The creation of the atomic bomb is an event that will be analyzed and discussed for generations to come. Was the success of the Manhattan Project a triumph or a disaster? Was the use of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki right or wrong? What did the people working on the Project believe about their actions?

Many films have attempted to examine the thoughts and actions of those who worked at the Los Alamos Laboratory and other facilities around the country. One of these, the Emmy-winning Day One, is heading to DVD on November 13.

The film focuses far more heavily on the scientists and their overseer, General Leslie Groves (Brian Dennehy), than it does on the science behind the splitting of the atom and the creation of the bomb. It also includes scenes with military and government personnel weighing the decision to use the bomb or not. By examining the men, their thoughts, opinions, and world views, the film is also able to examine the political factors that helped shape the decision to drop the first atomic bombs.

Though an ensemble piece, the film focuses itself most heavily on Groves and his relationship with the scientists, particularly, J. Robert Oppenheimer (David Strathairn), whom Groves put in charge of the Los Alamos facility. Also playing large roles in the film are Michael Tucker as Leo Szilard, and Tony Shaloub as Enrico Fermi. David Ogden Stiers appears as FDR in the film while Hume Cronyn takes on the role of James Byrnes, Director of the Office of War Mobilization and then Truman's Secretary of State. The cast is a strong one and up to the task of presenting these historical figures in a human light.

The film is very careful to not take a side as to the appropriateness of dropping the bomb. It goes into great detail and features numerous high-level meetings about the whether or not the bomb should be dropped, but does not take a strong stance of its own. Rather, the work seems to exist in order to push the question into the viewer's mind and make it known that those involved with the bomb's creation wondered the same thing.