Trinity and Beyond: The Atomic Bomb Movie (1995)
Review by HTQ4
Film:
DVD:

Written & Directed by Peter Kuran
Narrated by William Shatner

Features:

• Director's Commentary
  
• 3-D Atomic Bomb Bonus (with 3-D glasses included)
  
• Live Action Bomb Explosion with Actual Sound Delay (unedited footage)
  
• Unique Photo Slideshow
  
• DVD-ROM Content: Listing of all the Nuclear Detonations by the United States including Yields
  
• Isolated score
  

This documentary, narrated by William Shatner, covers not only the tests and two military deployments of the world's first atomic bombs, but it also goes over a little of the world history leading up to the development of these horrible weapons…beginning as early as 1942. This documentary begins with Trinity, the world's first nuclear detonation at Los Alamos, New Mexico and takes us all the way through the first missle delivered atomic weapons tests. It is interspersed with interviews with some of the actual scientists and politicians involved in these endeavors that forever changed the world.

This documentary is incredibly well done. After watching this film, you really understand the world's political climate before, during and after World War II that led to our development of these weapons of mass destruction. The coverage of the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan is crucial to the impact of the film since these are the only times in history that atomic bombs have been used in a military campaign. The full-color footage of the drops in Japan are shot from the planes that dropped them and are horrific to look at. What is haunting about all the footage of the nuclear explosions in this film is that they are absolutely beautiful to behold. The colors and patterns that they create in the atmosphere are outstanding…which is what makes it that much more ironically terrible. The music performed by the Moscow Symphony Orchestra is haunting at its best, but is overpowering when it is not. The audio production of the DVD also leaves something to be desired in that you have to "ride" the volume controls while you watch it; when you are listening to Shatner's sections, it's too quiet and during the sections which are video montages with the score in the background it blows your eardrums.

The DVD content is actually quite good with a few exceptions. I'll start with what appears to be the key bonus feature on this DVD: the 3-D film. This short 15-20 minute film skims the surface of the history of the Nevada Test Site and the numerous tests that were done there up until 1992. Unfortunately, the 3-D glasses do nothing to enhance the viewing of the actual atomic explosions and therefore render them utterly useless for any impact. You only get the full 3-D effect during the interview segments. The unedited footage of the atomic blast is really boring and ineffective. The only thing you really take away from it is how long it actually took for the sound of the blast to reach the microphone where the spectators were standing.

The director's commentary is quite a fount of knowledge about how to obtain other declassified documents, video footage and some of the other source material that Mr. Kuran used to put this film together. He even goes so far as to give phone numbers of various government offices in some cases! The photo gallery's content is really quite stunning.

The DVD-ROM content is nothing much to write home about. It is simply a PDF file that has two links to websites embedded, neither of which worked (I got 404 errors on both). These links are supposed to take you to websites listing all of the nuclear detonations performed by the United States and a listing of their yields (in kilo- or megatons) either alphabetically or chronogically. I don't understand why this information was put as DVD-ROM content when it would have been just as easy to have some kind of interactive map on the disc itself. DVD-ROM content just to have DVD-ROM content is not necessarily a joyous thing.

All in all, I would say this DVD is worth watching. It is very well put together and quite educational (as much as allowed by the government, mind you), however, unless you've got a thing for atomic documentaries, I wouldn't recommend it as a permanent addition to your collection.