American Experience (TV Series) Radio Bikini (1988) User Reviews

From the dawn of the nuclear age

[DennisLittrell · 7/10 · 30 June 2005]

What I found interesting about this documentary is the glimpse it gives us of the state of mind of the United States just after World War II, now sixty years past. We see in the newsreel and other film footage the style and substance of America in the afterglow of our greatest victory. But mostly we see ordinary soldiers and sailors who were stationed on or near the Bikini Atoll in the Marshalls in the South Pacific. We also see some of the islanders whom the United States military displaced so that the capabilities of the atom bomb could be explored.

An old uneducated Bikini islander recalls how his people were told that in the interest of "science" (but actually in the interest of weapons development) they would have to leave their home island and be relocated. Then at some point they were told that they would not be able to return to their island since it was "poisoned." Film maker Robert Stone shows us the big media build up orchestrated by the US to justify dropping the bomb on Bikini. (Actually one bomb was dropped. Another was exploded under water in the Bikini lagoon.) Dignitaries and scientists from all over the world were invited to watch. Stone shows them arriving and being greeted by the officer in charge as a voice-over gives their names, country of origin and their titles. I found that interesting. Two from India, a couple from the USSR, some Asians, and many more. Ah, yes, the US was going to make the world safe from nuclear power by experimenting with nuclear power.

Or some such argument. I thought the dignitaries were positively drooling. Not drooling were the goats and sheep (sheared so that the scientists could see the effects of the radiation on their bare skin) who were trapped in little stalls aboard strategically placed ships near the island. Also not drooling, but having a good time were the sailors who with dark glasses viewed the blast from some safe distance on their ships. They were happy because it looked like an easy duty, and were told that there was no danger. Radiation was never mentioned, and in those days, the dangers of radiation were only just becoming public knowledge. Stone has footage of an interview with one of the sailors years later, only his head and shoulders shown for most of the documentary until near the end when the camera retreats a little and we can see what grotesque things the radiation poisoning did to him. It's pretty shocking footage, and you won't forget it.

We see the blasts and the mushroom clouds and the magnificent glory of the power of the bomb. Unfortunately some observers were down wind and radioactive dust fell upon them. Unfortunately some observers boarded the ships that suffered damage from the blasts (but were far enough away so as not to be destroyed) and got radioactive dust on their clothes and skin. Stone shows the sailors exploring the damage while being scanned by Geiger counters going crazy monitoring the radiation. One is struck by the innocence and playfulness of the sailors as the radiation begins its work on their bodies.

In other words this is a snapshot from the dawn of the nuclear age, strangely innocent and diabolical at the same time. I don't think this is a great documentary, but I will say it is effective. For the complete story of what happened at the Bikini Atoll and especially what happened to the islanders who lost their homes and to those exposed to the radiation, the viewer will have to look elsewhere. This is merely an introduction.

(Note: Over 500 of my movie reviews are now available in my book "Cut to the Chaise Lounge or I Can't Believe I Swallowed the Remote!" Get it at Amazon!)

Hubris and naïveté make for a dangerous combination

[bandw · 8/10 · 22 January 2006]

In the wake of World War II the United States, with its monopoly on atomic weapons, was not above deciding to flex its nuclear muscles in two early tests of atomic bombs near the Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands in 1946. It was interesting to see that even in that time the President (Truman) was invoking God in support of our development and use of the bomb. God had granted us the favor of having the bomb and Truman beseeched him to guide us in its proper use. This short one-hour documentary about the two atomic tests provides material for debate as to whether Truman's requests of God have been met.

The United States had the hubris to evacuate the entire island of Bikini in order to conduct its tests, telling the islanders that it was in the interest of the welfare of mankind. This evacuation is personalized in this film by comments from Kilon Bauno, the chief of the Bikini islanders. Bauno and the islanders had no real idea of what was going on and why they were being forced off of their homeland. The shots of the islanders being loaded into ships are heart rending.

