The Day After Trinity
Director: Jon Else
Year Released: 1980
Rating: 3.5
Probing look at the Manhattan Project run in Los Alamos by complex physicist Julius Robert Oppenheimer and his enormous team of intellectuals, the testing of the atomic bomb, the usage of the bomb on Japan (including stock footage of the individuals ravaged by the effects) and Oppenheimer's disillusionment with his creation. The footage of the effects of the bomb - first shown here - is chillingly awesome (one physicist remarked that it's a thing of beauty) as trees and houses are blown apart. While the scientists interviewed seem impressed with the weapon they created, they are also undoubtedly shaken by its power (Oppenheimer's brother, in particular, comes across as frustrated). This is just solid documentary filmmaking.
