Oppenheimer - the movie

[HawkeyeNFO]

Oppenheimer was a good film, but it didn't need to be 3 hours long.

 

[Maidensong]

Barbie v Oppenheimer

Going to see Barbie? Only if they tie me to a chair and tape my eyes open. It would be 2 hours of my life I'd never get back.

Seeing Oppenheimer? Except for the unnecessarily graphic sex, it was riveting, thought-provoking and I'm still thinking about it weeks later...

That's what I want a movie to do.

 

[Koolau]

interesting to read the responses to this poll. We just saw the movie and really liked it. Excellent adult humor and good for the little girls that were giggling often. Yes, Margo is a knock out and the perfect "stereotypical" Barbie, but the other Barbies are great too. And Ryan Gosling is a fantastic Ken. We loved the acting and scenery changes between "Barbieland" and the "Real World." Good dancing and singing too. If a movie makes you laugh as well as shed a tear then it is a win-win. Good to be human. Next up is Oppenheimer.

Yeah, Oppenheimer is the only movie I've considered going to see in many years. Still probably won't go, but at least I'm interested enough to think about breaking my "rule" of no movies at the theater. Returning you now...

 

[swakyaby]

I watched both Oppenheimer on opening weekend (in IMAX) and Barbie (last night), and I would say I enjoyed the humor, colorfulness, over-the-top dancing, music, and muscle flexing in Barbie. But the former movie has all the makings of multiple Oscar nominations.

 

[Henry Lili]

Oppenheimer was a good film, but it didn't need to be 3 hours long.

Agree

 

[Gumby]

.....
Seeing Oppenheimer? Except for the unnecessarily graphic sex, it was riveting, thought-provoking and I'm still thinking about it weeks later...

That's what I want a movie to do.

We saw Oppenheimer yesterday at the cheap senior matinee show. It was very well done and provides ample food for thought about the nature of progress, personal ambition, hubris, regret, fear and change. It is a movie that goes above and beyond the basics of the story about Oppenheimer and the Manhattan Project. I think it well worth watching for anyone.

When I was young, I served on a US Navy ballistic missile submarine. After each of our frequent practice missile launches, I had plenty of opportunity to reflect on the consequences of having developed the atomic bomb, and something very much like the closing scene played in my head sometimes.

My only recommendation is to avoid the IMAX theater. It was painfully loud.

 

[lucky penny]

We saw Oppenheimer yesterday at the cheap senior matinee show. It was very well done and provides ample food for thought about the nature of progress, personal ambition, hubris, regret, fear and change. It is a movie that goes above and beyond the basics of the story about Oppenheimer and the Manhattan Project. I think it well worth watching for anyone.

When I was young, I served on a US Navy ballistic missile submarine. After each of our frequent practice missile launches, I had plenty of opportunity to reflect on the consequences of having developed the atomic bomb, and something very much like the closing scene played in my head sometimes.

My only recommendation is to avoid the IMAX theater. It was painfully loud.

No plans to see Barbie, but I saw Oppenheimer & recommend it. Still thinking about the movie & the person, have been reading articles about the events, & reserved the book (American Prometheus) at the library. The movie shows the contradictions, the ambiguity, the moral dilemmas in the whole project. Oppenheimer was a hero, brilliant & flawed, & actor Cillian Murphy is mesmerizing. Excellent article in The New Yorker last month about the lengthy effort to nullify the decision revoking his security clearance, which finally happened last year. Will watch the movie again when it's streaming.

I didn't see it in IMAX, but the theater had really comfortable reclining seats that were wonderful for a 3-hour movie. I've been to very few movies in recent years & wonder if these are common now; if not I'll definitely search for them next time.

 

[Koolau]

No plans to see Barbie, but I saw Oppenheimer & recommend it. Still thinking about the movie & the person, have been reading articles about the events, & reserved the book (American Prometheus) at the library. The movie shows the contradictions, the ambiguity, the moral dilemmas in the whole project. Oppenheimer was a hero, brilliant & flawed, & actor Cillian Murphy is mesmerizing. Excellent article in The New Yorker last month about the lengthy effort to nullify the decision revoking his security clearance, which finally happened last year. Will watch the movie again when it's streaming.

I didn't see it in IMAX, but the theater had really comfortable reclining seats that were wonderful for a 3-hour movie. I've been to very few movies in recent years & wonder if these are common now; if not I'll definitely search for them next time.

Years since I've seen a movie, but the rocking chairs were a nice plus. But not enough to make up for the half hour of ads before the movie. I'm done. Hope to see Oppie when it comes on TV. Always thought he got a raw deal later in life. I wonder if the movie is true to his actual life and his "involvement" with the "commies."

 

[Gumby]

Years since I've seen a movie, but the rocking chairs were a nice plus. But not enough to make up for the half hour of ads before the movie. I'm done. Hope to see Oppie when it comes on TV. Always thought he got a raw deal later in life. I wonder if the movie is true to his actual life and his "involvement" with the "commies."

From what I can tell, it approaches that subject in a straightforward manner.

 

[Major Tom]

We saw Oppenheimer yesterday at the cheap senior matinee show. It was very well done and provides ample food for thought about the nature of progress, personal ambition, hubris, regret, fear and change. It is a movie that goes above and beyond the basics of the story about Oppenheimer and the Manhattan Project. I think it well worth watching for anyone.

Agreed. I almost didn't see it, as the last Christopher Nolan film I saw, Dunkirk, left me cold. It felt like a very sanitized portrayal of the landings at Dunkirk. I felt none of the difficulty, pain, and sheer terror of war while watching it, which was quite disturbing for me. I wasn't a fan of that film.

