Oppenheime Apart from a couple of cringeworthy scenes, it is a brilliant, but disturbing recreation of a world drunk on its own power. Robert Downey Jr is on top form alongside an excellent cast.
Epic movie I loved the build and the intensity however struggled at times to follow the time switches and was definitely maybe 40 minutes too long. Definitely worth a watch and glad could watch it with a pause button for snack and toilet stops
Five star story of this event in history. A five star depiction of the development of the H bomb , the story of its development its destructive impact and then the attempt to castigate him later for this development in the cost of human lives lost !
Wasn’t what I had expected Not the films fault but I thought it’d be more about the actual making of the bomb and the dropping of it.
Was quite political especially about Communism in the US.
A good film It is a very good film, but I’m not so sure that it lives up to the hype, however, maybe I need to watch it again to really appreciate it, but I need to leave it a while , as over 3 hours is a long time to spend watching one film.
Historical A good historical representation of events around the development of the Atomic Bomb. Well acted but probably not the sort of material to interest younger audiences. Fortunately I am older generation and more interested in that era.
Great acting. Well over long. Cut this by an hour and it would have been tauter. Too much back story and too many effects to indicate Oppenheimer’s state of mind, not necessary as Cillian’s acting was more than good enough to convey what was needed.
Nolan Strikes Agai This movie is very good. The in depth life and emotion of the chatacter and the creation of fusion is top tier. The cinema photography is amazing, 80% Imax scenes and good colour grading. The list of names and faces you need to remember does get overwhelming and you will forget who characters are referring to throughout. The reason for 4 stars is cause of the stretched out 3rd act which overstays its welcome. Its definitely not Nolans best work. Inception and Interstellar are all superior films in my eyes but he seems to be just getting the recognition from the academy’s now… took them long enough.
Impressive photography The film was interesting and may be close to reality, one can’t know these days when many productions take their preferred interpretation of events. I found having two parallel story lines a little confusing at first even as one is in colour and the other in monochrome. I doubt that I’lll watch it again.
Pretty good movie I watched this on xmas day when there was a lot going on and pretty much hated it. But I recently rented it and watched it more carefully. It was interesting and informative and entertaining too. Worth watching…
Good history of science flick Good to see some fundamentals of science are portrayed by the film. The Notion of “the Science” ever being settled, or scientific dogma being sacrosanct is exposed as a fallacy in an opening scene. Oppenheimer presents how splitting the Uranium atom is impossible according to mathematical theorem. His dogmatic certainty on this topic of the day this then swifty blown out of the water by news that it had been split in a Lab. in Berlin.
Interesting too is the suggestion that US Campuses in the 1930s were hotbeds of Utopian radicals as much as they are today.
The rest is an entertaining mix of rival Ego’s, Politics, sex, spy’s under the bed.
Long winded to say the least. The Race for the Atom Bomb was well underway by the later stage of WWII.
Good acting from Cillian Murphy and the rest of the cast.
This film, should have been 1 1/2 hours long at most.
I kept falling asleep.
Ah well, excellent soundtrack, visuals and SFX.
I must admit the detonation of the first A Bomb was a bit of a damp squib.
It was Okay.
A ground breaking triumph What’s left to say which hasn’t been said already.
This has superb performances especially from Cillian Murphy and RDJ .
I can’t say this is a feel good film but if you know the premise of this film you’ll know what the films subject matter contains.
If political dramas are of your interest then this one ticks all the boxes.
Some scenes I found unnecessary and the females portrayed are a bit short changed here with very little to do but overall the film us a stunning character study of a period in history that had huge implications for how the world embarked on an uncertain future. The print on the 4K release looks stunning and would make for a fine reference piece for your new television to showcase it’s best features.
Recommended.
GREAT FILM DESPITE NOLAN'S MISHANDLING, FANTASY AND IRRELEVANT NUDE SCENES I thought this an excellent movie to add to my collection. I did rather wonder if Christopher Nolan, director of Batman movies, mistook the genre he was making. It is supposed to be based on fact but, the jumping backwards and forwards in time, the ridiculous nude scenes that added nothing, the fantasy-type scenes, almost wrecked it.
However, the casting and performances were absolutely stellar and I would rewatch this 3 hour film for that reason, skipping through the nonsense like I skip through the nonsense on Game of Thrones.
