of destruction. The movie fails to question why the bomb was really developed. Maybe the horror is enough. The demon unleashed from the atom speaks for itself.

I wish the documentary moved beyond "othering" those outside of the United States. The same tired old xenophobia is laced through the movie. The bomb was developed, as suggested in the movie, to end a terrible war with Japan. It also makes allusions to needed to protect ourselves against the danger of another more ominous other, the Soviet Union. The most haunting image of all was at the end of the documentary. Horses raced onto a mock battle field, faces and eyes covered with gas masks. Riding the horses were similarly masked human soldiers. When the mask was removed we saw the rise of a new other--the Chinese tested their own nuclear bomb.

The horrifying cycle continues. German. Japanese. Soviet. Chinese. Muslim. We can't seem to find a way to see the other as part of ourselves.

See http://irreverentpsychologist.blogspot.com/2012/07/demons-of-sixth- grade-red-circles-of.html for more

Powerful, Visually Rich Footage of Man's Greatest Weapon Taking its Baby Steps

[drqshadow-reviews · 7/10 · 1 May 2012]

William Shatner narrates a running tally of almost every nuclear weapons test run by the United States in the atomic age, from the 1945 breakthrough "Trinity" to 1963's "Nike Hercules" air defense missile. Almost as fascinating as the constant barrage of blooming orange mushroom clouds on the screen is the realization of just how recklessly fascinated our leaders actually were with this technology. It's a boys' world (or, at least, it was at the time) and so it's not entirely surprising that the men at the top of the food chain would want the biggest toy in the yard to parade around with. Still, it's tough to imagine anyone - even a selfish little brat - being so carefree with such volatile powers. The process almost parodies itself; when the US woefully underestimated the strength of "Castle," a blast twice as powerful as expected that accidentally irradiated sailors and villagers alike, they barely stopped to brush themselves off before launching additional blasts below the surface of the ocean, deep under the ground and in the upper reaches of the atmosphere. The latter of which, inadvertently, introduced us to the far-reaching powers of an EMP. The historical footage dug up for this documentary is riveting and amazing, fantastic fodder for fireball-lovers, but I couldn't stop wondering how we got through it all in one piece. These guys only thought they knew what they were doing, or had at best a vague idea, and in a lot of ways that's worse than just lighting the fuse and standing around with a clipboard and a pair of safety goggles.

You must watch this film at least once.

[NetHead-2 · 10/10 · 2 April 1999]

This is an incredible film documenting the American nuclear weapons development program, from its first stages to the end of atmospheric testing in the early 1960's. The music is haunting, and the film of the nuclear explosions will leave you spellbound. You reach the end of the film haunted by the power of the nuclear devices, yet you want to see more. This movie is a "must-see". Everyone in the whole world should watch it at least once, and understand the power we have unlocked in the nucleus of the atom. Fortunately this film doesn't attempt to put a political spin on the use or development of nuclear weapons, but seems to document them very objectively. The viewer is left to determine whether or not the nuclear arms race was worth it.

A fascinating and visually stunning history piece

[Surecure · 10/10 · 3 November 2003]

This ranks as one of my all time favourite documentaries. Trinity and Beyond's wealth of information is only overshadowed by its visually stunning presentation. Beautifully crafted, this film is not only an informative documentary, but truly is a work of art. It is perfect in every regards, from the laborious undertaking of restoring all of the test footage, to the insightful presentation of interviews, to the excellent choice of William Shatner as narrator (something he has a true talent for), to the beautiful musical score. I have absolutely no trouble recommending this film to anybody.

Reading over the negative reviews in this forum, I think that many people who dislike it have missed the point. Sure, we have all seen images of buildings being blown over and vehicles destroyed, but never before has it been presented in such a comprehensive manner and in such a way as we see the actual progress of nuclear weapons.

