May 17, 2018
Welcome back to Documentary Thursdays. Now that we’ve gotten all of last year’s Oscar nominees out of the way, I thought I would try and find something a little more obscure. And if you like ambient noise soundtracks, definitely check out Eluvium, who did the music for the film, at eluvium.net.
And now...
Today’s movie is “Buzz One Four” (2017), the poignant documentary from Matt McCormick and with music by Matthew Robert Cooper, aka Eluvium. The documentary explores the crash of a B-52 Bomber carrying thermonuclear warheads on Savage Mountain, just about 96 miles outside of Washington, D.C. in 1964. Many details of the crash remain classified by the United States Air Force, along with many other crashed nuclear devices.
“Buzz One Four” works as both an investigation into the crash of Buzz One Four and an homage to the pilot, McCormick’s grandfather. McCormick adds poignant stories about his grandparents, using family footage his grandfather took with his family, putting a human face to the pilot, along with news footage of his survival after the crash. You almost forget he was flying a gigantic plane with multiple nuclear warheads. Almost.
The background on the reason the planes were in the air is important. As part of the mutually assured destruction chess game being played during the Cold War, the United States formed a nuclear air force, maintaining B-52 bombers with nuclear weapons flying a regular pattern towards first strike targets in the U.S.S.R. We’re not quite there yet, but McCormick also mentions that in order to make these ridiculous flights, the pilots were being given amphetamines, creating addictions and likely causing at least one crash.
Speedball pilots flying nuclear weapons over our heads. I can’t even imagine, and yet, the blend of home movies, released footage, and news reports show just how real these flights were. And behind it all is an excellent ambient noise soundtrack from Eluvium, especially great as the final radio transcript of Buzz One Four flashed on the screen, building in intensity until the crash. Oh yeah, turns out they knew the tail that sheered off causing the crash was a known problem. On all the bombers flying these routes. Right over our heads.
“Buzz One Four” (2017) is a surprisingly reserved look at an incredibly insane military policy, one that resulted in quite a few cases of dropped ordinance and crashed planes. The story is concise, but multifaceted, with an expansive soundtrack and great footage. Fans of documentaries about the Cold War or great soundtracks should consider checking out this film.
Rotten Tomatoes: NR
Metacritic: NR
One Movie Punch: 7.4/10
“Buzz One Four” (2017) is not rated and is currently streaming on Amazon Prime.