In 2016 documentary film-maker Erik Nelson learned the original raw footage from which the film had been cut had been safely deposited in the US National Archives.

The original prints were also scratched, faded, and dusty, but had enough information so that new artificial intelligence techniques, frame by frame restoration, and color grading "beautifully restored [the footage] to breathtaking immediacy".

[5][2][6] When the restoration of the Memphis Belle documentary was finished Nelson used the footage to cut a brand new documentary—The Cold Blue.

[8][9] The National Review asserted the film showed viewers a "level of everyday heroism on offer [that] almost surpasses our capacity to absorb it.

The film's narration is taken from interviews with the few surviving veterans of the 8th Air Force.