I used to think that the trust of the U.S. Government started on its downhill slid during and after Vietnam, but we can see here that its origins are earlier. When we see the P.R. footage of the medical doctor assuring us that every possible safety precaution had been taken and there was absolutely no danger to anyone involved in these tests, and then later see the sailors lighting up the Geiger counters, we experience what has in later years become that all too common reaction of less than total faith in what our government tells us. After all we did have the Japan bombings as a cautionary warning.

This documentary could be an indoctrination film for PETA. Some of the most agonizing clips for me were those that dealt with the use of goats as experimental animals in the tests. They were confined in small metal cages and set afloat on test ships. Seeing the animals struggle to get out of their restraints was difficult and then, after the tests, the horribly burned animals were displayed as if trophies of some major victory. Truly disturbing.

There is much footage of the blasts themselves. The sad truth is that the release of such power is awe-inspiring and fascinating. This is perhaps part of the motivation for developing these devices - to witness this elemental force. There is also the element of not being able to restrain men from playing with their toys. But realizing the potential of using such toys for evil tempers any attractions. However, understanding that potential has also prevented any major war in the last sixty years. But the idea of an atomic bomb in the hands of a terrorist is a truly frightening prospect. Certainly the advent of nuclear power has made our world a much more complicated place to understand and deal with.

We can see the beginnings of the cold war here. The U.S. proposed a plan for controlling nuclear weaponry to which the official response from the Soviet Union was to say that nuclear weapons should be outlawed entirely - this at a time when they were actively pursuing their own nuclear weapons program.

To be fair this is not a documentary without a point of view. A small bow is made to the voices of concern about these tests, in particular a clip of Albert Einstein endorsing such concern. But the emphasis is on the arrogance and naivety of the decision makers. The ukulele music played over the Bikini evacuation heightens the pathos of the situation. The interviews with John Smitherman, who was at the tests, were poignant. Smitherman later developed grotesque swellings in his legs to the point where he had to have them amputated, and his left hand, to which we are treated to a close-up, swelled to the size of a football. Also, I felt a bit manipulated by Smitherman's being shown from the waist up until the end when the camera pulls back for us to see his grievous injuries. Effective, but I felt taken advantage of. And just how common a case is Smitherman's? The film was made some forty years after the tests and much data would have been available as to what the ultimate fate was for many of those there at the time. I wanted more information about the aftermath - what happened to the islanders and the island itself, what happened to that area of the Marshall islands, what happened to the sailors, what was the future of atomic testing, and so forth.

Whatever its flaws this is an important and thought-provoking documentary that offers us a small time capsule of a crucial time in history.

From the dawn of the nuclear age

[DennisLittrell · 7/10 · 5 December 2010]

What I found interesting about this documentary is the glimpse it gives us of the state of mind of the United States just after World War II, now sixty years past. We see in the newsreel and other film footage the style and substance of America in the afterglow of our greatest victory. But mostly we see ordinary soldiers and sailors who were stationed on or near the Bikini Atoll in the Marshalls in the South Pacific. We also see some of the islanders whom the United States military displaced so that the capabilities of the atom bomb could be explored.

An old uneducated Bikini islander recalls how his people were told that in the interest of "science" (but actually in the interest of weapons development) they would have to leave their home island and be relocated. Then at some point they were told that they would not be able to return to their island since it was "poisoned." Director Robert Stone shows us the big media build up orchestrated by the US to justify dropping the bomb on Bikini. (Actually one bomb was dropped. Another was exploded under water in the Bikini lagoon.) Dignitaries and scientists from all over the world were invited to watch. Stone shows them arriving and being greeted by the officer in charge as a voice-over gives their names, country of origin and their titles. I found that interesting. Two from India, a couple from the USSR, some Asians, etc. Ah, yes, the US was going to make the world safe from nuclear power by experimenting with nuclear power.

Or some such argument. I thought the dignitaries were positively drooling. Not drooling were the goats and sheep (sheared so that the scientists could see the effects of the radiation on their bare skin) who were trapped in little stalls aboard strategically placed ships near the island. Also not drooling, but having a good time were the sailors who with dark glasses viewed the blast from some safe distance on their ships. They were happy because it looked like an easy duty, and were told that there was no danger. Radiation was never mentioned, and in those days, the dangers of radiation were only just becoming public knowledge. Stone has footage of an interview with one of the sailors years later, only his head and shoulders shown for most of the documentary until near the end when the camera retreats a little and we can see what grotesque things the radiation poisoning did to him. It's pretty shocking footage, and you won't forget it.

