Thought it was a very entertaining film and a few notches better than the earlier one which concentrated mostly on the domestic life of Oppenheimer, not enough time allotted to his later life however.
I think I was spoiled by a docudrama I saw several months ago, with more about the man himself. The film was very, very good, but there were a few ‘gaps’ . What it did reenforce was the horror of the bomb, and his feelings about what it had unleashed, and the untold dreadful damage it did . The terrible way he was pillared, and treated by the Government thereafterdisgusting!
Definitely worth the watch, but pay attention!!
Strongly recommend watching.
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.
Enjoyed it. Good performances all round. The fact that it jumps backwards and forwards in time does mean you have to have some idea of the history of the events.
You’ll need to put your phone down and concentrate. It is a complex story, not just about ‘the’ bomb.
Maybe it’s a little long, but it does have a story that needs to be told. So take a break halfway. Unfortunately cinemas don’t seem to have intervals for long films anymore.
Picture quality is good, as is the sound.
Recommended.
The but is that it doesn’t have that magic that makes me want to keep watching it like Tenet and Dunkirk. Still it does look gorgeous. The rip came in at 87GB and that was with the Dolby Vision stripped off. That means that there can hardly have been a byte to spare on the disc and it certainly shows.
The only thing I didn’t like was the depiction of Richard Feynman, who was only to be seen to be playing the bongos. Yes he could play the bongos but he didn’t get a Nobel prize for it.
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.
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.
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!
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!
5.0 out of 5 stars A Brilliant Tale of Science, Humanity, and Ethical Dilemmas
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 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 [DVD] [2023] [Blu-ray]](https://k4s.uk/posts/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/81L1sWRGGHL.jpg)
Thought it was a very entertaining film and a few notches better than the earlier one which concentrated mostly on the domestic life of Oppenheimer, not enough time allotted to his later life however.
I think I was spoiled by a docudrama I saw several months ago, with more about the man himself. The film was very, very good, but there were a few ‘gaps’ . What it did reenforce was the horror of the bomb, and his feelings about what it had unleashed, and the untold dreadful damage it did . The terrible way he was pillared, and treated by the Government thereafterdisgusting!
Definitely worth the watch, but pay attention!!
Strongly recommend watching.
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.
Enjoyed it. Good performances all round. The fact that it jumps backwards and forwards in time does mean you have to have some idea of the history of the events.
You’ll need to put your phone down and concentrate. It is a complex story, not just about ‘the’ bomb.
Maybe it’s a little long, but it does have a story that needs to be told. So take a break halfway. Unfortunately cinemas don’t seem to have intervals for long films anymore.
Picture quality is good, as is the sound.
Recommended.
The but is that it doesn’t have that magic that makes me want to keep watching it like Tenet and Dunkirk. Still it does look gorgeous. The rip came in at 87GB and that was with the Dolby Vision stripped off. That means that there can hardly have been a byte to spare on the disc and it certainly shows.
The only thing I didn’t like was the depiction of Richard Feynman, who was only to be seen to be playing the bongos. Yes he could play the bongos but he didn’t get a Nobel prize for it.
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.
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.
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!
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!
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.
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.