Lucybespro
It is a performances centric movie
Dynamixor
The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.
Mandeep Tyson
The acting in this movie is really good.
TxMike
I was able to view this series on Netflix streaming programming. Actors play the various key roles in each episode.As each episode states clearly this is based on real people and real history but some details have been changed and some incidents dramatized for the program. Still I would believe that each story is substantially true as each has the input and commentary of a number of historians. Following represents the order that I viewed them.In "Oppenheimer vs. Heisenburg" we see the race to build a nuclear bomb that would change the outcome of WW2. Heisenberg was working for the Germans, Oppenheimer for the Americans. Each was aware of the great energy involved, as stated by Einstein's E = m x c x c, but Oppenheimer's team won the race, and the bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki ended the war.In "Wright Brothers vs. Curtiss" we see how the Wrights actually flew first and stymied by the patents, Curtiss had to develop new flying technology, some of it still in use today. The Wrights refused to partner with Curtiss and his more powerful engines and never were a factor as aviation blossomed.In "Farnsworth vs. Sarnoff" we see how a 15-yr-old high school student and farm boy, Farnsworth, actually first conceived of the idea of television, and as an adult made the first working version. But Sarnoff of wealthy and powerful RCA used legal challenges to stymie Farnsworth until RCA's designers could develop a TV that didn't infringe on patents, a classic case of the rich and powerful getting their way, and in this case formed NBC.In "Colt vs. Wesson" we see how the two gun makers each started to develop a revolver pistol about the same time in the 1800s. Both were successful by slightly different routes. Colt's big invention was to develop assembly lines for manufacturing instead of just making one weapon at a time. Wesson was instrumental in developing self- contained ammunition.In "Space Race" we see how at the end of WW2 the Americans captured most of the German V2 rocket technology, but Russia got some also. Russia put up the first satellite in 1957, and then the first man in space, but the Americans, scared to be beaten, put the first men on the Moon in 1969.In "Jobs vs. Gates" we see how each man came along when computers were first being made smaller and affordable for individual use. Gates was a software whiz, Jobs was a visionary for new equipment and applications. Each went on to build companies that became giants of the industry via quite different but symbiotic routes. In "Edison vs. Tesla" the greatest pure inventor of all time is pitted against the man who had the vision for a more efficient, more versatile way to generate and use electricity, alternating current. Edison rejected Tesla's ideas, driving him away and towards Westinghouse. Ultimately Edison's direct current approach found very limited ongoing uses while Tesla's alternating current has become the standard.In "Hearst vs. Pulitzer" we see that Pulitzer, an immigrant, was motivated by an interest in getting the truth out to the readership, while Hearst was a spoiled rich kid who just wanted to make his mark. Motivated by what he saw Pulitzer doing in New York, after turning the small San Francisco newspaper into a success, he went to New York to compete, to defeat Pulitzer, by hiring away his best staff, by undercutting his newspaper cost, and by focusing on the sensational. Eventually they both had to cooperate but turned news media towards what it remains today.
Craig
This Scientist A vs. Scientist B "documentary" plays upon personal contests to hold the audience, since viewers surely will lack the curiosity sufficient to gut through the many ad breaks and aggravating recaps. "Mothra vs. Godzilla", this ain't! Anyone with the slightest knowledge of history will have difficulty enjoying this version of it. The footage is poorly chosen, mostly from History Channel reenactments, I think. There are World War II GI's packing M-16s in the Space Race episode. The filming on "period" sets deserves some credit, but you can see the "museum" signs here and there. There is an 1840s map of the British-American contested Oregon Country is in the background of the 1880s "Austrian" factory office in "Edison vs. Tesla"! Sloppy is a charitable call on this poor effort.
bmprofessor87
My only real question is why is this show on Nat Geo? Who the heck is Giorgio A. Tsoukalos and why is the History channel full of bullcrap about ancient aliens and reality television when it should be replaced with shows like American Genius.To talk about the show, I mean it's obviously dramatized some. The real people didn't necessarily say or do exactly what the show portrays, but they make sure that the accomplishments the inventors achieve are all factual and very real. The people you learn about in this show are tremendous inspirations and I'm glad some of the lesser known's are receiving their days. The American public education system doesn't teach about men like Filo Farnsworth or Glen Curtiss and learning about them has been captivating. Can't wait for this weeks episode with Oppenheimer and Heisenberg.
wazza2222
Twenty or thirty repetitions per episode of the same set of footage loops? 30% of the presentation is in slow motion? Historically inaccurate? Lightweight skim over of the main events with major omissions? Overly dramatic voice-over complete with soaring musical score more appropriate to a Steven Spielberg weepy?, Repeating the same information after every ad break as if your audience have attention deficit disorder? Yep, you got it! Its a new 'documentary' series from The National Geographic Channel (or to be fair, The History Channel, The Discovery Channel or any number of other purveyors of this lightweight rubbish) This pure filler style of producing a commercial hour of television reminds me that CNN used to produce news and was a really good thing when it started. These channels I have mentioned are now in CNN territory in that they USED to be a good thing but now are ripe for someone else to come along and do it properly. Come on Ken Burns, the world needs KBC (The Ken Burns channel) to ensure that the truth gets told and history is recounted accurately for fear that this 'American Genius' type of rubbish becomes the only record that growing minds get the chance to see!