We see the blasts and the mushroom clouds and the magnificent glory of the power of the bomb. Unfortunately some observers were down wind and radioactive dust fell upon them. Unfortunately some observers boarded the ships that suffered damage from the blasts (but were far enough away so as not to be destroyed) and got radioactive dust on their clothes and skin. Stone shows the sailors exploring the damage while being scanned by Geiger counters going crazy monitoring the radiation. One is struck by the innocence and playfulness of the sailors as the radiation begins its work on their bodies.

In other words this is a snapshot from the dawn of the nuclear age, strangely innocent and diabolical at the same time. I don't think this is a great documentary, but I will say it is effective. For the complete story of what happened at the Bikini Atoll and especially what happened to the islanders who lost their homes and to those exposed to the radiation, the viewer will have to look elsewhere. This is merely an introduction.

(Note: Over 500 of my movie reviews are now available in my book "Cut to the Chaise Lounge or I Can't Believe I Swallowed the Remote!" Get it at Amazon!)

One of the best documentaries on any topic

[tombeaman · 10/10 · 6 April 2004]

This is a powerful and disturbing film using archival footage from the Bikini Bomb Tests in 1946. This is not about the use of the Bomb on Japan; instead, it is a study of the immediate post-war test, designed not only for scientific study but also domestic and international relations and to prepare our military for the eventual use of these weapons. Operation Crossroads changed the lives of those people who used to live on Bikini, as well as tens of thousands of our own sailors. There is no narration, only some interviews and the film footage strung together with audio and voiceovers. The film definitely takes the point of view that these tests had unintended consequences; we were playing with new toys that we did not understand...and most of us still do not understand. I cannot give this film a higher rating.

Must See for all Americans...

[peterinvt · 10/10 · 17 October 2002]

I saw this film while living in the Marshall Islands, the same country as Bikini. The name Bikini is becoming lost in the world conscience and few of the younger people I've met know that it is an island or that atomic tests were performed there. It is deeply disturbing, but every high school or college student should see this film.

A sequel to this short film should be made on the long term impacts to the islanders and then re-released as documentary in two parts.

Powerhouse documentary concerning overwhelming military stupidity.

[irvingwarner · 10/10 · 29 September 2000]

This documentary is the best of its kind. Stone uses tons (literally) of military and other film footage from the year 1946. He then carefully puts it all together with contemporary (1987) footage of Marshall Islanders, i.e. former residents of Bikina Atoll and a navy veteran/observer of both 1946 atomic bomb tests on Bikini. It all comes together in one of the strangest and most powerful testimonies to military stupidity, especially during those early years of atomic tests. Throughout, we see with profound irony--using the military's own footage of the tests (June/July of that year)--how catastrophically stupid responsible parties (Navy Dept.) were. But, in the end, it was the Marshall Islanders--moved en masse from their native Bikini Atoll--who are the central victims, along with many of the Navy veterans. This latter point is communicated to us, the viewer, in one of the most forceful "pullback" shots in the history of cinema. "Radio Bikini" documents a historic event that should never, never be forgotten. But sadly, it on the main, is.

Horrific

[Jordan_Haelend · 10/10 · 31 March 2006]

I'll give this one a 10; I wish I'd seen this years ago. The film documents the decision to make the tests, the deportation of the Bikini Islanders to a much smaller island that couldn't support them, the tests themselves, and the aftermath. The latter is poignantly shown by the interview with a naval veteran, Mr. John Smitherman, who witnessed the tests and was poisoned with radiation and lived out his later years suffering horrendously. His injuries are the stuff of some nightmare science-fiction film. Unfortunately, they weren't fictional.

There is some footage of Admiral William Blandy, USN, who carried out the tests. I've been told that he became contaminated at the Baker test as well. He died only 8 years later.