Tom Conti really is Einstein reincarnate, I am convinced. 🙂
A rather complicated story and not much actio I quite enjoyed this film but it was too long for me and the story line kept on chopping and changing. Even the film kept going from colour to black and white. I think it should have been an hour shorter and the only exciting part was when the first bomb was detonated. No-one was sure if it would cause a chain reaction and blow up the world. Oppenheimer himself was a complicated person but obviously clever in what he learnt as a scientist. The film was centred mostly around his personal life and it seems everyone was against him. Overall a good watch but be prepared for the length of the film.
BRILLIANT, IN EVERY WAY This is very probably the best film I’ve ever seen. For a start there is a powerhouse performance from the main actors – Cillian Murphy is surely in line for a Best Actor at the upcoming OSCARS – with Robert Downey Jnr for Best Supporting Actor, and Emily Blunt for Best Actress. In fact all then cast put in sterling performances – even the minor actors give their very best with not a dull performance amongst them. Christopher Nolan’s direction is perfection and surely he is in line for a Best Director Oscar. Ludwig Gorensson’s score is majestic and perfect for the subject matter – so he too will be in line for a Best Original Soundtrack Oscar. The Screenplay sizzles – and is another sure-fire Oscar nominee/contender. The Cinemaphotography is superb – so there is another Oscar contender. it WILL win a bucketload of Oscars and deservedly so.
I can never remember a film where virtually every frame is full of tension – it hooked me straight away. And no film has ever done that before.
A good watch but I would have preferred more physics and less melodrama As my title, the kind of dream sequences and the sex scenes would have usefully been dropped and replaced with some very basic physics about the practicalities of what they did. No I wasn’t after a documentary, I have seen and read a lot on the subject but it did give the impression that it was all done with arguments and hand-waving. I know I am in a tiny minority here. For example they did give some weight to Teller’s calculations about accidentally causing a runaway fusion reaction but didn’t even attempt a five-year old’s explanation of why this was not going to happen e.g. the conditions needed for this are only present in the Sun (at the time). They could still have preserved the dramatic what-if by caveating this with the “Theory/experiment” argument they referred to a couple of times.
Good Not Grea As you’ll notice in my title, this is a film that is, put simply………just good. I can’t say it was disappointing but I CAN say that I wouldn’t watch it again, just one of those. I also thought that there was a desperate attempt by either Director or producer to cram in the unlimited amount of information that was amassed by such a government project, which is actually understandable and could well have been split into 2 films. I think the best way to see this film would be at the cinema as I’m sure with the acoustics etc and loudness and the rumbling of the room it maybe WAS epic? Who knows, and I never will.
More about 'company' politics Entertaining but dragged a bit. I’m not sure what I was expecting but found the chest-beating at end a bit disingenuous. Worth watching even if Oppenheimer’s personal life was shooshed up and didn’t seem to add much to the understanding of a man who clearly had a powerful intellect. It would have helped convey the ‘destroyer of worlds’ trope if footage of the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki had been included together with some sort of visual reference to the prolonged horrible effects of radiation. A film on this subject and on this man deserves imagery to convey the cloud(sic) we have all been living under since the end of WW2. I felt the message a little diluted by the desire to make good box office. An opportunity missed!
Amazing steelbook and 4k This will become a “reference” disc for anyone wanting to show off the capabilities of 4k physical media. It looks amazing and the 5.1 audio is also brilliant (Nolan doesn’t do Dolby Atmos). There is around 3 hours of extras too and the steelbook itself is fantastic, with interesting art and an enbossed title.
Oppenheimer - Blu-ray A spectacular cinematic achievement lands on physical media and works as well on the small screen as on the big.
A spellbinding effort that does not really feel its runtime sprawls between time periods, between colour and black & white, from the scientific to the personal in telling the story of J. Robert Oppenheimer and his work on the Manhattan Project and the Atomic bomb. With excellent performances from Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey Jnr (who hasn’t been this good in years) as his ‘nemesis’ the film is filled out by a full roster of familiar faces. But Nolan manages to keep everything in control, so that by the final portentous scenes everything has made sense.
The standard Blu-ray edition is excellent presented, with cinematography and effects all coming across beautifully.
And, delightfully there are actually extras! A 72 minute making of documentary with Nolan and main cast/crew, trailers and promotional material, a featurette on the black and white elements, a 35 minute scientific Q&A featuring Nolan again and then an 87 minute newly created documentary on Oppenheimer himself (again featuring Nolan amongst others).