Watching this film, you see the development of nuclear weapons in a way where you can finally get a grasp on exactly how powerful the explosions are. Watching the first Kilotonne detonation of TNT, and then following the testing of every device from that point on, this is the most comprehensive view of exactly how far along nuclear weapons have come. Showing a 10 Kilotonne explosion followed by a 10 Megatonne is not nearly as impressive or understandable in terms of perception as when you see every step along the way as well.

This is a must-see, not only for anybody who wants an understanding of what nuclear weapons are truly capable of, but for anybody who appreciates beautiful film-making.

Money well spent--A terrific documentary

[Iceman-35 · 10/10 · 8 December 1998]

A superbly written and well-produced documentary on the history of American nuclear weapons. Impressive for the quality of archival color footage, William Shatner's competent narration, and the film's haunting musical score. Chronicles nearly every U.S. nuclear test program, from Trinity to the end of atmospheric testing in the late 50s. Also includes footage of the Soviet's 50-megaton "super bomb".

Trinity and Beyond carefully avoids overwhelming you with meaningless dialogue. Instead, Shatner introduces each chapter sparingly, then allows you to sit back and absorb the spectacle of the explosions while listening to the score. The result is a perfect blend of sight, sound, and historical background. Overall, a terrific documentary and a definite must-buy for the history buff in your family.

It may blow you away.

[RNeary · 13 May 1999]

From its first sequence of workers stacking cartons of TNT for a rehearsal blast at Trinity Site, to its last image of Chinese cavalry galloping into a mushroom cloud (the horses wearing gas masks), TRINITY AND BEYOND is a visually arresting film.

The picture documents the full scope of American nuclear testing from 1945 to 1963. Sand is fused into glass in New Mexico; islands are literally blown off the map in the South Pacific; a test in space blacks out Honolulu radio. In one nightmarish highlight, a bomb-laden Thor rocket catches fire and explodes on the launch pad. The warhead goes shooting off like a roman candle.

The film makes an interesting bookend to THE ATOMIC CAFE (1982), covering parallel ground, but apolitically, in contrast to the earlier picture's deadpan subversiveness. A key element is the carefully noncommittal narration by William Shatner. It's impossible to know what Shatner thinks about the events he's describing. (Though his direction of STAR TREK V demonstrates that Shatner is something of an expert on bombs.)

On the debit side, the movie feels a few minutes too long, and its Wrath of God musical score, while formidable in small doses, palls a bit as it goes on.

In its wedding of immaculate, surreal visuals with portentious music, TRINITY AND BEYOND oddly reminded me of the New Age films of Ron Fricke - it's like a KOYAANISQATSI for hawks. Sometimes, especially during a few brief shots of domestic animals being locked into cages close to Ground Zero, it makes you want to take a mental bath, at the mixture of intellect and human destructiveness on display. Nonetheless, it's a powerful, intelligent movie that lingers in the memory, and turns a valuable lens on 50's America and the Cold War.

Shocking & fascinating

[thefan-2 · 10/10 · 29 April 1999]

This is a documentary about nuclear and thermonuclear weapons. It has interviews with key players from the 1940s and 1950s, including Edward Teller, and footage of dozens of tests. For someone like me who grew up in the shadow of these things, the explosions are eerily fascinating. A huge dome of fire expands in every direction and then dissipates to reveal a core of impossibly intense light that rises and becomes a roiling torus of ordinary fire surrounded by clouds. Then the shock wave comes at you, quite visible and moving very quickly, here it comes, here it comes -- and everything is blown to bits. The violence of these things still has the ability to shock. An ordinary school bus, very much like the one that picks up my kids every morning, suddenly starts smoking and then bursts into flames, and a few seconds later an invisible baseball bat wielded by an invisible giant whacks it broadside, caving in one whole side, and knocking it over and sending it sliding. There's footage of an atomic cannon firing a shell at a distant target which, after maybe ten seconds, is obliterated in a 10 kiloton explosion. There's footage of explosions in space, 50+ miles up: pure globes of fire, sans mushroom cloud. There are air blasts that bash in and then suck up cubic miles of land; and underwater explosions, captured by robot cameras and microphones inside robot submarines. One thing that seems so obvious now is that the scientific and military value of many of these tests (apart from scaring the bejeezus out of everyone) was nil. It was more like a bunch of boys blowing up toilet bowls with M80s. "What happens if we pen a dozen pigs 1000 feet from ground zero?" "What happens if we set one off under the water right next to a submarine?" Narrated by William Shatner. Highly recommended. Personally, I don't think we've seen the end of these things.