The naive stupidity of the Navy is paraded for all to see. For me, the most haunting moment is at the end, where we hear Mr. Smitherman's voice-- we see sailors sitting and talking, and some look at the camera while grinning, while over all of this plays haunting, dirge-like music that brings home the truth of Mr. Smitherman's remarks: Crossroads was undoubtedly the beginning of a hideous slow death for many of these people.

"We are here to make a choice between the quick and the dead. That is our business." - Bernard Baruch, U.S. Delegate to the UN Commission on Atomic Energy

[classicsoncall · 8/10 · 19 August 2012]

We have a tendency to deal in superlatives today, but this 1988 documentary delivers a most powerful witness to the destructive power of atomic energy. One requires a knowledge of history to realize that the atomic tests on the island of Bikini in the Marshall Islands actually occurred AFTER the end of World War II, brought on by the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August of 1945. This documentary in large part is presented through the recollections of two individuals present at the time, Chief Kilon Bauno of Bikini Island, and John Smitherman, a 1946 veteran of the nuclear tests conducted on the island.

The documentary is presented in relatively straightforward fashion, though anti-war activists will find plenty of fodder here to condemn the use of atomic energy for wartime purposes. In fact, Vice Admiral Blandy who supervised the testing actually called for the atomic bomb to be outlawed by the nations of the world after witnessing it's devastating effects. One of the more interesting aspects of the film offers Albert Einstein in a very brief appearance commenting on the destiny of mankind resting on the use of nuclear energy.

As a historical document, the film merits the highest of accolades. I've watched any number of documentary series on the subject of World War II, but this glimpse at the nature of atomic energy offers a compelling argument against it's destructive power, even as rogue nations like Iran and North Korea relentlessly march toward nuclear capability for reasons they no longer maintain a secrecy. Truly mankind's destiny hangs in a precarious balance.

Remake of a much better title.

[snibbor · 3/10 · 18 November 2007]

In 1982, the excellent "The Atomic Cafe" was released. That movie succeeded both as an informative documentary and as an offbeat comedy. The horrible destructiveness of the new atom bomb was balanced by the likable goofiness of the American public at the time, and the result was an entertaining and thoughtful treatment of the subject.

The makers of Radio Bikini evidently felt that Cafe needed to be re-released with all of its entertainment value stripped away and replaced with lots of graphic footage of ugly details and government mistakes. It starts with footage of Americans celebrating the surrender of the Japanese and the end of WWII, but for some reason this sequence is set to a funeral dirge. This dreary, overlong sequence sets the tone for the rest of the film. Pompous political speeches, graphic footage of animals being locked down for blast tests, an interview with a dying man... the only thing that keeps it from being preachy is the muddled presentation of the material.

This movie is a pointless, tedious remake of a much better film. Do yourself a favor and rent "The Atomic Cafe". Don't waste your time on this one.

A Superb But Very Sombre Documentary

[sddavis63 · 8/10 · 1 August 2013]

This is a superb documentary and a very sombre film perhaps to be expected from the subject matter. With World War II over, the United States now engages in peaceful testing of atomic bombs, and the film documents the first of the post-War tests, on Bikini Atoll in the South Pacific. The tests were probably inevitable. Once the genie had been let out of the bottle with Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it wasn't going to be stuffed back in. After watching this, you do perhaps wish it had been though.

You're first disturbed at the uprooting of the inhabitants of Bikini. They have nothing to do with this; they had nothing to do with the recently ended war; they want to be left alone. But the US military forces them off Bikini, because for whatever reason, Bikini is deemed the perfect place to do ongoing atomic testing. You can't help but feel sorry for these people. There are the shots of animals being chained to poles on derelict ships around Bikini Atoll, in preparation for the dropping of the bomb, just to see what will happen to them. I found quite haunting the words of the narrator on a newsreel from the time as the plane carrying the bomb approaches Bikini, "these animals are about to draw their last breaths in the service of humanity." And then there are the American sailors on board the ships that are conducting the testing. They're given no protective clothing. After the second (underwater) test radioactive water is brought into the ships for them to drink and shower in. Was this just ignorance - or were the sailors themselves being used as guinea pigs - as unknowingly as the animals who had just been incinerated? And, of course, there was John Smitherman - a veteran of the tests, who had lost both legs over the years as they had swelled up and eventually burst open, and whose left hand was now swollen and barely recognizable as a hand - a victim of the radiation. Sombre, indeed.