Could have been much bette Loses a star fr the silly flashing lights at the start – as if that is going to explain or even just set the scene quantum physics. Otherwise, a well crafted film. Don’t bother with 4K – it is not that good.
Its a Long film....... Wanted to see it at the cinema, never got the chance, so got the BR version, 4K version was to pricy. Well made film, one of the best, picture quality is supreme through decent enough equipment. Its the sound that’s crap!, some parts are spoken in a Wisper, was forever juggling with the sound volume and the audio setting to get a clearer centre dialogue, Even through my mates surround sound system it didn’t make that much difference . Superb picture quality, Oscar nominated film for sure. sound quality rubbish. Might try headphones the next time i watch it.
A Brilliant Tale of Science, Humanity, and Ethical Dilemmas Oppenheimer was an amazing film!
Despite it being nearly three hours long, I was really impressed how they managed to give the film a fast pace. The film never really felt like it slowed down. The intensity was constant throughout. In a weird way, it felt like the ticking of a time bomb, always progressing to something bigger.
Ludwig Gransson’s soundtrack was impeccable. It just complemented the film so well and played a major role in maintaining the films quick pace. I don’t think I could name a another film where the soundtrack was so integral to the film.
All the actors and actresses gave outstanding performances! Cillian Murphy! My goodness! Oscar Worthy performance from him. I enjoyed the way the film kept me enraptured in his Oppenheimer’s psyche. He brought such an emotional intensity to each scene, purely through his facial expressions and body language. I truly empathized with his moments of conflict where he gets caught in the thick of war and politics and how he is forced to grapple with the consequences of his actions.
I was also throughly impressed with Robert Down Jr’s performance as Lewis Strauss. He made it seem so easy. I believe he could be a contender for Best Supporting Actor.
Credit must go to Emily Blunt and Florence Pugh, who did not have as big roles as Murphy, but did really well when they were on screen.
I love that Nolan always opts for shooting using IMAX cameras because it gives his film a unique visual style. The shots didn’t have insane composition but I enjoyed their shooting style. They made use of many closeups which kept me engaged and allowed me to sympathise with Oppenheimer more. The closeups ups also kept you absorbed in the tension and did not allow you to escape. I continue to enjoy Hoyte van Hoytema colour palette as well with the combination of greys, blue, black etc.
This film is also a triumph in filmmaking because Nolan showed that even though there is no action but mostly dialogue, there are still ways you can use the film language to make a film engaging. On top of that, he still manages to share his unique artistic flair because even though Oppenheimer is a biography, it still felt like a “Christopher Nolan Movie” with it’s sprinkles of espionage, special effects, surreal imagery etc.
Oppenheimer manages to live up and surpass the hype in many ways and could honestly go down as one of the most riveting dramas/biographies ever made!
I was expecting more … A decent movie that was full of top name actors but did tend to constantly go back and forth, which for me was distracting and made it hard work to keep focused.
I expected more from it to be fair and wasn’t overly impressed.
Not exactly an ‘edge of your seat’ type of movie but was quite slow and un-exciting.
I’ve bought literally hundreds of movies on DVD and the reason being because I would watch them again at some time but this is not one of them.
He’s baaaaack Nolan, both a paradox and a paradigm. His Batman trilogy, a fantastic superhero romp, not quite matching the Burton/Keaton films, but certainly the best otherwise. Inception, a fantastic journey in to the extreme.
Then came Interstellar and Tenet. Remarkable flops in my opinion, the former a sci-something mishmash, and the latter a simple format disguised as more complex than it required.
Now, we receive Oppenheimer, a genuine return to form in respect of Nolans ability to tell a story. He uses a variety of story telling mechanics, namely the one that relates to a primary overview narratively, which switches back to moments in his timeline to provide context.
This was done in a way that sometimes people do either get confused by, or frustrated by, however it is, for the last 20+ years now, a hallmark of ambitious storytelling, when there is a significant amount of story to tell.
Generally speaking, the cast play their parts fantastically, Murphy is definitely the perfect choice for the lead role. The direction of the cast is also well designed, their archetypes follow through the film, with no obtuse deviation.
Special effects are integrated well for the most part, although the initial ‘visionary’ effects feel a little contrived, but are very nicely designed. The test explosion scene is handled in a mature and respectful manner.