Big on the vistas and soundtrack, small on facts and figures.

[snoadog · 6/10 · 4 November 2009]

The HD detonations and superb soundtrack had me wondering if Satan himself was going to pop out of my TV. But for me there was precious little facts on the results of all the testing. As a layman I would like to have known how bad was/is the fallout/radiation on planet Earth. How much did this testing actually pollute the Earth and its life? And what about all the people involved with the testing? I would have liked a lot more input from that angle. It was just one detonation after another. Kind of made me think they were sensationalizing it all, assuming as most do these days that the viewing audience has a short little span of attention.

FORGET THREADS!!

[johnmcrep · 10/10 · 16 August 2004]

This is the scientific version of "Threads" and has much more drama. William Shatner's low and 'Star Trek' warm monotone narration combined with earth shattering images provide this movie with entertainment that you just want to watch over and over again. The 3D section is excellent, especially if your watching it in Dolby pro-logic and on DVD. The most interesting moment for me personally is where the news reporters are at the test site and you can see every emotion in their faces just before the bomb goes off. The device detonates and we are shown the images of a house imploding and cars and buses being hurtled into the air and disintegrating upon impact with the heat blast. Pure quality. Put it this way, choice between "Threads" and "Trinity"? Trinity will always come first because what's portrayed is fact, not fiction.

Some serious omissions

[fineanimal · 6/10 · 29 July 2002]

This is definitely a film worth watching, although it's "objectivity" suffers from some rather serious omissions.

"Trinity and Beyond" offers a decent summary of the history of human flirtation with the power of nuclear weapons. One comes away from the film with two main impressions: 1) (for older viewers) a renewed gratitude that we never witnessed a full-scale nuclear war, and 2) amazement at the utterly childlike and naive way in which governments developed and tested nuclear weapons, with almost no responsible consideration of potential consequences for human beings. Everything was done for the sake of protecting and preserving abstract institutions--nations, governments and the like--with no meaningful concern for the human beings who comprise those institutions.

However, if "Trinity and Beyond" was intended to make us really think about the consequences of flirting with the atom, it failed on several counts:

1) The real devastation wrought by the United States upon human beings at Hiroshima and Nagasaki was never shown. Not even one image of a silhouette on a Japanese building caused by an incinerated human was shown. There were no images of Japanese zombies walking through the rubble in shock with their flesh blown clear off their bodies. No images of children with their eyeballs hanging out of their sockets. Almost all of the film footage is presented from a safe, sterile distance, much like bomber pilots must witness while delivering so much death. This incomprehensible omission alone constitutes a default endorsement of nuclear weapons development and testing, and challenges any claim that "Trinity and Beyond" is an objective film.

2) There is no meaningful mention of the US government's use of American citizens as virtual guinea pigs, as far as the effects of radiation are concerned. Apart from mentioning that a small boat had once entered a testing area during a test, no mention was made of the blatant disregard governments showed for their own soldiers and citizens while studying the effects of nuclear blasts and subsequent fallout.

3) Much is made of footage of nuclear explosions in space without a single mention of what could have happened if a rocket had accidentally gone off-course into a populated area instead. Even stunning footage of a rocket exploding on the launch pad fails to mention whether or not a nuclear weapon was on board that rocket.

Furthermore, the ending was visually terrifying, yet without narrative explanation it fails to make any specific point. It does, however, tend to demonize a certain country, which again challenges all claims to objectivity.

Overall, "Trinity and Beyond" offers a striking visual experience, especially for people who experienced life during the Cold War. Unfortunately, this film is one of the least-thought provoking documentaries I have ever seen, and that is a crying shame given the extraordinarily serious subject under consideration.

