Since Ernst Stavro Trumpfeld responds only to what he sees on a TV screen, we shudder at what his reaction might be if he ever encountered this admittedly spectacular collection of footage documenting atomic and hydrogen bomb tests.....(....."will ya look at these nukes goin' off? Let me tell you, they look great don't they? Believe me, they're awesome......how many of those do we have anyway?")
As if the nuclear detonations aren't literally earth-shattering enough, the movie accompanies them with a thunderous end-of-the-world music score blasted to the heavens by no less than the Moscow Symphony Orchestra. (The scoring sessions for this film offered the Russians a first-time peek at previously top-secret U.S. atomic test footage.) So even as we all get vaporized where we stand.....at least the soundtrack's awesome!
The succession of nuclear tests, terrifying in their photogenic beauty, can leave you quivering like you've freshly awakened from a nightmare. But it's all real......after Hiroshima and Nagasaki, we couldn't wait to play some more with our new toys......and did we ever, exploding bigger and bigger clouds of radioactivity into the atmosphere.
At one point, a Navy Admiral peevishly snaps, "I'm not an atomic playboy!" after assuring us that a nuke test at sea won't drain the ocean like a bathtub with the drain plug pulled. He's right...'playboy' was the wrong metaphor......'kid with a new chemistry set' would have served better. And the movie, along with the pounding Moscow musicians, shows us all the fun we had with nukes.....obliterating South Pacific islands, heaving up half the Pacific ocean just to see what would happen to unmanned ships, submarines, goats and pigs. (Breaking news: floating near an H bomb didn't do any of them much good.....just ask the Japanese fishermen on the "Lucky Dragon" boat...)
The tests turn nuttier as they go along.....our favorite was worthy of Barnum & Bailey and Ringling Brothers.... a min-nuke shot out of a cannon in the Nevada desert. Then there's a big Mama-Jama H Bomb so huge, no plane or missile could ever deliver it anywhere......just a 62 ton behemoth that can only sit in its giant hanger until kerblooey time....
We should point out that the filmmakers of "Trinity And Beyond" make no political statement whatsoever.....the eye-popping footage simply billows out in front of you...."so can watch it and either say "wow....that's cool" or a bit more rationally, "....we're so screwed..."
The movie concludes with what it no doubt believed would bring it to an especially ominous end....with Red China exploding its first nuke. At the time, even they couldn't conceive of nuclear equipped North Korea in the hands of a demented, murderous toddler. So maybe every still sane global leader should take a look at this film at least once.......if we have any left. The BQ detonates 4 stars for 'Trinity' (****).....however, if our so-called Prez ever sees it.....start digging that shelter now....or duck and cover.
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