Trinity and Beyond: The Atomic Bomb Movie

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.