Search - Testament on DVD

MPAA Rating: PG Content Advisory: Adult Situations, Not For Children, Adult Language Movie Release: 1983 DVD Release: 12/07/2004 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV - Closed Captioned Edition: Special Collection Audio Tracks: English Subtitles: English SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 29 mins Studio: Paramount Members Wishing: 17 Genres: Drama, Sci-Fi Disaster Film, Family Drama

Director Lynne Littman has created an effective, understated portrayal of the cost of a nuclear war in human terms, in a film as far removed from the fake hyperbole of action and disaster movies as the natural world is from cartoons. Set in the small California town of Hamlin, the Wetherly family and their everyday concerns open the story. The trivia that fills their secure, ordinary existence disappears when a TV show is interrupted with the announcement that nuclear bombs have exploded in the major cities on the East Coast, and then the entire scene is erased in an increasingly white, blank movie screen -- meant to show that nuclear blasts have been detonated in California as well. Over 1000 people die in the first month from radiation sickness, but the mother in the Wetherly family (Jane Alexander) displays great inner strength as she cares for orphaned children the family has taken under its wing and goes on sustaining those that remain in her own family. At one point, she quietly conveys to her daughter the happiness of intimacy between two adults, knowing her daughter will not live to experience adult love. As these individuals and the children cope with day-to-day existence, there is never any intrusion of overt horrors, the focus remains on the individuals and the way in which they adjust to the inevitable. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Jane Alexander - Carol Wetherly
William Devane - Tom Wetherly
Rossie Harris - Brad Wetherly
Roxana Zal - Mary Liz Wetherly
Lukas Haas - Scottie Wetherly

An emotionally devastating account of the effects of nuclear war on a suburban mother and her three children, Testament receives a belated DVD release courtesy of Paramount Home Video. The feature is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen and offers vivid colors with little evidence of digital artifacting or edge enhancement. Though it does exhibit some grain in the darker scenes and the occasional spot of debris, the transfer is very commendable overall. Despite the fact that Testament may very well be the quietest film ever made about World War III, the Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack offers an perfect mix of music, sound effects, and dialogue. For fans of the film who have already waited too long for the DVD release, Paramount makes the wait worthwhile with some fantastic bonus features. "Testament at 20" finds cast members Lukas Haas, Roxana Zal, and Ross Harris warmly reunited with director Lynne Littman, and in addition to a poignant tale from Harris regarding how his experience in making the film helped him to better understand his own autistic son later in life, it also details the process of bringing the story to the screen and discusses James Horner's subtle but affecting score. "Testament: Nuclear Thoughts" elaborates on the probable effects of nuclear warfare through interviews with Hiroshima survivor Shikego Sasamori and an intimate discussion with a group of noticeably moved students who have just viewed the film. Lastly, a "Timeline of the Nuclear Age" offers a detailed account of every major nuclear-related event from the official announcement of the Manhattan Project in 1942. Although the timeline ends on a positive note with Libya giving up its nuclear program in 2004, it makes it readily clear in no uncertain terms that the nuclear arms race is far from dead, and that Testament remains a quiet reminder of what may be in store for the human race unless we take the bold steps needed to rid the planet of these destructive forces once and for all. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide