Hacker Cinema
Oppenheimer
1980 · TV series · 50 min episodes · 1 season
Created by Peter Prince
Spanning 1938 to 1953, theoretical physicist Robert Oppenheimer leads the effort to develop the atom bomb during the Second World War. When revealed, his work initially makes him a hero in the United States, but an ever-changing world soon sees him recast as a security risk.
4 positivefrom 4 commenters
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7 comments on Hacker News
Likewise.
There's also the issue of older stuff not always being available on streaming sites - IIRC 28 Days Later wasn't available until the new film made it popular enough). Similarly, the BBC Oppenheimer series didn't get put onto their iPlayer service until 2023.
I do worry about the loss of so many films and TV series from our culture. With streaming services, they often don't bother with hosting obscure and older media, so lesser known gems can just disappear without most people even realising.
I hoard old scifi films and series (along with anything that I find of interest) and sometimes, the only copy that I can find has been posted to YouTube by some kind sole (as opposed to the copyright holder).
One particular service that really bugs me is the BBC iPlayer. The search is atrocious, so it's one of those sites that it's easier to do a search for "iplayer ..." in google etc. rather than using the BBC's own search. However, what really bugs me are the time restrictions and removal of programmes when as a TV license payer (which is how the BBC is funded), I've already paid towards the production of those programmes.
e.g. The excellent Oppenheimer series from the 1980s wasn't previously available on iPlayer despite being a BBC production and after the new film was released, the series was entirely available on YouTube, but not the BBC (they've since made it available).
I found that movie pretty disappointing. So much great historical material, a great screenwriter (Bruce Robinson), and yet such a lackluster movie. Both Shultz and Paul Newman are completely miscast.
The only good part of the film is the subplot about the John Cusack character (loosely based on Harry Daghlian), which is a pretty good re-enactment of the actual incident. That scene (which is on YouTube) is worth watching on its own.
For a much more accurate portrayal of Oppenheimer, check out the BBC miniseries "Oppenheimer" from 1980. In terms of TV, it's positively premodern -- more like a filmed play than a real production. But Sam Waterston is much more true to Oppenheimer's character.
It's a great scene (even though it's highly fictionalized), and it's a shame that the film itself is so mediocre. In particular, Oppenheimer and Leslie Groves were horribly miscast. Sam Waterston in the Oppenheimer (1980) miniseries was much more true to life.
The BBC Oppenheimer miniseries is probably the best I've watched on it, though it's not just about the atomic bomb in WW2. I've also seen the "Fat Man and Little Boy" film mentioned by another poster. The later was ok, but it's sort of fictionalized and the Oppenheimer series covers the same events far more accurately and at much greater length.
BBC also had a documentary series on nuclear weapons and espionage that was pretty good.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oppenheimer_(miniseries)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_Secrets
Indeed. The new WGN show "Manhattan" [1] was extremely disappointing in that regard. It's highly fictionalized, and having read TMAB and other books and articles about the project, I found most of its depictions of Los Alamos unrecognizable.
Among the scientists, only Oppenheimer is included (and the actor is horribly miscast); no mention of Fermi or Feynman or Teller or any of the others. If you're doing a series on the Manhattan project in Los Alamos, how can you not have Feynman skulking around cracking safes open and disobeying curfew (not to mention the tragedy of his wife's situation), or Teller keeping everyone awake by playing Bach loudly on his vintage Steinway far into the night?
The movie "Fat Man and Little Boy" is interesting, as it's a straight attempt at telling the Los Alamos story, but dramatically it falls pretty flat, and both lead roles are extremely miscast. (The most interesting part of it is a fictionalized version of the Slotin/Daghlian incidents where John Cusack gets radiated.)
The canniest casting of Oppenheimer so far was the 1980 miniseries "Oppenheimer" with Sam Waterston, which is great classic "theater television"; ultimately just a bunch of people talking, in various rooms, with a static camera and many closeups. Waterston looks quite a bit like Oppenheimer, and captures his combination of keen intelligence and boyish enthusiasm.
Edit: Forgot to say, Dark Sun is also interesting. Not as lyrical, but chock full of fascinating history.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhattan_(TV_series)
[2] http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078037/
> "There have always been reasons to object to working in national defense. During the Cold War quite a few physicists and engineers chose not to go into defense work because they did not want to feel like they were hastening nuclear Armageddon."
Robert Oppenheimer, the "Father of the Atomic Bomb," lost his security clearance and his position on the Atomic Energy Commission for voicing concerns and refusing to directly help build the hydrogen bomb in the 50s. He argued it was against the United States' best interests to develop it, because the USSR had no cities large enough to use it on, while the United States did. The United States also had plenty of large atomic bombs with pretty high yield already that were much cheaper to build. Thus, when the Soviets eventually created their own, they would be ones with a reason to have it, while we wasted tons of money giving it to them that could have been spent elsewhere.
Just for reference:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Openheimer#Atomic_Energy_Commission
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078037/ Great miniseries on Oppenheimer done by the BBC, if one can find it.