Trinity and Beyond

Douglas Ogle
Toronto, Canada


Dear Sir,

I wish to congratulate you upon a spectacular documentary of the atomic and thermonuclear tests that were carried out by the United States, the USSR and China during the period of the Cold War. The pacing was fast enough to keep the interest of viewers and at the same time, the point of view is a neutral one which keeps the film from being perceived as a form of propaganda. The viewer is free to form his or her conclusions when the film ends.

There were two items that were not shown in the film and I hope that if a future version of this film is produced, it might incorporate these omissions. No reference was made to the British thermonuclear tests that were carried out in the Pacific and the French thermonuclear tests that were carried out in the Sahara Desert. Further, in 1957 or '58, USAF B-57 bombers were deliberately flown into the mushroom clouds of the atomic tests in Nevada in order to measure the radiation levels within the clouds. The tests were obviously dangerous to the pilots who had to fly through the cloud as well as the ground crews who had to clean up and decontaminate the aircraft after landing. Unfortunately, I do not know the code name for this testing but it could be researched and possibly incorporated into a future version of this film.

Aside from the fine selection of archive film, the film was greatly enhanced by the original music written by William Stromberg and perfoirmed by the Moscow Symphony Orchestra.

Yours Cordially,

Douglas Ogle

Pete,

Your documentary is absolutely amazing. I have always been interested in nuclear physics (among other subjects) and had seen your film several years ago. I recently re-watched it, and was just blown away...

Good job on getting all of that footage, and excellent editing!

Also I just checked out your _very_ impressive resume... so you're the guy that scared the *beep* out of me as a kid with that Snake-monster guy in Dreamscape. Good job! :D

chouse

Pete

Firstly I'd like to congratulate you and your team on this film and the others in the series. I was absolutely blown away by them all - the footage is fascinating by itself, but the way you edited it together with newsreel footage and observer accounts to provide a history is excellent. The narration and soundtrack are also fantastic on all of the films.

The question I'd like to ask is have you considered making a similar film about the Soviet Union's bomb program and testing? I've seen a documentary about the Soviet test range in Kazakhstan, and the story of their test program seems every bit as interesting as the story you told in Trinity and Beyond. There is also the tragic story of the human cost to the USSR during that period. They were so desperate to catch up to the US in the 40s and 50s that they didn't bother with many of the safeguards that the US nuclear program had. As a result many people were injured and killed in the Soviet nuclear program - their leadership at the time seemed to see this as an acceptable cost. The story of the Mayak processing plant in Russia illustrates this. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayak

Many Thanks

AB

I've just finished watching - I'd just spent the weekend rewatching old nuclear movies such as Threads, The Day After and Miracle Mile...to name a few. I guess the time had come in my life to discover the origins of such devastation.

I'm 35 now, I lived as a teen through the 80's and spent many nights fearing for our demise at the hands of this manmade nightmare. Siren testing would occur in our town, our school seemed hell-bent on forcing the nuclear issue into our minds. I quite feel scarred for life by the non-experience of such warfare.

This documentary was nothing short of stunning. The music, the narration (I could listen to Mr. Shatner all day long). Bravo, sir, for teaching me of something I wished never existed. I mean no disrepect by that.

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