Day One
(1989 Telefilm/Acorn Media DVD)
Picture: C Sound: C Extras: C- Telefilm: B-
One of
the rare, good telefilms made in the late 1980s, Joseph Sargent’s Day One tells the story of the race for
the Atom Bomb and pulls together a strong cast in this solid adaptation of
Peter Wyden’s Day One: Before Hiroshima Or After by producer/writer David W.
Rintels. Running 140 minutes, it is as
long as the theatrical film Fat Man
& Little Boy (1990) in telling the well-chronicled story about the
single invention that won WWII.
That
leaves solid directing and solid acting by Brian Dennehy as General Leslie
Grove, David Strathairn as J. Robert Oppenheimer and Michael Tucker as Leo
Szilard in this race for what remains one of the most important resources any
nation state can possess. It reminds us
how good TV movies used to be without cable TV freedom as an excuse for
mediocrity and is more compelling than you might expect. And to think Aaron Spelling was a producer on
this!
The 1.33
X 1 image has an analog master is so poor that there is a disclaimer on the
back of the case, making it hared to tell if this was filmed or taped, though
we’d lean towards film. The problems and
fidelity limits extend to the Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono which sounds compressed and
is a noticeable few generations down. I
am still glad this is available on DVD, though too bad TV restoration is not as
widespread as it is for feature films.
As for extras, you get nine text cast filmographies.
- Nicholas Sheffo