Audio is overall handled very well, the DTS-MA soundtrack a pleasure to listen to, from the various music choices, to ambient noise and vocal representation.
Nolan has definitely come back to form with this film, whilst some may find the politic angle a bit much, it is a necessary backdrop to the subject matter and I dont think it was overdone.
I would give this 5 stars as a film, but the disc I received has errors for around 15-20 minutes before the last 10 minutes. I will be looking to return this as it’s not just a cheap bluray, but a costly 4K bluray.
Brilliant! A fascinating story about a brilliant mind, science, politics, humanity and betrayal.
First time viewers may be left confused but you WILL want to rewatch it, that’s certain.
I’ve been very eagerly looking forward to this day when I can finally add the 4K film to the rest of my 4K Christopher Nolan collection, I thought I loved this film the first time I watched it in the cinema but the second time, at home on my 55″ 4K HDR TV, I fell in love with it all over again.
Truly spectacular! The cast, the story, the effects and of course the genius of Nolan. There is a reason why he’s arguably one of the best modern film directors.
Just because you don’t understand something, doesn’t mean it’s bad, A LOT of people didn’t understand this film it seems. I do and I absolutely loved it!
Magnificent and devastating A movie with an excellent cast which is in general well made. I have a couple of reservations: the affair between Oppy and his mistress could have been handled more decorously without reducing its relevance to the story line, and I was irritated by some focusing errors in interior close up scenes which seem to be a consequence of the director’s choice to shoot in film – though this choice is certainly responsible for the quality of the outdoor scenes, which look magnificent even in the 2K BluRay transfer.
The message here is about how those responsible for creating technologies lose control over how these technologies are applied and developed even further, and the devastating consequences on both the scientists and the victims of misapplication. In view of the current deteriorating international situation and also the rapid & seemingly uncontrolled development of “artificial intelligence” applications based on Big Data, this movie is one that I feel everybody needs to see despite its minor imperfections.
Also the 90 minute documentary “To End All War” on the “Special Features” disc is IMHO worth the purchase price of the whole 2 x Blu Ray package.
![Oppenheimer [Amazon Exclusive Steelbook] [4K Ultra HD] [2023]](https://k4s.uk/posts/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/71KlX1-gX9L.jpg)
Oppenheime
Apart from a couple of cringeworthy scenes, it is a brilliant, but disturbing recreation of a world drunk on its own power. Robert Downey Jr is on top form alongside an excellent cast.
Epic movie
I loved the build and the intensity however struggled at times to follow the time switches and was definitely maybe 40 minutes too long. Definitely worth a watch and glad could watch it with a pause button for snack and toilet stops
Five star story of this event in history.
A five star depiction of the development of the H bomb , the story of its development its destructive impact and then the attempt to castigate him later for this development in the cost of human lives lost !
Wasn’t what I had expected
Not the films fault but I thought it’d be more about the actual making of the bomb and the dropping of it.
Was quite political especially about Communism in the US.
A good film
It is a very good film, but I’m not so sure that it lives up to the hype, however, maybe I need to watch it again to really appreciate it, but I need to leave it a while , as over 3 hours is a long time to spend watching one film.
Historical
A good historical representation of events around the development of the Atomic Bomb. Well acted but probably not the sort of material to interest younger audiences. Fortunately I am older generation and more interested in that era.
Great acting. Well over long.
Cut this by an hour and it would have been tauter. Too much back story and too many effects to indicate Oppenheimer’s state of mind, not necessary as Cillian’s acting was more than good enough to convey what was needed.
Nolan Strikes Agai
This movie is very good. The in depth life and emotion of the chatacter and the creation of fusion is top tier. The cinema photography is amazing, 80% Imax scenes and good colour grading. The list of names and faces you need to remember does get overwhelming and you will forget who characters are referring to throughout. The reason for 4 stars is cause of the stretched out 3rd act which overstays its welcome. Its definitely not Nolans best work. Inception and Interstellar are all superior films in my eyes but he seems to be just getting the recognition from the academy’s now… took them long enough.
Impressive photography
The film was interesting and may be close to reality, one can’t know these days when many productions take their preferred interpretation of events. I found having two parallel story lines a little confusing at first even as one is in colour and the other in monochrome. I doubt that I’lll watch it again.
Quite long…
but very good*.
The first 10ish minutes of it reminded me of a Philomena Cunk sketch.
