Release CalendarTop 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV NewsIndia TV Spotlight
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsBest Picture WinnersBest Picture WinnersEmmysSTARmeter AwardsSan Diego Comic-ConNew York Comic-ConSundance Film FestivalToronto Int'l Film FestivalAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • All
  • Titles
  • TV Episodes
  • Celebs
  • Companies
  • Keywords
  • Advanced Search
Watchlist
Sign In
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
IMDbPro

Tesla: Master of Lightning

  • TV Movie
  • 20002000
  • TV-PGTV-PG
  • 1h 27m
IMDb RATING
7.9/10
1K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
40,144
3,059
Tesla: Master of Lightning (2000)
DocumentaryBiographyHistory
Biography of electrical inventor and visionary genius Nikola Tesla.Biography of electrical inventor and visionary genius Nikola Tesla.Biography of electrical inventor and visionary genius Nikola Tesla.
IMDb RATING
7.9/10
1K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
40,144
3,059
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Director
      • Robert Uth
    • Writers
      • Robert Uth
      • Phylis Geller
    • Stars
      • Stacy Keach(voice)
      • Elisabeth Noone(voice)
      • Nikola Tesla(archive footage)
    Top credits
    • Director
      • Robert Uth
    • Writers
      • Robert Uth
      • Phylis Geller
    • Stars
      • Stacy Keach(voice)
      • Elisabeth Noone(voice)
      • Nikola Tesla(archive footage)
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 4User reviews
    • 1Critic review
  • See production, box office & company info
  • Photos

    Tesla: Master of Lightning (2000)
    Add photo

    Top cast

    Edit
    Stacy Keach
    Stacy Keach
    • Nikola Tesla
    • (voice)
    Elisabeth Noone
    Elisabeth Noone
    • Narrator
    • (voice)
    Nikola Tesla
    Nikola Tesla
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    Leland I. Anderson
    • Self
    John Jacob Astor
    John Jacob Astor
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    Charles W. Batchelor
    Charles W. Batchelor
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    Sarah Bernhardt
    Sarah Bernhardt
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    William H. Bragg
    William H. Bragg
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    Joseph Butler
    • Self
    Margaret Cheney
    Margaret Cheney
    • Self
    William Crookes
    William Crookes
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    Flora Dodge
    Flora Dodge
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    Thomas A. Edison
    Thomas A. Edison
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    Albert Einstein
    Albert Einstein
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    Michael Faraday
    Michael Faraday
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    Bernard Finn
    • Self
    Percy E. Foxworth
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    Elmer Gertz
    • Self
    • Director
      • Robert Uth
    • Writers
      • Robert Uth
      • Phylis Geller
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    More like this

    The Secret Life of Nikola Tesla
    7.2
    The Secret Life of Nikola Tesla
    Teslafy Me
    7.0
    Teslafy Me
    Tesla
    Tesla
    The Tesla Files
    7.0
    The Tesla Files
    Tesla
    8.2
    Tesla
    Tesla
    5.1
    Tesla
    Amy
    7.8
    Amy
    Tesla: Beyond Imagination
    Tesla: Beyond Imagination
    Nikola Tesla, the man from the future
    8.5
    Nikola Tesla, the man from the future
    Return of Tesla
    Return of Tesla
    Nikola Tesla
    8.3
    Nikola Tesla
    Tesla
    7.8
    Tesla

    Storyline

    Edit

    User reviews4

    Review
    Review
    Top review
    6/10
    Who Was Nikola Tesla?
    Tesla was an immigrant from Yugoslavia, a contemporary of Sigmund Freud, and a brilliant but erratic inventor of electrical apparatus. It's difficult to summarize his life because, well, it had so many ups and downs, some of them reaching clinical levels. He may have been a genius but he was no businessman, in an era of cut-throat businessmen, and he became something of a fantasist in his later years.

    I have a limited background in electronics but some of this material was presented a little to fast for me to grasp. What's the good of telling us that Tesla invented the generator when you don't know what a generator is. (It's a device that converts mechanical energy into electrical energy, if I remember.) He filed a number of patents, important in the development of alternating current -- the kind that turns your light and this computer on -- and in radio, but the credit and the income were largely ripped off by more cunning types like Westinghouse, Edison, and Marconi.

    Tesla was pretty neurotic, when you come right down to it. He couldn't touch hair, for instance, and couldn't manage to hook up with any beauties of the period despite his celebrity and wealth. He wasn't a mathematical wizard but, like Einstein, he came to waste a lot of time on scientific canards -- Einstein on the unified field theory, Tesla on a means of transporting electrical energy without wires. It would have been nice if Tesla succeeded. We can all do without electrical cables, utility poles, and those giant towers of electrical power that mar our landscapes and interfere with flying kites. However, with the best will in the world, we cannot light a bulb in London with a beam of electrical power originating in New York.

    The film brings up the so-called Star Wars Initiative and the atomic bomb and some other modern wonders but is finally forced to admit that they owe little to Tesla. What we do owe to Tesla, at least in part, is Times Square and Osaka, where the lights never dim and it's always as bright as day. In fact, almost everything that runs on electricity owes something to Tesla. Even the electric chair, but not flashlights.

    In his old age, Tesla received a stipend from Westinghouse that enabled him to live in modest comfort in the Hotel New Yorker. He spent most of his time in the park, feeding pigeons, and died at 87. It was a tumultuous and productive life. Whether or not Tesla found it satisfying, no one can say for sure, including this documentary.
    helpful•5
    10
    • rmax304823
    • Nov 9, 2012

    Details

    Edit
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Тесла: Повелитель молний
    • Production company
      • New Voyage Communications
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 27 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
      • Color

    Related news

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    • IMDb Answers: Help fill gaps in our data
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page

    More to explore

    View list
    List
    New & Upcoming Superhero Movies and Series
    See the full list
    View list
    List
    Fall TV Guide: The Best Shows Coming This Year
    See the full list
    View image
    Photos
    Double Take: Celebrity Twins
    See the full list
    Back to top

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb App
    Sign in for more access
    Sign in for more access
    • Get the IMDb App
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • IMDb Developer
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Interest-Based Ads
    IMDb, an Amazon company

    © 1990-2022 by IMDb.com, Inc.