Rickover: The Birth of Nuclear Power

I learned so much about this determined, intelligent, visionary man in this excellent documentary. The film combines dramatized scenes as well as historic footage.

We owe Rickover so much for his genius to use clean secure reliable nuclear energy in a peacetime way to protect our country. The way he created a secure demanding training program is a model that is replicated in civilian nuclear energy plants.

Rickover is an unsung hero in our history. Energy makes the world run. We need dependable clean sources of electricity to power our society.

Rickover overcame so many obstacles thru sheer willpower that makes this film inspirational and informative.

I was a nuke aboard a fast attack submarine in the mid-seventies and this movie brought back a lot of memories; good and bad. The Navy's nuclear training program was (and I presume still is) incredibly difficult weeded out a lot of very intelligent men who weren't able to live up to Rickover's standards. As a result, the U. S. Navy nuclear fleet is second to none. As the movie shows, incompetence, finger pointing, whining, etc. Were not tolerated. If you couldn't perform your duties as a nuke then you didn't last long. Our current "leaders" should be required to watch this movie over and over until they understand the message it contains. Barring that, this movie should be required viewing in our schools.

For reasons perhaps unfathomable, the ratings on this seem to have been driven down by some sort of brigade.

It's interesting history behind the birth of the nuclear navy.

It's a character study of the fascinating and quirky personality driving it all.

At first, Tim Blake Nelson's portrayal of Rickover seems kind of goofy and ridiculous, but then the documentary footage kicks in, and the acting job seems rather spot on.

Had to watch this while doing research on nuclear energy, and didn't expect to love the film and admire Rickover by the end as much as I did. Tim Blake Nelson is excellent in it, total commitment. One of the better docu-dramas I've seen, and it's so refreshing to watch a modern documentary that's not done the way every other cookie-cutter netflix documentary has decided to uniformly look now.

This movie auto-played after I finished the movie "Fat Man and Little Boy" which was about the development of the A-Bomb. I had never heard of Hyman Rickover.

"Rickover: The Birth of Nuclear Power" is about one man's dogged push to make nuclear power a reality in the United States. The movie is, I believe, a docudrama. At times we hear and see the real Hyman Rickover and at times he is played by Tim Blake Nelson. There are quite a few actual interviews of those who worked with him or for him such as Jimmy Carter.

What we learn is that Rickover was a pushy SOB. He rubbed everybody raw, but he could get things done. When thwarted by the Navy he went to congress. He would continue doing end-arounds as long as that's what it took to get what he wanted and he would not remain quiet about it. And what he wanted was safe, reliable, efficient nuclear subs in the water without compromises. It was actually quite refreshing to see a man such as Rickover be concerned more with the safety of the men that were going to be on the sub rather than the cost of the sub.

After getting a nuclear submarine in the water Rickover turned his attention to nuclear energy as a means of cheap electricity. Again, he was able to get it done. Eventually the public sentiment towards nuclear power would turn sour which took the wind out of the sails of Rickover's career mission.

This was an interesting and informative docudrama. From what I saw from Rickover he was someone I'd definitely want on my side though I'd never want to work for him.