The Manhattan Project is a true 80's film. It ticks nearly all of the boxes for a cult film, except the iconic/or just plain bad sound track.
Plot: A young genius (Christopher Collet- Prayer of the Rollerboys) who entertains himself with exploding desk drawers, discovers that a secret government building, dedicated to Plutonium enrichment has opened up nearby his quiet, idyllic, suburban home and to make matter worse, the lead scientist (John Legend Lithgow) wants to date his Mum. Anyway, he tells the chick he's interested in (Cynthia Nixon- Sex and the City) and in a bid to bond and find themselves some teenage romance, they decide to break into the laboratory, steal some Plutonium and make their own Nuke-just to show it could be done, you understand. Well, a trip to a science fair in New York, a mad dash escape from the Feds and the obvious finale follow.
All told, it's pretty good. The production standards are high, the acting is more than passable (Lithgow never disappoints) and it left me surprised and happy that even now, having seen so many 80's "cult" films, I can still discover and enjoy a little gem.
Budget: $18,000,000
Gross: $3,900,000 (bit of a loss)
Fun Fact: Robert Sean leonard appears as a very young teen (House). The film was inspired by a University student who, using widely available information, designed a Nuclear device for his term paper.
