Trinity and Beyond: The Atomic Bomb Movie

The documentary I chose to watch was about the continuation of atomic testing after World War II. The documentary was made in 1995, and used, at the time, newly released declassified video of the atomic testing. These videos covered the main testing bombs of the late 1940's and early 1950's, and showed an in depth look into the testing at Bikini Atoll, as well as the testing in the Nevada proving Grounds. Their main source of information on the tests came personal interviews with Dr. Frank H. Shelton, who was the leading nuclear weaponeer during the time of the testing. Dr. Shelton was able to give great detail on the individual tests that happened in the wake of WWII, able to tell the megatons of the explosion, and what was being tested, from the affects of the shockwaves on structures, to the effect of the bombs being detonated underwater. Once it became an arms race with the Russians, tests began to become so frequent it was astonishing. Dr Shelton was no longer able to give details on individual bomb explosions, and began only to recall what the goal of series of test explosions were aimed at. Some of these test series would detonate as many as 30 bombs in a matter of weeks, and once the arms race was aimed at rocket delivery of the atomic weapons, multiple atmospheric explosions could be carried out in the same day. Really the one thing this documentary did well was provide actual footage of the bomb testing, allowing one to really get a feel of the vastness of the tests carried out. Although Dr Shelton was able to provide great detail on the tests, the documentary was limited on its sources of information, and it would have been nice to have another persons take in some of the tests. Over all, the film seemed to be aimed at the shock and awe factor, which it was able to do. The firsthand video of these atmospheric explosions (which totaled 331 from 1945-1957) was just astonishing.