Factually quite accurate. 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.
Interesting Film but So Long and Not an Easy Watch. Love Cillian Murphy in anything and he didn’t disappoint as the gifted but troubled Oppenheimer, all the actors were brilliant and the story-line very powerful (well, the love scenes were a bit bizarre but perhaps that’s just me). However, found the film to be rather overlong and tortuously dry in places with a confusing time-line. I would have thought the creation of the atom bomb a dramatic enough subject without the hugely irritating stomping of feet to build up the tension. The music overpowered the dialogue which is something that often spoils our enjoyment of films these days. Glad I bought the DVD as we split it up into two parts, my husband was relieved when it was over but I watched it a second time a while later which did kind of clarify some of the more confusing bits for me. All those awards – not an easy or terribly enjoyable watch so not sure.
In many ways very sad. 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.
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.
Good film - but you need to know some history for it to make sense. 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.
It's long. Take a break 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.
Father of the Bomb A new movie from acclaimed director Christoper Nolan. Who brought us Tenet and Dunkirk. Among others.
This film is the story of physicist Robert Oppenheimer. Who during World War Two led the project to build the atom bomb. It is based on a book about him called American Prometheus.
Actor Cillian Murphy takes the lead. Emily Blunt plays Oppenheimer’s wife.
This runs three hours and thirty five mins. It is not a linear narrative. It focuses mainly on Oppenheimer’s work on the project. Plus what happened to him in the 1950’s at the height of the red scare in the USA. It does jump back and forth between these times. Using different colours to differentiate alternating viewpoints also.
It does also show some earlier moments in his life. But not much of that compared to the two main strands.
This uses many special film making techniques to try and create something that is an experience. There’s some memorable sound design in particular when the bomb is being tested.
Oppenheimer was an incredibly smart man. And had his own opinion on nuclear weapons. This does get strongly into that. And his reaction to how they were used and things have turned out since. All this conveyed by Cillian Murphy with body and facial muscle acting.
It also doesn’t flinch from portraying what a tricky marriage he and his wife had.
This is a film endeavouring to be something powerful and memorable and make you think. It as mentioned does all it can with film techniques to create such an experience.
You will either find it a thoroughly absorbing and excellent thought provoking cinematic experience. Or you might be left cold and not get into it all. But it’s worth a try.
It does contain a couple of adult moments. And some scenes with flashing lights so those troubled by the latter please be aware.
This is a unique dvd. Something we haven’t seen in over six years, if memory serves. It’s a two disc one loaded with extras.
The first one has just the film.
Language and subtitles:
Languages: English. German. English audio description.
Subtitles: English. German.
The second disc has a lot of extras.
The front screen of the second disc does offer English subtitles. Either on or off. This is via one of those menus that only has icons no text.
Extras:
A making of documentary. This runs for sixty seven mins in total. It is divided into seven parts so can be watched all at once or individually. The parts range in length from six to sixteen mins. It is as in depth and interesting as you could hope for.
Trailers:
five different trailers for the film. Running in length from one to five mins. These can also be watched all in a row or individually.
Innovations in film. Sixty five mm film in Oppenheimer. An eight min long look at one of the film techniques it used. Fascinating but a bit detailed so maybe not for the layman.
Meet the press: Q&A panel Oppenheimer. A thirty five min long discussion with Christopher Nolan and four others. Not film cast or crew but those who were consulted on the project. This is a terrific discussion really interesting to listen to and well worth a watch.
To end all wars: Oppenheimer and the atomic bomb. An eighty five min long documentary about Oppenheimer. It is good viewing as it’s in depth and interesting to go over the perspectives of the film this way. This does offer the option of English audio captions when viewing.
A very memorable film. A great dvd package for it.
An outstanding film bu 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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 [DVD] [2023] [Blu-ray]](https://k4s.uk/posts/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/81L1sWRGGHL.jpg)
Factually quite accurate.
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.
Love Cillian Murphy in anything and he didn’t disappoint as the gifted but troubled Oppenheimer, all the actors were brilliant and the story-line very powerful (well, the love scenes were a bit bizarre but perhaps that’s just me). However, found the film to be rather overlong and tortuously dry in places with a confusing time-line. I would have thought the creation of the atom bomb a dramatic enough subject without the hugely irritating stomping of feet to build up the tension. The music overpowered the dialogue which is something that often spoils our enjoyment of films these days. Glad I bought the DVD as we split it up into two parts, my husband was relieved when it was over but I watched it a second time a while later which did kind of clarify some of the more confusing bits for me. All those awards – not an easy or terribly enjoyable watch so not sure.
In many ways very sad.
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.
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.
Good film - but you need to know some history for it to make sense.
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.
It's long. Take a break
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.
A new movie from acclaimed director Christoper Nolan. Who brought us Tenet and Dunkirk. Among others.
This film is the story of physicist Robert Oppenheimer. Who during World War Two led the project to build the atom bomb. It is based on a book about him called American Prometheus.
Actor Cillian Murphy takes the lead. Emily Blunt plays Oppenheimer’s wife.
This runs three hours and thirty five mins. It is not a linear narrative. It focuses mainly on Oppenheimer’s work on the project. Plus what happened to him in the 1950’s at the height of the red scare in the USA. It does jump back and forth between these times. Using different colours to differentiate alternating viewpoints also.
It does also show some earlier moments in his life. But not much of that compared to the two main strands.
This uses many special film making techniques to try and create something that is an experience. There’s some memorable sound design in particular when the bomb is being tested.
Oppenheimer was an incredibly smart man. And had his own opinion on nuclear weapons. This does get strongly into that. And his reaction to how they were used and things have turned out since. All this conveyed by Cillian Murphy with body and facial muscle acting.
It also doesn’t flinch from portraying what a tricky marriage he and his wife had.
This is a film endeavouring to be something powerful and memorable and make you think. It as mentioned does all it can with film techniques to create such an experience.
You will either find it a thoroughly absorbing and excellent thought provoking cinematic experience. Or you might be left cold and not get into it all. But it’s worth a try.
It does contain a couple of adult moments. And some scenes with flashing lights so those troubled by the latter please be aware.
This is a unique dvd. Something we haven’t seen in over six years, if memory serves. It’s a two disc one loaded with extras.
The first one has just the film.
Language and subtitles:
Languages: English. German. English audio description.
Subtitles: English. German.
The second disc has a lot of extras.
The front screen of the second disc does offer English subtitles. Either on or off. This is via one of those menus that only has icons no text.
Extras:
A making of documentary. This runs for sixty seven mins in total. It is divided into seven parts so can be watched all at once or individually. The parts range in length from six to sixteen mins. It is as in depth and interesting as you could hope for.
Trailers:
five different trailers for the film. Running in length from one to five mins. These can also be watched all in a row or individually.
Innovations in film. Sixty five mm film in Oppenheimer. An eight min long look at one of the film techniques it used. Fascinating but a bit detailed so maybe not for the layman.
Meet the press: Q&A panel Oppenheimer. A thirty five min long discussion with Christopher Nolan and four others. Not film cast or crew but those who were consulted on the project. This is a terrific discussion really interesting to listen to and well worth a watch.
To end all wars: Oppenheimer and the atomic bomb. An eighty five min long documentary about Oppenheimer. It is good viewing as it’s in depth and interesting to go over the perspectives of the film this way. This does offer the option of English audio captions when viewing.
A very memorable film. A great dvd package for it.
An outstanding film bu
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
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.