*I ran out of time on the rental and missed that last 15 mins. But I’m sure that was as good as the rest.
Pretty good movie
I watched this on xmas day when there was a lot going on and pretty much hated it. But I recently rented it and watched it more carefully. It was interesting and informative and entertaining too. Worth watching…
Good history of science flick
Good to see some fundamentals of science are portrayed by the film. The Notion of “the Science” ever being settled, or scientific dogma being sacrosanct is exposed as a fallacy in an opening scene. Oppenheimer presents how splitting the Uranium atom is impossible according to mathematical theorem. His dogmatic certainty on this topic of the day this then swifty blown out of the water by news that it had been split in a Lab. in Berlin.
Interesting too is the suggestion that US Campuses in the 1930s were hotbeds of Utopian radicals as much as they are today.
The rest is an entertaining mix of rival Ego’s, Politics, sex, spy’s under the bed.
Long winded to say the least.
The Race for the Atom Bomb was well underway by the later stage of WWII.
Good acting from Cillian Murphy and the rest of the cast.
This film, should have been 1 1/2 hours long at most.
I kept falling asleep.
Ah well, excellent soundtrack, visuals and SFX.
I must admit the detonation of the first A Bomb was a bit of a damp squib.
It was Okay.
What’s left to say which hasn’t been said already.
This has superb performances especially from Cillian Murphy and RDJ .
I can’t say this is a feel good film but if you know the premise of this film you’ll know what the films subject matter contains.
If political dramas are of your interest then this one ticks all the boxes.
Some scenes I found unnecessary and the females portrayed are a bit short changed here with very little to do but overall the film us a stunning character study of a period in history that had huge implications for how the world embarked on an uncertain future. The print on the 4K release looks stunning and would make for a fine reference piece for your new television to showcase it’s best features.
Recommended.
GREAT FILM DESPITE NOLAN'S MISHANDLING, FANTASY AND IRRELEVANT NUDE SCENES
I thought this an excellent movie to add to my collection. I did rather wonder if Christopher Nolan, director of Batman movies, mistook the genre he was making. It is supposed to be based on fact but, the jumping backwards and forwards in time, the ridiculous nude scenes that added nothing, the fantasy-type scenes, almost wrecked it.
However, the casting and performances were absolutely stellar and I would rewatch this 3 hour film for that reason, skipping through the nonsense like I skip through the nonsense on Game of Thrones.
Tom Conti really is Einstein reincarnate, I am convinced. 🙂
A rather complicated story and not much actio
I quite enjoyed this film but it was too long for me and the story line kept on chopping and changing. Even the film kept going from colour to black and white. I think it should have been an hour shorter and the only exciting part was when the first bomb was detonated. No-one was sure if it would cause a chain reaction and blow up the world. Oppenheimer himself was a complicated person but obviously clever in what he learnt as a scientist. The film was centred mostly around his personal life and it seems everyone was against him. Overall a good watch but be prepared for the length of the film.
This is very probably the best film I’ve ever seen. For a start there is a powerhouse performance from the main actors – Cillian Murphy is surely in line for a Best Actor at the upcoming OSCARS – with Robert Downey Jnr for Best Supporting Actor, and Emily Blunt for Best Actress. In fact all then cast put in sterling performances – even the minor actors give their very best with not a dull performance amongst them. Christopher Nolan’s direction is perfection and surely he is in line for a Best Director Oscar. Ludwig Gorensson’s score is majestic and perfect for the subject matter – so he too will be in line for a Best Original Soundtrack Oscar. The Screenplay sizzles – and is another sure-fire Oscar nominee/contender. The Cinemaphotography is superb – so there is another Oscar contender. it WILL win a bucketload of Oscars and deservedly so.
I can never remember a film where virtually every frame is full of tension – it hooked me straight away. And no film has ever done that before.
A good watch but I would have preferred more physics and less melodrama
As my title, the kind of dream sequences and the sex scenes would have usefully been dropped and replaced with some very basic physics about the practicalities of what they did. No I wasn’t after a documentary, I have seen and read a lot on the subject but it did give the impression that it was all done with arguments and hand-waving. I know I am in a tiny minority here. For example they did give some weight to Teller’s calculations about accidentally causing a runaway fusion reaction but didn’t even attempt a five-year old’s explanation of why this was not going to happen e.g. the conditions needed for this are only present in the Sun (at the time). They could still have preserved the dramatic what-if by caveating this with the “Theory/experiment” argument they referred to a couple of times.