Fascinating

[veeyy · 9/10 · 31 January 2006]

Thoroughly enjoyed this documentary. The old, deteriorating footage of nuclear weapon tests that was painstakingly restored for this project is awesome, yet at the same time, terrifying.

Most refreshing is that the film is not revisionist, but an honest historical account of those dark days in world history, presented in the context of those times.

No matter what one's politics, this film is a must see. Personally, I believe that with the end of the Cold War, it would finally be achievable, if the collective willpower were there, to actually rid the world of nuclear weapons.

The beauty and the horror.

[helloryannewman · 7/10 · 16 February 2013]

This is a lovely little document. The awe and terror that these technological developments ought to still inspire has waned with the passing of the more imminent threat they once posed, but the story of how one shred of rational justification can snowball into a cancerous, institutionalized insanity remains valid. This documentary doesn't preach or condemn. If it had been mere political diatribe, the filmmakers would never have gained the participation of unapologetic proponents of arms research that they did. It's just a story.

Going into the film blind, I wondered where the story could go after the mention of over 100,000 deaths from two bomb drops in Japan. It occurred to me while watching that, nasty and needless as that sheer destruction was, it would have to have been a cautionary lesson. But in fact, history went in entirely the opposite direction. Bigger bombs. More bombs. More efficient delivery of bombs to ensure maximum damage. There was a line that made me chuckle about the eventual "obsolescence" of Fat Man, the bomb that killed over 40,000 in Nagasaki.

The absurdities of the maniacal pursuit of greater destructive capabilities can gain nothing from impassioned commentary. As narrator, William Shatner plays it perfectly straight. The facts and the images presented could only be rendered maudlin by an attempt to shade what they represent. There are no soaring strings in the background. If you aren't saddened, awed, and enraged by the footage of goats and mice being caged on the ships of a ghost armada to test the death potential of these boys' toys, no talk will help you to be touched. Boats sunk, buildings broken, animals burned, innocent islanders irradiated: all of these crimes are justified and propagandized with the aim of developing a destructive capacity that can only be viewed as brutal and undiscerning, apocalyptic even.

This is a film which shows what a committed group of like-minded individuals can accomplish when given the motivation, funding, and direction. It's a shame that so many engaged and able people would commit themselves to furthering this sort of end.

Interesting stock footage, but not very informative

[dementos · 3/10 · 7 May 2005]

This documentary contains lots of impressive footage of atomic explosions. Those "atomic mushrooms" are frightening, yet beautiful.

I just wish the whole documentary were a bit more informative. For instance, instead of showing one explosion after another, I wish they had explained the difference between a regular atomic bomb and a hydrogen bomb, for instance. And what's a "thermo-nuclear" bomb? Furthermore, I was missing a more critical view of the risks of atomic weapons. The social and political implications of nuclear weapons are barely touched upon. This would have been so much more interesting than just mentioning codenames for various tests and their corresponding explosive power, measured in "kilotons" and "megatons".

Where were all the ridiculous American propaganda movies (like the classic "Duck and Cover")? What about other countries with nuclear weapons programs besides the USSR and China? All in all, the whole movie casts a picture of the atomic weapons race which is too neat and uncritical.

All in all, the movie feels like a new piece of American propaganda: We are the good guys ("nuclear weapons are good and necessary, and we are great because we invented them"), and they are the bad guys ("they only use those weapons to put us and the free world in danger").

Is it documentary or is it art?

[dick-95 · 29 June 1999]

A fantastic film - the only documentary I've seen that could double as an art film. As other reviewers have mentioned, there is minimal narration and few interviews, making this more of a mood piece than a straight, 'just the facts' kind of film experience. And an original score to boot! Something special, to be sure.

Bombs Away!

