Been re-reading Rhodes' book the last few weeks and it's spectacular, not to mention some great turns of phrase. I really wish someone would make a multi-part tv documentary based off his book. Just fascinating stuff.
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.
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/