One of my favorite trends in film from the 1980's is the nerdy science kid flick. Although Back to the Future didn't have a nerdy kid, it did have a nerdy mad scientist and a kid. It was also responsible for influencing a number of films with the similar sciencey theme: Weird Science, Real Genius, My Science Project are just a few examples. Suddenly, nerds and science were cool. The Manhattan Project added in the paranoia surrounding nuclear fallout that was at the forefront of the minds of many Americans during the decade.
Released in 1986, The Manhattan Project presented a teenager who was smart but at the same time cool and somewhat rebellious.Young Paul (Christopher Collet) moves to a new town with his mom and experiences the usual alienation that comes with going to a new school and making new friends. He ends up meeting Dr. John Mathewson (John Lithgow), who just so happens to work at a top secret government facility that is producing plutonium. The facility has a medical company as its front, and Paul quickly learns what is really going on and decides to steal some plutonium in order to make his own atomic bomb for the local science fair. Things escalate when Paul is found out and he sets the bomb to go off in order to thwart the progress of the plutonium factory, then must team up with his "enemies" when he realizes the bomb cannot be deactivated.
The Manhattan Project still works as a tense thriller, although its age is starting to show, as Paul's MacGyver-esque methods aren't as clever as they once seemed and the "we have to deactivate this bomb before the whole city is destroyed" plot device has seen its better days. The young leads are convincing enough. Christopher Collet does a fine job of coming off as a cocky teen who knows better than anyone else. Lithgow shines as usual as the increasingly frantic foil for Paul. As a nostalgic 80's piece, the film stands out as a reminder of times past and the anti-nuke sentiment that permeated the day.
The Manhattan Project can currently be viewed on Netflix, and has also somewhat recently seen a release on Blu-ray.
