Nuclear Rescue 911: Broken Arrows & Incidents
Picture:
C+ Sound: B- Extras: B- Main Program: B-
The most
shocking thing about hearing narrator Adam West tell us about the mishaps in
nuclear testing and weapons that were ruptured is how many and how often. Nuclear
Rescue 911: Broken Arrows & Incidents (2001) is a must-see hour of
unbelievable and little-discussed stories, tales, and history of nuclear
armaments that almost feel like they have been covered up for all these
years. They are, however, public record.
From 1950
to the making of this program, there have been an unbelievable 32 admitted
accidents. Who knows how many more have
more have been ignored. It is surprising
certain political interests have not brought this subject up more often, and
this is only for the United States.
At least we are seeing this. Will
we ever see a Russian or Chinese equivalent?
Think about that.
The
footage compiled is amazing, especially in how haunting some shots are. One of the most interesting contrasts well
with the also-sickening Space Shuttle disasters, as in a shot of one flying
vehicle blowing up with a nuclear armament in mid-air, and the explosion is
accompanied by a nuclear mushroom cloud.
The more you understand what the effect and implication of all this
really is, the more chilling it becomes.
With the second President Bush gutting the anti-Nuclear space treaty, it
becomes all the more real.
The full
frame image is varied, as usual for such a documentary presentation, with some
clips in remarkably good shape. West
never appears on camera. The audio has
been remastered in Dolby Digital 5.1 AC-3, which makes the audio a bit clearer
and certain stock footage punchier.
However, it is obvious some audio was enhanced with new sound effects,
but anything to bring to life the reality of the kinds of death such accidents
can cause.
Extras
include brief biographies, a “slide show” stills section, trailers for other
Goldhil DVDs on the subject (which can all be ordered at www.goldhil.com), a piece on supposed
nuclear safety procedures by the U.S. Air Force/Strategic Air Command that
reminds one of Stanley Kubrick’s Dr
Strangelove (i.e., the false sense of control government propaganda always
mis-implied), isolated soundtrack option, and a behind the scenes
featurette. This adds up to some rare
and valuable must-see DVD material worth everyone’s time.
- Nicholas Sheffo
