Radio Bikini (1987)
Film:
DVD:

Produced & Directed by Robert Stone
Featuring John Smitherman & Kilon Bauno

Features:

• Interview with Stone
  
• Filmmaker biography
  

Released by Docurama
Rating: NR (some disturbing imagery)
Region: 1
Anamorphic: N/A; appears in its original 1.33:1 format.

My Advice: Personally, I'd buy it. But see it at least once.

It's 1946. Apparently not having learned enough about the destructive potential of the atomic bomb by dropping it onto two cities in Japan, the American military decides that it would be a good idea to, just as a test mind you, bomb the living shit out of a peaceful atoll that was minding its own business in the Pacific. Of course, there are some complications. For one thing, the atoll is inhabited by aboriginal people who will simply have to be relocated, naturally. And for another thing, the military decides it would be a grand idea--despite having seen footage and stills of the after effects of Hiroshima and Nagasaki--to put a whole slew of servicemen nearby...you know, just to observe.

Okay, let's get one thing clear up front. I'm a big fan of America, for the most part. I kinda live in America, you know, and I do have a certain fondness for the place. However this documentary and the unmitigated mindless hubris that it covers just makes me want to find whoever had this bright idea and bitch slap them. Repeatedly. Suffice to say, this documentary is probably one of the most stunning, horrific things I've ever seen--and I attended public schools.

You've got military drones creating their films about the operation at Bikini Atoll, assuring everyone that all precautions are being taken--next thing you see are unprotected military boys walking around the decks of semi-melted ships at ground (or perhaps water) zero mere hours after the detonations. You see the footage of the shockwaves marching across the water, away from the mushroom cloud. You see guys doing their laundry in what has got to be incredibly irradiated water. And, for you men out there, a guy pointing a geiger counter at another guy's crotch and the thing going ballistic.

This is not presented by Stone in such way as to point a finger and wag it at the military. This is primarily because he doesn't have to do anything of the sort; he just sits back and lets the footage work for him. Having culled all of this footage from a motion picture that the military had planned to make about the event and then abandoned, he splices in interviews with the current head of the aboriginal people who lost their home at Bikini, as well as a serviceman who was there, John Smitherman. The combination is particularly devastating. There's not even any narration--it's just stock footage and interview footage edited together for maximum impact.

I'm going to try and keep my ranting to a minimum (too late, they cry). But even with the idea that a demonstration of atomic power was needed (as though two uses in wartime wasn't enough), the fact that these servicemen were told everything was going to be copacetic and thus were harmed (severely) in the process is just mind-blowing. Even though Stone seems to think that the military didn't know any better, I can't imagine that even in 1946 that walking around an atomic blast zone with little disposable booties over your shoes as your only protection was considered a good idea. Maybe I'm Monday morning quarterbacking this thing to death, but I don't think so.

Now that my spleen is thoroughly vented, we join this review already in progress. The disc itself is stacked as far as most documentaries go, bearing an interview with Stone that covers his career, but also this docu in general--and it will answer a lot of questions you're left with once the credits roll. There's also a text-on-screen biography about Stone.

Basically, this is a must watch. Personally, I think you should have a copy on your shelf just because telling someone about it--the whole thing sounds so damn incredulous that you need documentation to back yourself up. But regardless, everyone should see this at least once. Its message is powerful and it cannot be overstated.