Visually smart, well supported by music and effects, and well-narratted tale of one of the early 'broken arrows' and the people involved. I enjoyed the clips of the graceful gleaming B52s - for me resonating a little with the techical glory of Columbia and STS-107 and the story of thier brave crew. There's no banging of cold war drums here, just a dignified reminder of a human side to the astoundingly dangerous brinkmanship and of scale of that secret war. This is obviously not an Air Force endorsed film judging by the final questions posed by relatives on the fiasco and the remarks about lack of cooperation with commemorations. The film comes across rather like a very tidily-made home movie, leaving a few poignant queries and reflections - not least for me suggestion of a multitude of stories of everyday heroism and sacrifice on both sides, still as yet largely untold, about the MAD era - of Mutually Assured Destruction.
5 Reviews
Mesmerizing documentary
willydz5919 November 2018
Really glad I stumbled across this in Amazon Prime. Very well done and will give you shivers to realize how many "broken arrow" nuclear related incidents have occurred in the U.S.
The music and slow narration style create an almost eerie, zen type of experience. It's respectfully done and a great tribute to those that sacrificed so much to keep our country safe during the Cold War.
Good movie, bad teaser
rcolarco19 January 2019
As a former B-52 flier, I really enjoyed this movie. It had lots of great footage of early B-52 ops.
The teaser is crummy. The bombs were never lost, there was no cover-up. Maybe on other broken arrows, but not this one.
The whole kerfuffle about the vertical stabilizer didn't make sense. The vertical stabilizers on the tall-tail B-52s (A-F) were never changed out for shorter tails. The G and H had shorter tails for better low level performance. The aircraft shown landing with the vertical stabilizer missing was a B-52H, which had a short tail from the factory.
Still, a good movie, and worth watching. The producer obviously has never flown the B-52, but he did a good job honoring his grandfather.
The teaser is crummy. The bombs were never lost, there was no cover-up. Maybe on other broken arrows, but not this one.
The whole kerfuffle about the vertical stabilizer didn't make sense. The vertical stabilizers on the tall-tail B-52s (A-F) were never changed out for shorter tails. The G and H had shorter tails for better low level performance. The aircraft shown landing with the vertical stabilizer missing was a B-52H, which had a short tail from the factory.
Still, a good movie, and worth watching. The producer obviously has never flown the B-52, but he did a good job honoring his grandfather.
SAC Story
cahercalla19 August 2019
I'm a former SAC pilot (-135s, not B-52s) and have a home in Garrett County not far from the crash site. Nice human interest story. I hope my grandson feels towards me the way the narrator felt towards his grandfather. One sad note........... The narrator said that the USAF would not provide a flyover or any assistance for the fiftieth anniversary commemoration of the tragedy. That's a tragedy! Come on, Air Force! you can do better than that!
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