America's Atomic Bomb Tests (1998) (V)

Genre:

Documentary

Language:

English

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Movie Connections:

Follows America's Atomic Bomb Tests: Operation Hardtack (1997) (V)

Caught by their own words-

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

This item consists of 3 DVDs: Operation Tumbler-Snapper, Operation Hardtack and At Ground Zero. Outside of the usual footage of bomb detonations, there is a lot of narration, most of it an attempt to convince the viewer that the participants in these tests were not harmed in any way. It's difficult to tell if this is naiveté due to ignorance or callousness born of expediency. In any event, I could feel myself getting madder as I watched the soldiers in their foxholes standing up on command and taking a faceful of radioactive dust. Today we know them as the "Atomic Soldiers," who were shamelessly lied to and subsequently shamefully neglected.

On the other hand, there is some stuff here that is actually grimly amusing. The entire business of Civil Defense falls into this category-- these folks really believed there'd be someone left alive in his little white safety helmet to man the Civil Defense vehicles and rush out to aid the victims of an atomic war. The need for a family fallout shelter was also touched upon: after an effects test involving houses, cars, etc., the narrator tells us that a shelter can provide protection, as we see that the mannequins sheltered are all in one piece. However, said narrator later admits that, as this was a test involving kilotons, weapons employing megatons could be expected to do more damage.

I consider this set worth the viewing, if only because of the Government-sponsored nonsense it shows us. If you're nostalgic for the 1950s, this ought to cure you.