AllMovie

The made-for-TV Sakharov stars Jason Robards as famed Soviet nuclear physicist D. Andrei Sakharov. Lauded by his government for his scientific achievements, Sakharov nonetheless becomes an outspoken critic of Russia's human rights violations. He is reclassified as a "non-person" and exiled to the cloistered city of Gorky. He is also awarded the 1975 Nobel Peace Prize. Originally slated for a September 1984 premiere, Sakharov debuted over the HBO cable service on June 20. This coincided with Sakharov's internationally publicized hunger strike, designed to secure much-needed medical attention outside the Soviet Union for his second wife, Dr. Yelena Bonner (played in the film by Glenda Jackson). Sakharov was filmed in England and Austria with two separate crews.