[sol1218 · 8/10 · 27 August 2012]

Excellent documentary narrated by actor William Shatner about the dawn of the Nuclear Age with the detonation of the first Atomic Bomb in the New Mexican Desert in he early morning hours of July 16, 1945. With the Atomic bomb in US hands it wasn't long before it was dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki killing as much as 130,000 people and thus ending the Second World War.

It was after the war that the US started to test the atomic bomb in a number of islands and atolls in the vast Pacific Ocean which proved just how dangerous and destructive it was by vaporing both islands and ships, surplus destroyers battleships and even aircraft carriers, that the bomb was targeted at. It wasn't until late August 1949 that the US lost it's monopoly on the Atomic Bomb with the Soviet Unions detonation of its own in Eastern Siberia. With a major enemy the USSR now having the bomb which secrets was stolen from the US, by the likes of pro communists Klaus Fuchs and US Army Sergent David Greenglass and the Rosnebergs Julius & Ethel, from right under its nose the US was now determined to start testing bigger and far more destructive atomic or nuclear bombs. That in order to keep the Russians for gaining the upper hand over it in the race with the USA on the dead end road for achieving mutual destruction" or a Thermo Nuclear war which no side could possibly win.

The film documents the tests conducted by the US and USSR of nuclear weapons that by 1963 at the signing by the two nations of the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty well over 330 atmospheric nuclear bombs were tested by the US Governemnt alone! If you add up all the other US nuclear tests,underwater and underground,they amount to some 1,000! That's not counting those conducted by the USSR and other nations with nuclear capacity, Britian and France, the number of nuclear tests reach almost 2,000 in just under 20 years after the first atomic bomb was exploded! It's a wonder that the world was still around by then since there was enough nuclear bombs exploded, one a monstrous 57 megaton blast by the Soviet Union, to have destroyed the Earth a couple of times over!

With all the nations with nuclear weapons coming to their senses in how dangerous they are and trying to stop making and testing them Communist China suddenly and unexpectedly joined the nuclear club on October 16, 1964 with an Hiroshima type blast in the Gobi Desert making whatever gains in stopping the spread of nuclear weapons a mute point! With Communist China's leadership not willing to stop making and testing their new discovered toy or WMD: Weapon of Mass Destruction.

One of if not the best documentary ever made about the both Atomic & Hydrogen Bomb with first time never before shown rare US and USSR as well as Communist China government footage that brings out just how destructive these devices are. Even in peace time nuclear tests have destroyed and polluted, with nuclear radiation, thousands of square miles of sea and land making it both uninhabitable and void of any signs of life. You can just imagine what a real nuclear war could do if a world leader of a country that has the bomb is crazy enough to start one.

Music alone is worth the price.

[Larry36 · 9/10 · 5 November 1999]

The beautiful score this DVD is played energetically by the Moscow Symphony Orchestra and the disc format gives the viewer the option to play the music alone. This disc proves that CDs could be released in the 5.1 format for DVD players and would enhance the listening pleasure of any music lover. Stromberg and his collaborators have outdone themselves!

Haunting

[CaptainJinks · 8/10 · 15 October 2017]

Well, if you are looking for a thorough history lesson, this isn't it. This movie focuses more upon footage, music, the scare. And that's not a bad thing. I've had a life long obsession with the bomb and I'm already quite familiar with its history and technicalities. The footage along with the terrifyingly brilliant and suggestive music is, with a lack of better words, kind of a horrifying... treat. Each blast resembles death trying to make itself pretty.

If you want to educate yourself on the bomb, this movie makes a good trilogy together with "The bomb" (Rushmore DeNooyer 2017) and "World's biggest bomb" (Secrets of the dead, Andy Webb).

Dis movie waz da bomb!

[quothe the raven · 10/10 · 30 May 2001]

This was an excellent movie and provided many facts. I used it to write a research paper on the atom bomb's history and it was the the most predominent in my parenthetical citations. It gives great facts at a moderate pace so that you do not have to pause every 5 seconds to take notes. But it is fast enough that if you're watching for entertainment you won't nod off. This movie shows that not all documentaries are simply a cure for insomniacs.