Good Not Grea
As you’ll notice in my title, this is a film that is, put simply………just good. I can’t say it was disappointing but I CAN say that I wouldn’t watch it again, just one of those. I also thought that there was a desperate attempt by either Director or producer to cram in the unlimited amount of information that was amassed by such a government project, which is actually understandable and could well have been split into 2 films. I think the best way to see this film would be at the cinema as I’m sure with the acoustics etc and loudness and the rumbling of the room it maybe WAS epic? Who knows, and I never will.
More about 'company' politics
Entertaining but dragged a bit. I’m not sure what I was expecting but found the chest-beating at end a bit disingenuous. Worth watching even if Oppenheimer’s personal life was shooshed up and didn’t seem to add much to the understanding of a man who clearly had a powerful intellect. It would have helped convey the ‘destroyer of worlds’ trope if footage of the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki had been included together with some sort of visual reference to the prolonged horrible effects of radiation. A film on this subject and on this man deserves imagery to convey the cloud(sic) we have all been living under since the end of WW2. I felt the message a little diluted by the desire to make good box office. An opportunity missed!
Amazing steelbook and 4k
This will become a “reference” disc for anyone wanting to show off the capabilities of 4k physical media. It looks amazing and the 5.1 audio is also brilliant (Nolan doesn’t do Dolby Atmos). There is around 3 hours of extras too and the steelbook itself is fantastic, with interesting art and an enbossed title.
A spectacular cinematic achievement lands on physical media and works as well on the small screen as on the big.
A spellbinding effort that does not really feel its runtime sprawls between time periods, between colour and black & white, from the scientific to the personal in telling the story of J. Robert Oppenheimer and his work on the Manhattan Project and the Atomic bomb. With excellent performances from Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey Jnr (who hasn’t been this good in years) as his ‘nemesis’ the film is filled out by a full roster of familiar faces. But Nolan manages to keep everything in control, so that by the final portentous scenes everything has made sense.
The standard Blu-ray edition is excellent presented, with cinematography and effects all coming across beautifully.
And, delightfully there are actually extras! A 72 minute making of documentary with Nolan and main cast/crew, trailers and promotional material, a featurette on the black and white elements, a 35 minute scientific Q&A featuring Nolan again and then an 87 minute newly created documentary on Oppenheimer himself (again featuring Nolan amongst others).
Could have been much bette
Loses a star fr the silly flashing lights at the start – as if that is going to explain or even just set the scene quantum physics. Otherwise, a well crafted film. Don’t bother with 4K – it is not that good.
Wanted to see it at the cinema, never got the chance, so got the BR version, 4K version was to pricy. Well made film, one of the best, picture quality is supreme through decent enough equipment. Its the sound that’s crap!, some parts are spoken in a Wisper, was forever juggling with the sound volume and the audio setting to get a clearer centre dialogue, Even through my mates surround sound system it didn’t make that much difference . Superb picture quality, Oscar nominated film for sure. sound quality rubbish. Might try headphones the next time i watch it.
Oppenheimer was an amazing film!
Despite it being nearly three hours long, I was really impressed how they managed to give the film a fast pace. The film never really felt like it slowed down. The intensity was constant throughout. In a weird way, it felt like the ticking of a time bomb, always progressing to something bigger.
Ludwig Gransson’s soundtrack was impeccable. It just complemented the film so well and played a major role in maintaining the films quick pace. I don’t think I could name a another film where the soundtrack was so integral to the film.
All the actors and actresses gave outstanding performances! Cillian Murphy! My goodness! Oscar Worthy performance from him. I enjoyed the way the film kept me enraptured in his Oppenheimer’s psyche. He brought such an emotional intensity to each scene, purely through his facial expressions and body language. I truly empathized with his moments of conflict where he gets caught in the thick of war and politics and how he is forced to grapple with the consequences of his actions.
I was also throughly impressed with Robert Down Jr’s performance as Lewis Strauss. He made it seem so easy. I believe he could be a contender for Best Supporting Actor.
Credit must go to Emily Blunt and Florence Pugh, who did not have as big roles as Murphy, but did really well when they were on screen.
