Park Film "Beneath the Plains" illustrates the Minuteman Missile Story

Project at a Glance: Develop Orientation Film for New Park Unit

Start Date: October 2014
Completion: May 2018
Contractor: Boston Productions, Inc.
Project Cost: $487,250.00

Results: In the spring of 2018, the park premiered “Beneath The Plains: the Minuteman Missile On Alert” after over three years of development. The film is on permanent exhibition at the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site visitor center in South Dakota and is presented every 40 minutes in a 50-seat theater equipped with a Panasonic high-definition DLP projector, a 150” diagonal projection screen, and 5.1 surround sound. Subtitles for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (SDH) are displayed on screen at all times. An audio description soundtrack is available for visitors who are blind or have low vision, delivered via RF transmitter to portable wireless receivers and headsets. A wireless assistive listening system is available for visitors who need hearing assistance, delivered via RF transmitter to portable receivers and headsets. A seperate project provided for the necessary audiovisual equipment needed to show the film for installation in the new visitor center's multi-purpose room and theater. This project was also coordinated with projects to construct the visitor center (completed in 2014), and to develop interpretive exhibits (completed in 2016) and also encompassed the development and production of a series of short films incoroporated into the visitor center exhibits.

The interpretive feature film provides an understanding of the role of the Minuteman Missile defense system and the significance of the resources preserved at the park, told through a visually intriguing encapsulation of critical events that sparked the Cold War and the importance of the Minuteman II as a nuclear deterrent. "Beneath The Plains" also allows viewers who may not be able to participate in a guided tour to experience the unique Cold War resources preserved at Delta-01 and Delta-09. . The film explores the Minuteman story from multiple perspectives including American and Soviet military personnel and civilians, Cold War historians, anti-nuclear activists, and average citizens who lived their daily lives amongst the missile fields. At the heart of the film are two eyewitness accounts of nuclear near-misses—one from an American missileer and one from a Soviet—that reveal just how close we’ve come to the unimaginable: an accidental nuclear war. The film ends on an intentionally ambiguous note to underscore that nuclear missiles remain, and are now in the hands of other players on the world stage. While the Cold War may have ended, fundamental threats and unanswered questions remain.