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Day One

1989 · 141 min

A sober, talk-heavy docudrama that turns committee rooms and physics debates into quiet moral suspense, ending on a heavy historical reckoning.

Directed by
Joseph Sargent
Genres
History, Drama, Tv movie
Tagline
This day will go down in history as a black mark against mankind.
Overview
Hungarian physicist Leo Szilard leaves Europe, eventually arriving in the United States. With the help of Einstein, he persuades the government to build an atomic bomb. The project is given to no-nonsense Gen. Leslie Groves who selects physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer to head the Los Alamos Laboratory in New Mexico, where the bomb is built. As World War II draws to a close, Szilard has second thoughts about atomic weapons, and policy makers debate how and when to use the bomb.

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Directed by
Joseph Sargent
Genres
History, Drama, Tv movie
In your watch list

How it feels

Written by AI. It can be wrong.

Tone
  • earneststrength 3 of 3
  • tensestrength 2 of 3
  • melancholicstrength 2 of 3
  • darkstrength 1 of 3
Pacing
measured, 2 of 4, from slow-burn to relentless
Attention
engaged, 3 of 4, from background-friendly to demanding
Themes
  • science
  • war
  • morality
  • power
  • guilt
Places
  • workplace
  • military
Era
period
Audience
adult
Form
  • true story
  • ensemble
Content intensity
  • Gore none
  • Language mild
  • Violence mild
  • Sex none
All scales, 0 to 10
Scales, 0 to 10
ScaleValue0 to 10
Action2
Horror2
Humour2
Realism8
Romance1
Tension6
Darkness6
Complexity6
Emotional weight7

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Cast

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Details

Genres
history, drama, tv movie
Directed by
Joseph Sargent
Written by
David W. Rintels
Starring
Brian Dennehy, David Strathairn, Michael Tucker, Hume Cronyn, Richard Dysart, Hal Holbrook, Barnard Hughes, John McMartin
Music
Mason Daring
Cinematography
Kees Van Oostrum
Runtime
141 min
Country
Canada, United States of America
Languages
English

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