"Bomb" Founded

[silviakerby71 · 7/10 · 1 July 2013]

I've seen this documentary twice now.

My shock and horror to the amount of testing we have conducted, makes very clear as to why so many of us are suffering from health issues.

331 bombs (as of the date of the film release) were 'tested'. I understand the need for testing with animals and clearly, if they SEE that the ANIMALS were RADIOACTIVE and the SPREAD of the materials....when were they going to realize "Hi! Earth? Atmosphere? WE BREATHE?! Inhale...exhale?! EXPOSURE!?".

I'm always saddened to see the effects of human actions. 20 - 30 tests were shocking to hear but 331 was not something I call a smart move.

This documentary, shows the damaging effects of human actions. So many bombs underground, above ground, in the ocean, in the atmosphere....so many times tested...

I now sit here and think to myself that the latest documentary stated that Chernobyl will take THOUSANDS of years for the radiation to clear...if this was in 1986....

I can now see the reason so many of our loved ones are dying from various forms of cancers and the havoc that all that testing with our continued lack of respect for Earth...has now today, caused the "No Global Warming" debate.

Alaska is melting, fires, earthquakes, tsunami.....storms...tornadoes in places that we've never had them....sure, no global warming.

As someone stated here, the music score is absolutely amazing....be prepared to be blown away (as someone else stated) for the devastation, recklessness of needless numerous testing while the music evokes a feeling of futility as we are completely powerless to rewind time.

In the end, a fantastic documentary but definitely, quite dark.

Not gory and full of conspiracies

[absolom7691 · 8/10 · 17 June 2008]

Many people have commented on this movie, giving it a bad review because it does not contain gory and shocking images from Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This says a great deal about our audience today. The movie industry has spoiled us with blood and gore to the point where that is all we want to see. No, this doesn't have the blood and horror that some are looking for. Others on here have said that it is missing all of the shocking tests and terrible things that the government did long ago to people and animals. No, it does not contain that either. That being said, if you are looking for gory and disturbing, rent something else or just get archived footage of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki aftermath. If you are looking for a government conspiracies, go rent the X-Files and don't waste your time here.

This movie is about the atomic bomb and its development. It has a brilliant score alongside William Shatner narrating. It is a collection of wonderfully remastered footage of many of our nuclear tests. I think this film really illustrates the horrific and terrifying beauty of an atomic bomb. I would dare say that it is art piece that gave me chills at the thought of what this device could do. Like I said, there is little to no gore or shocking footage so it would be safe for young people to watch and understand what these devices are and how unimaginable the repercussions of using this device. It is easy for young people to lose appreciation for such things as new video games and computer games have "nukes" to throw back and forth at the enemy without any real consequences.

The only downside I found to this film is, though it presented itself as non-biased throughout most of it, it did leave an overtone of "The US is responsible and stopped using them for testing while other countries still do and they are poisoning the world..." It never comes out and says that, but it seems to allude to it when showing China's nuclear test after the US had banned atmospheric testing. Of course, like most of this review, it is only my opinion.

Rather weak

[mike-1230 · 6/10 · 15 July 2004]

I was somewhat disappointed with this film. This is a hugely important part of human history that has somewhat disappeared in our present time. Although politicians today (2004) like to spit out superlatives about ¡°the most dangerous times¡± and ¡°the world has changed¡±¡¦ Oh Please¡¦. Although unimaginable-- an entire city being destroyed by a terrorist atomic bomb, we MUST try and contemplate thousands of cities being hit by multi megaton bombs. Sorry folks, that is a far greater danger. This doc did little to really set that tone and remind us of those extremely dangerous times. Fog of War did a far better job of that. Still, its worth seeing and I will give his other docs a try

Excellent Movie

[dougandbethany-640-355777 · 10/10 · 17 March 2010]

This movie was shown during the US Air Force Academy's Chemistry of Weapons course as background for the nuclear weapons portion. A visually stunning documentary.

