Starring: Paul Frees, J. Robert Oppenheimer Directed By: Jon Else Average Rating: Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated) Binding: DVD Format: Color, DVD-Video, NTSC Label: Image Entertainment Number of Items: 1 Region Code: 1 Release Date: May 14, 2002 Running Time: 89 minutes Theatrical Release Date: January 20, 1981
Description: The Day After Trinity is a haunting journey through the dawn of the nuclear age, an incisive history of humanity's most dubious achievement and the man behind it--J. Robert Oppenheimer, the principal architect of the atomic bomb. Featuring archival footage and commentary from scientists and soldiers directly involved with the Manhattan Project, this gripping film is a fascinating look at the scope and power of the Nuclear Age.
Why Doesn't Edward Teller Appear In This Film? I viewed this film after I watched the BBC series "Oppenheimer" and I must say that I didn't really learn much from it that I didn't get from the BBC series. It was interesting to see what the characters we saw in the series really look like, and I must say, the BBC series worked very hard to get actors who looked like the people they were portraying, especially Hughes, Hans Bethe and Frank Oppenheimer. Unfortunately, unlike the BBC series, this film does not go into the various technical problems the development of the A-Bomb encountered. Those involved in the project all pointed out how Oppenheimer was able to understand the various disciplines involved in building the bomb (physics, pyrotechnics, electronics, communications, shock waves, etc) and thus he was able to focus in on the best way to solve the various technical problems encountered. One thing I found interesting is the fact that the film left in Haakon Chevalier's devastating critique of Oppenheimer where he says Oppenheimer was lying when he said the Chevalier had approached him with George Eltenton's proposal to transfer information on the Bomb to the Soviets. Chevalier emphatically denied that he supported this idea, saying only the national leaders could make such a decision, whereas the BBC series simply shows us a meeting in Oppenheimer's kitchen where the matter was discussed, but we are not told what was really said. The fact is that Oppenheimer maintained his friendship with Chevalier and he even visited him in Europe during the 1950's when the accusations against Oppenheimer were being loudly proclaimed. It would have been very interesting to see Edward Teller, who in the hearings convened to determine whether Oppenheimer's security clearance should be revoked said he did not doubt Oppenheimer's loyalty but he did question his judgment, although it is reported that Teller spoke more harshly against him in early, closed meetings on the matter. It is too bad we don't see him in this film to hear how he perceived things 30 years later.
Finally, there is the famous question about whether it was necessary or moral to use the Bomb on the Japanese. Hughes says he is still troubled by the matter and that after Germany was defeated they should have stopped working on the bomb. Freeman Dyson says it was only used out of "bureaucratic inertia". Apparently these men forgot that a bloody war was being fought in the Pacific and that, contrary to the myths of the time this film was being made, they were NOT on the verge of surrender. Even if the US had not carried out an invasion of the Japanese Home Islands and had been willing to carry out a tight blockade for several months, far more Japanese would have died of hunger, disease and possible civil disorder. In addition, 100,000 Chinese were dying every month, so those who express concern for the Japanese civilians killed by the bomb (which is understandable) seem to forget the other Japanese civilians who would have starved to death or the civilians of the countries under Japanse occupation who were dying also, in addition to the Allied Prisoners-of-War (See Richard Frank's book "Downfall" for a full discussion of the matter).
weak i concur completely with darthrad. if you are completely ignorant, you will love this film.
You also might want to get the great miniseries, "Oppenheimer"... The BBC released the great mini-series "Oppenheimer" on Region Two DVD format last year.
This great mini-series is still felt to be the best re-creation on film of the people and events leading up to the explosions of the atomic bombs in August 1945. A young SAM WATERSTON plays Oppenheimer brilliantly.
It took years for the BBC to decide to release the series in DVD format, and then it was only in Region Two (PAL), the format used in the UK.
You'd think that they'd release it on Region One (US format), given the fact thatit starts Sam Waterson. However, it has not yet been released in the US.
The three-disc series, which also stars a brilliant David Suchet as Edward Teller, is available thru Amazon in the UK (www.amazon.co.uk) and on eBay in the UK (www.ebay.co.uk) for about $22.00 plus shipping.
Multi-format players are available in the US. It is my understanding that they have to be hacked to play other formats than Region 1,? due to licensing restrictions. I purchased an inexpensive player on eBay (US), which with shipping cost $50.00. The supplier provided the easy instructions to adapt it to Region Two format.
It is worth going to all of this effort to view again this great mini-series, which was virtually ignored in the US when it was shown here, but which remains unrivaled for both its acting and its accurate re-creation of the events surrounding Oppenheimer, his downfall, and the creation of the atomic age.
Quality The Day After Trinity is an excellent documentary about Robert Oppenheimer and the development of the atom bomb. The interviews of famous scientists who worked at Los Alamos are remarkable in themselves. The film poses questions about the ethics of nuclear armaments, and the relationship between science and politics in weapons development and deployment. Every American should see it.
War criminals? Nice piece on fervor that surrounded the Manhattan Project. Interesting human interest story of how thousands of people worked for years designing the most powerful weapon ever, but didn't realize the consequences on dropping one in a city full of people, until they see it go off in the desert.
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