The Manhattan Project (1986)

A high school prodigy builds an atomic bomb with stolen plutonium to win the 45th National Science Fair and expose a nuclear weapons lab posing as nuclear medicine in Ithaca NY.

Director:

Marshall Brickman

Writers:

Marshall Brickman, Thomas Baum

Stars:

John Lithgow, Christopher Collet, Richard Council

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
John Lithgow	...	John Mathewson
Richard Council	...	Government Aide
Robert Schenkkan	...	Government Aide
Paul Austin	...	General
Adrian Sparks	...	Scientist
Curt Dempster	...	Scientist
Bran Ferren	...	Lab Assistant
Christopher Collet	...	Paul Stephens
Jill Eikenberry	...	Elizabeth Stephens
Cynthia Nixon	...	Jenny Anderman
Gregg Edelman	...	Science Teacher
Abraham Unger	...	Roland (as Abe Unger)
Robert Sean Leonard	...	Max (as Robert Leonard)
David Quinn	...	Tennis
Geoffrey Nauffts	...	Craig

Storyline

Paul Stephens, a high school student in Ithaca, New York, is generally unmotivated academically despite being a science geek, his interest, as per his age, mostly in those science items that have a wow factor. It is his interest in science that connects him to Dr. John Mathewson, a scientist recently having relocated to Ithaca and who is interested romantically in Paul's soon to be divorced mother, Elizabeth Stephens. It is in that want to impress Elizabeth through Paul that John invites Paul to Medatomics, a medical research facility, so that he can demonstrate some of those "wow" type experiments on which he and his colleagues are working. While impressed enough, Paul is nonetheless more interested in something else in the facility that John only makes passing reference to when asked, that "green goo" which in combination with other things Paul discovers around the facility making him believe that the facility really a secret government nuclear one, the green goo radioactive ...

---

Plot Keywords:

ithaca new york | teenage boy | reporter | military | whistleblower | 

---

Taglines:

Paul Stevens' high school science project has gotten a little out of hand. He just built an atomic bomb. Now he's got 11 hours to make sure it doesn't work.

---

Genres:

Sci-Fi | Thriller

---

Certificate:

PG-13

Did You Know?

Trivia

Paul's science class nemesis Roland invented the Internet as his science fair project. This movie was made ten years before the Internet reached widespread public notoriety.

---

Goofs

When Paul substitutes an inert plastic container for the one with Plutonium suspended in green liquid, he fills the container with shampoo. However, the bottle of shampoo only partially fills the plastic jar, The jar that is returned to slot 13 clearly has more liquid than the one Paul filled. However, when he tapes the jar containing the Plutonium to the RC truck, it is obviously the one with the shampoo since it is only partially filled.

---

Quotes

[first lines]
Dr. John Matthewson: Now, the beta synchrotron sends the electrons through this magnet which bends the course of them down to the reaction vessel. Stay away from that elbow joint. All right. Bran, you want to get that? Now, this is a tunable excimer laser. It's tuned to the exact resonance of the plutonium-239 that's in the reaction vessel down at that end. Now, I think we're all set. Hit it.

---

Connections

Features The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)

User Reviews

oddly fascinating

I don't know why, but this movie has a strange fascination that makes me want to watch it. Not a great movie, but passable. But as far as Before They Were Stars, someone needs to realize that the highpoint of John Lithgow's career is NOT a stupid TV show about aliens. He was a big star WELL before this movie came out. He had two Oscar nominations and won an Emmy. Meanwhile, the other two known stars in this movie, John Mahoney and Cynthia Nixon were also quite well known before their TV roles, each with over 10 movies under their belts by 1986.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 June 1986 (USA)

Also Known As:

Deadly Game

Filming Locations:

85 Main Street, Haverstraw, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$18,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$1,503,545, 15 June 1986

Gross USA:

$3,900,000

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$3,900,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Gladden Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

117 min 107 min (video)

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1