I cannot believe the sheer ignorance collectively shown towards this movie. Apparently some think only 15 nuclear tests would have been necessary altogether instead of the 331 performed tests. Really??? Do you know why all of the harmful long-term side effects are now common knowledge? Because of these tests! I'm sorry you think they were so unnecessary, but what are your credentials to claim that 15 would have been enough? Did any of you know that there is a ring a few miles in diameter around both 'ground zeros' (Hiroshima and Nagasaki) where the local populous has a lower occurrence of cancer or any other birth defects than any other area (including the areas both closer and farther from the detonation site), leading scientists to the remarkable conclusion that our bodies may actually benefit from a small amount of radiation? (source is former head of Dept. of Chemistry, USAFA) And here everyone demonizes the US for both using the bomb during time of war as well as subsequent testing... what utter ignorance. People need to go look up the facts before making themselves look like idiots.

Facsinating footage

[jason-210 · 7/10 · 12 February 2008]

What makes this film so interesting is that it shows many previously classified films of exploding atomic bombs during US testing in the 1940s and 1950s; as well as the test sites, equipment and key players. Also of interest are clips of military and public information films from the era.

Much of this information is here made accessible to the public for the first time, which makes it all the more pity that many of the films have been cleverly edited by the filmmaker to increase the "wow" factor. For example, the GRABLE test from 1953 has been edited to the point of being misleading; the time from the firing of the tactical shell from the gun, to the its detonation several miles away has been cut from the 19 seconds in the original footage, to just 9 seconds in this film, so that it times nicely with the music. It gives the impression that the shell explodes much sooner than it actually did in reality.

There are other similar artistic licenses taken, and the result for me, is that, though the documentary has some awesome shots, it's less interesting than it might have been.

Technical information about the bombs is kept to a bare minimum, and often we are left wondering how, why and what happened next; and having William Shatner do the narration doesn't help...

Deliberately devoid of complexity and controversy.

[x_hydra · 1/10 · 16 February 2004]

There is no doubt that Kuran, et al, did a great job of getting this footage together. William Shatner on narration and the Moscow Symphony Orchestra for the score are perhaps the part of the most overdramatic combination in the history of documentaries, but these are more forgivable (they are almost a parody of themselves) than this overly sanitized version of American nuclear testing which overlooks practically all of the pertinent policy and moral issues.

As a film about some of the straight technical aspects of nuclear testing, though, it does a good job of explaining the purpose of each of the American tests it covers (it only covers the period between 1945-1964, though). The worst part was the final sequence of the testing of the Chinese atomic bomb. This is a HEAVILY edited sequence (the original can be found in the Chinese propaganda film, "Mao's Little Red Video" -- obviously not objective in any sense in its original, but amazingly made even less so by Kuran) splicing MULTIPLE nuclear tests into one sequence with the obvious intent on capitalizing on the effect of "Mongol hoards" in gas masks. He also redoes the audio, removing the narration explaining the technical purposes of their tests and why their soldiers were doing the maneuvers that they were. It is highly suspicious that a director would take the time to outline the technical aspects of American tests as a de-politicizing tactic, and then do exactly the opposite for the Chinese tests.

As a documentary about nuclear testing, it fails. Nuclear testing was NOT just about big explosions and the technical ramifications of them -- it contains issues of politics, the environment, diplomacy, morality, ethics, history, social policy, so forth and so forth and so forth. None of which were adequately covered in this film, which concerns itself almost completely with technical aspects -- and so attempts to devoid itself of any of the necessary responsibility of properly addressing the issues of nuclear testing.

Visually, it is stunning. It is a valid testament to Kuran's technical abilities. In terms of content, it fails in a variety of ways, ranging from omission to deceptive editing.

Teenage boys who delight in big bangs will no doubt love this. For those looking for a more informative and sophisticated documentary about atomic testing, try "The Atomic Cafe" instead. If you are looking for large explosions with only the most technical of context, then you might enjoy this film. For some, I fear, this is the most favored way to deal with nuclear testing -- one deliberately devoid of complexity and controversy.