Oppenheimer : The Complete BBC Series (3 Disc Box Set) [DVD]

As the title indicates, this is a biographical study of the man rather than just the story of the first A-bomb. So the action stretches into the nineteen fifties.Waterston is a highly plausible 'Oppie', the intellectual with an artistic bent who dallied with the left but ultimately turn out to be a mainstream American patriot. We see him as a scientist, an administrator, a semi-detached, rather naïve socialist and a tortured soul who never stopped being queasy about the moral implications of the bomb.In addition to him, the series is peopled by an interesting range of characters: Edward Teller, difficult and vain, a right wing hawk whowas obsessed with the 'super'; Kitty Oppenheimer, moody and fragile; Hans Bethe (this actor is uncannily like the real man), and the cringe-makingly awkward English physicist James Tuck - drunkenly singing 'My Father's a Lavatory Cleaner' at one of Oppie's parties.The most convincing character of the series, however, and its star in my opinion, is Manning Redwood as General Groves. Redwood IS Groves - harsh, demanding, unremitting. Groves bullies his subordinates, and is a great lover of Hershey bars - just like the real man. If anything, Redwood gives Leslie Groves better treatment than he deserved. The real Groves could be downright rude to the people around him and cared nothing for their feelings.Unlike the later film on the subject ("Hiroshima" or 'Day One' starring David Strathairn and Brian Dennehy, 1989) we see nothing of Leo Szilard in Chicago and not much of the political maneouvrings at the top - apart from Secretary Stimson's committee on dropping the bomb in 1945. However we get a great deal more about Oppenheimer's love-life and his associations at Berkeley in the 'thirties. On top of that, constantly hovering in the background, are the ever-present Hoover boys - men in dark glasses sitting in big, black Buicks, waiting and listening.The bomb is exploded in episode 5. Episodes 6 and 7 of the series cover the saddest period of Oppenheimer's life: the continued pall cast over him by his past political links with the American left. As Chairman of the General Advisory Committee of the AEC, he was privy to a lot of secret stuff. But in early 'fifties America, McCarthyite paranoia was all the rage and Oppenheimer had to go. The actors play out in detail the hearings which he endured at this time and the withdrawal of his security clearance in 1954. These two episodes are dry stuff, but they work well enough for viewers who have read up on the historical context. For those who just want entertainment, they have little appeal.On Oppenheimer, there is plenty of literature to go at: recent lives by Bird & Sherwin (2005) and Abraham Pais (2006); an older book by Peter Goodchild (1978) and two volumes by James Kunetka, 1978 and 1982; specifically on the 1954 hearings there are books by John Major (1971)and Priscilla MacMillan (2005).So: read a book on the man first and then watch these seven hour-long plays. It's a rewarding experience.

this is a great dvd about the father of the man who created the atom bomb, j robert oppenheimer, his life in the 30's through his development with others of the atom bomb during world war 2 and his life after, the film shows a very conflicted man, before the war with communist leanings through to his profound regret and shock at the damage caused by the atom bomb he helped createthis series runs a massive 420 minuetes and is divided in to 7 parts as orginally shown on the bbc and spans 3 dvds, all i can say is how did a man who was so conflicted ever gather the strength and fortitude to help develop one of the most devestating weapons of the last centurythe series shows oppenheimer or oppie as he was more fondly known by those who knew him in stark fact, there is no glossing over the facts, every flaw is shown in great detail and i think this is what made the series so fantastic, ive seen other biogs of other people that dont dig deep this series dug and dug and dugi never thought before i saw this show that i would actually grow to like and even sympathise with the man who basically developed such a truly awful weapon of mass destruction but i did, i began to even understand how he came to some of his more bizare decisions and his opposition to the h bomb, the super bomb that was even more destructive than the a bomb after he saw the effects of the atom bomb in japan was amazing including the outrage of those in power in both the military, other atomic scientists and even the president and they way he showed great grace under fire when they went after him basically conductin a hearing that put him on trial with virtually no defence for his oppinions against the h bomb, he could have stayed quiet and sunk out of media attention but he choose to stand and fight for his name and what he believed ini can honsetly say i have learnt more about a truly remarkable man but i also feel i have learnt far more about american attitudes both before and after the war and how they ended up conducting the arms race with russiathis dvd is compelling veiwing and as one episode ended and the hour got later and later i found myself saying ill just watch the beginning of the next episode, then an hour later carrying on, for me this is a must watch and i just wish the bbc could make tv like this again, it makes me realise how good they used to be and why people of an age like my father lament so much about the rubbish on tv now, if they could make a series as good over twenty years ago why cant they do it now

Not much to add to Mark's review...except to say that this is television drama of the very highest order. The period detail is stunning and the casting is near-perfect. Sam Waterston is almost uncannily Oppenheimer-like at times (as is the actress who plays his wife, Kitty). The scene where they are trying to decide whether they *should* use the bomb, or simply demonstrate its power to the Japanese still stays with me to this day -- as does the opening scene, set in a café in Berkely, where they're betting on whether students will see the implications in the nuclear fission paper (it's more light-hearted than it sounds).As an 17-year old in 1980 (in the days before video recorders) this kept me in every Thursday night (and Sunday for the repeat).

I was very surprised to see positive reviews of this DVD.The film quality is very poor indeed, but since it was shot in the late 70's I could accept that.What surprised me more was the ham acting of all the cast, excepting the characters of Oppenheimer and Teller.This series is a very poor reflection on the BBC drama unit.It's cheap (reference the train shots to show Groves on his way around the country), film quality changes dramatically from indoor to outdoor shots, and the title music sounds like it was performed by an orchestra of drunks and the acting generally appalling.I found my self distracted from the main jist of the story by serious flaws in the production.This is an interesting story, but in this case badly told.My advice is to buy the book.