I love that Nolan always opts for shooting using IMAX cameras because it gives his film a unique visual style. The shots didn’t have insane composition but I enjoyed their shooting style. They made use of many closeups which kept me engaged and allowed me to sympathise with Oppenheimer more. The closeups ups also kept you absorbed in the tension and did not allow you to escape. I continue to enjoy Hoyte van Hoytema colour palette as well with the combination of greys, blue, black etc.
This film is also a triumph in filmmaking because Nolan showed that even though there is no action but mostly dialogue, there are still ways you can use the film language to make a film engaging. On top of that, he still manages to share his unique artistic flair because even though Oppenheimer is a biography, it still felt like a “Christopher Nolan Movie” with it’s sprinkles of espionage, special effects, surreal imagery etc.
Oppenheimer manages to live up and surpass the hype in many ways and could honestly go down as one of the most riveting dramas/biographies ever made!
I was expecting more …
A decent movie that was full of top name actors but did tend to constantly go back and forth, which for me was distracting and made it hard work to keep focused.
I expected more from it to be fair and wasn’t overly impressed.
Not exactly an ‘edge of your seat’ type of movie but was quite slow and un-exciting.
I’ve bought literally hundreds of movies on DVD and the reason being because I would watch them again at some time but this is not one of them.
He’s baaaaack
Nolan, both a paradox and a paradigm. His Batman trilogy, a fantastic superhero romp, not quite matching the Burton/Keaton films, but certainly the best otherwise. Inception, a fantastic journey in to the extreme.
Then came Interstellar and Tenet. Remarkable flops in my opinion, the former a sci-something mishmash, and the latter a simple format disguised as more complex than it required.
Now, we receive Oppenheimer, a genuine return to form in respect of Nolans ability to tell a story. He uses a variety of story telling mechanics, namely the one that relates to a primary overview narratively, which switches back to moments in his timeline to provide context.
This was done in a way that sometimes people do either get confused by, or frustrated by, however it is, for the last 20+ years now, a hallmark of ambitious storytelling, when there is a significant amount of story to tell.
Generally speaking, the cast play their parts fantastically, Murphy is definitely the perfect choice for the lead role. The direction of the cast is also well designed, their archetypes follow through the film, with no obtuse deviation.
Special effects are integrated well for the most part, although the initial ‘visionary’ effects feel a little contrived, but are very nicely designed. The test explosion scene is handled in a mature and respectful manner.
Audio is overall handled very well, the DTS-MA soundtrack a pleasure to listen to, from the various music choices, to ambient noise and vocal representation.
Nolan has definitely come back to form with this film, whilst some may find the politic angle a bit much, it is a necessary backdrop to the subject matter and I dont think it was overdone.
I would give this 5 stars as a film, but the disc I received has errors for around 15-20 minutes before the last 10 minutes. I will be looking to return this as it’s not just a cheap bluray, but a costly 4K bluray.
A fascinating story about a brilliant mind, science, politics, humanity and betrayal.
First time viewers may be left confused but you WILL want to rewatch it, that’s certain.
I’ve been very eagerly looking forward to this day when I can finally add the 4K film to the rest of my 4K Christopher Nolan collection, I thought I loved this film the first time I watched it in the cinema but the second time, at home on my 55″ 4K HDR TV, I fell in love with it all over again.
Truly spectacular! The cast, the story, the effects and of course the genius of Nolan. There is a reason why he’s arguably one of the best modern film directors.
Just because you don’t understand something, doesn’t mean it’s bad, A LOT of people didn’t understand this film it seems. I do and I absolutely loved it!
A movie with an excellent cast which is in general well made. I have a couple of reservations: the affair between Oppy and his mistress could have been handled more decorously without reducing its relevance to the story line, and I was irritated by some focusing errors in interior close up scenes which seem to be a consequence of the director’s choice to shoot in film – though this choice is certainly responsible for the quality of the outdoor scenes, which look magnificent even in the 2K BluRay transfer.
The message here is about how those responsible for creating technologies lose control over how these technologies are applied and developed even further, and the devastating consequences on both the scientists and the victims of misapplication. In view of the current deteriorating international situation and also the rapid & seemingly uncontrolled development of “artificial intelligence” applications based on Big Data, this movie is one that I feel everybody needs to see despite its minor imperfections.
Also the 90 minute documentary “To End All War” on the “Special Features” disc is IMHO worth the purchase price of the whole 2 x Blu Ray package.