The Day after Trinity

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History Documentary published by Others in 1981 - English narration

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'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. (Amazon.com Editorial review)

"I have become death," declared nuclear scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer upon first witnessing the terrible power of the atomic bomb. The Oscar-nominated documentary The Day After Trinity uses newsreel footage and recently declassified government film to trace the growth of the Manhattan project under Oppenheimer's guidance. The New Mexico A-bomb tests are shown, as are the aftermaths of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings. The final scenes detail Oppenheimer's transformation from the "father of the A-bomb" to one of the most tireless opponents of nuclear power. The Day After Trinity received its widest distribution when it was telecast over PBS on April 29, 1981. ( by Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide)

An excellent user review at Amazon.com :

A major contribution toward understanding the atomic bomb, November 20, 2001
Reviewer: Ariel W. Simmons (Washington, DC)

The Day After Trinity covers both the day after, but more importantly the days before Trinity experienced by the scientists who built the atom bomb. The story of the bomb is usually told from its public debut, Trinity, though the story begins long before. Here it is told very well, through fascinating interviews with the men and women who lived in the strangely utopian Los Alamos.

Day After Trinity connects the humanity of the project with the horror of the result. The destruction at Hiroshima and Nagasaki make it hard to imagine the sort of people capable of creating such mass destruction. Perhaps for that reason, the creators are sometimes written off as mad scientists, or lumped in under Oppenheimer's personality. But the people on the screen are brilliant, insightful, agonized, and funny. It contributes a great deal toward our understanding of the bomb, without making it any easier.

Aside from the overall content, there is priceless footage of Robert Serber, Stanislav Ulam, Dorothy McKibbon and many others.