As backdrop, there's some of the diplomatic manoeuvring going on, as the United States wants to share this with the world, and the Soviet Union says it has no interest in the bomb. A truly superb documentary. (8/10)

The style is a bit strange but the footage is quite compelling.

[planktonrules · 9/10 · 29 March 2012]

This is just the second episode of PBS's "The American Experience"--and the series is still going strong in its 24th season! That's because the shows are so freaking good--exceptionally well made and often telling stories about American history that would otherwise never be known or doing in-depth biographies that are about as good as you can find.

For those familiar with "The American Experience", you'll no doubt notice that the style of this particular episode is different. It is NOT narrated but consists of film footage and radio commentary from the day.

In 1946, the US detonated a test atomic bomb at Bikini Atoll in the Pacific--it was the fourth atomic bomb detonated. Near the island were various obsolete ships from the war and on the decks of the ships were various animals to be used to determine the effects of the blast. Twenty miles away, ships with US sailors and various international dignitaries were stationed to view the detonation and examine the aftereffects. And, back in the States, this experiment was broadcast to the nation.

Watching the film footage is pretty strange. While I'd seen much of this before, seeing sailors sitting on the decks of ship covering their heads as their only protection seemed pretty insane--as did watching some of the big-wigs actually watching the blast with goggles!! Even weirder were interviews where folks expressed disappointment in the blast and one of them wishing they'd been stationed much closer!! Clearly they had no idea of the effects of nuclear fallout! I assume the show is called "Radio Bikini" because portions of the show are rebroadcasts of the original radio program. It's interesting that some of the broadcast is very patronizing when it discussed the natives of the island--like they are simple-minded children.

All in all, a very freaky documentary--one that manages to hit you like a baseball bat even though it is very unconventional in style--especially when one of the observers is shown decades later and you see the bomb's effects on him! This ending is just like the one in the horrifying documentary "Radium City". You can't help but watch--it's just so awful and amazing from start to finish--and a bit sad when you hear the natives talking about how they cannot return home decades following the blast.

U.S. as a failed colonizer of the Pacific

[Islomane-72-668942 · 10/10 · 5 April 2012]

I saw this movie as a teen when it first came out, just two years after my first trip to Micronesia. There, I had got my first glimpses into the failures of U.S. colonialism in the Pacific. Upon my return stateside from Micronesia I couldn't help wonder why more Americans were not aware of our colonial possessions in the Pacific. This great documentary provides, at least, some partial answers. It is said that the mark of a civilized man is the ability to look at a column of numbers and weep. With 500 cases of cancer among Marshallese Islanders related to U.S. atomic testing in their home still yet expected to manifest, it was truly the basest and most uncivilized actions the U.S. took to test our atomic arsenal on our own military soldiers and the people of the Marshall Islands. Perhaps you, too, with seethe with the anger and outrage at the U.S. government that I did when first viewing this documentary. Or perhaps you are as calloused as the American government itself. Either way this is a fascinating look at an example of the worst a colonial power can perpetrate and a rational for why American colonial possessions in Micronesia were kept so secret from the American people.

"American did a horrible thing and risked so many lives and took away homelands and America sucks for doing that"

[tomjones-823-828632 · 8/10 · 15 August 2015]

"I really liked this movie, I like documentaries about - would it be politics? Or is it not politics? I don't think it's politics but I don't like politics. I liked the whole warfare idea, and I don't know a lot about it, and I feel like people should be educated about it. I had no idea about any of this, and it's an important part of history. It's heart breaking. It's heartbreaking to see all of the lives that can't return to their homeland. I've seen it twice. I had to watch it in history class. The very end, when one of the interviewed people was zoomed out on and the full effect of his radiation was revealed was my favourite part. Watching the bomb go off was my favourite. I didn't like the political montage, but I liked every other part of it. I'd love to watch it again, so maybe 4/5. I like the music too." - Sophia

4/5 - Thomas