Oppenheimer was quite different, though I'm not terribly keen on the practice of taking different time periods and jumping back and forth between them throughout a film, as was done here. It's a tool that seems to be employed often these days. By contrast, the scene where the first test of the bomb happens was given a different treatment. Nolan gave it time to breathe and let it play out. It made for a powerful and deeply moving spectacle; very important for the film as a whole, I thought.

 

[Jerry1]

I’m going to have to wait until I can stream it. 3 hours is just too much unless someone lets me know that they have an intermission.

 

[Car-Guy]

Intermission or not, I'll wait until it's out on streaming.

 

[captain3d]

No intermission. Saw it today in the max res 15/70mm imax.

Over all good not great. Stylistically and technically over indulgent for the needs of the story. Did not seem slow or long while watching but I have no interest in seeing it again.

The giant imax screen and audio system was really a bit too much. I just wanted it to back off a bit.

Better than many movies though.

 

[Koolau]

From what I can tell, it approaches that subject in a straightforward manner.

Yeah, as long as it's reasonably historically accurate, I'm all in for bio pics - especially of such a significant (yet often forgotten or over looked) person such as Oppenheimer. Heh, heh, last movie I went to in the theater was "ARGO." Not sure how accurate it was, but it fit the narrative I had heard and filled in a lot of the missing pieces. Good movie. Who knows? Maybe I'll actually go see the movie.

 

[DrRoy]

Yes. More time was spent on the hearing toward the end than needed. Also, I thought there would be more content about the technical difficulties of the Manhattan Project.

 

[eytonxav]

This is a film I almost wanted to go to the theater to see, which I have not done in many years, but like others will wait till it's streamed or available on BluRay.

 

[Montecfo]

Saw the movie last month. All enjoyed it. I described it as "cerebral", all dialog and character development which was welcome compared to usual cgi blather these days.

Not sure about historical accuracy but it did generate in me a sense of awe of what we did as a country when it really mattered.

Always enjoy Christopher Nolan movies. I think he is brilliant. Have not seen Dunkirk however.

 

[captain3d]

The more I think about them the more I realize I do not like Nolan movies.

They are all extremely impressive but ultimately some how emotionally flat. Never inspiring a second viewing.

 

[Qs Laptop]

I too, have been avoiding going to theaters to watch movies. Oppenheimer lured me back into the theater.

I saw Oppenheimer about a month ago. I went to one of those theaters with power recliner seats. I went to a Friday showing at 11:30 am. There were six other people in the theater. I bought my seats through Fandango.com (also known as Rotten Tomatoes.) They were reserved seats, meaning I picked out our seats. They were about 2/3's of the way back from the screen, and smack dab in the middle. My tickets were emailed to me and were scanned from my phone when I entered the theater. (You can print the tickets at home if you like.) They were $15.00 plus change.

I cannot stress how enjoyable the theater experience was for me, the entire process was seamless and enjoyable. The seats were fantastic. Those of you that are avoiding the movie theater I can tell you there is no need to avoid.

I had heard since Oppenheimer was nearly 3 hours long there were not many previews before the main attraction. This was untrue, unfortunately. The 20 minutes of previews was the only negative part of the entire experience.

The movie itself was engrossing. Christopher Nolan does know how to make a compelling movie. Yes, the movie does flip between the 1940's and the 50's, following the development of the atomic bomb (1940's) and the Oppenheimer security hearings (1950's). This is not really confusing as the scenes in the 1940's were shot in color and the 1950's were in black and white.

The scenes of the security hearings seem to be a bit long but the theme of the movie is about how Oppenheimer, the person, was the collision of scientific discovery and politics. His discovery changed forever how science and politics intersect. Viewed through this lens the inclusion of the security hearings makes perfect sense.

I highly recommend seeing Oppenheimer.

 

[Qs Laptop]

The more I think about them the more I realize I do not like Nolan movies.

They are all extremely impressive but ultimately some how emotionally flat. Never inspiring a second viewing.

I don't know about that. The scene of Oppenheimer's vision of the American people stomping their feet and applauding in giddy celebration after hearing about the power of the bomb was emotionally wrenching for me. I still think about it weeks later.

 

[Qs Laptop]

Saw the movie last month. All enjoyed it. I described it as "cerebral", all dialog and character development which was welcome compared to usual cgi blather these days.

Not sure about historical accuracy but it did generate in me a sense of awe of what we did as a country when it really mattered.

My 26 year old son was with me and had read Oppenheimer's biography, "American Prometheus" and he said the movie was very true to the book, though it left out a lot of details.

 

[lucky penny]

Not sure about historical accuracy but it did generate in me a sense of awe of what we did as a country when it really mattered.

Indeed an awesome accomplishment. And according to the movie, even to the end the results were uncertain. Oppenheimer felt there was a "not zero" chance that the Trinity test would have uncontrollable consequences, & there was also a chance it would be a total dud. The possibility that it might be a dud was an argument for not inviting the Japanese to a "demonstration" test to show the bomb's capabilities, as some had urged.

 

[Steeler75]

Oppenheimer was a good film, but it didn't need to be 3 hours long.

^^^^
This. Excessively long, especially at the end with the hearings.

 

[Car-Guy]

I had the opportunity to visit Los Alamos (work related) almost 15years ago. What a remote and spartan area, even now. Supposedly they can still detect elevated background radiation where some of the old laboratories were located back in the 40's. (Or so I was told)

But I can see why the area was selected for much of the work. Nothing else to do there other than work (Still today). Nearest town is Santa Fe ~45 mins away up/down a 2 lane road (one lane up and one lane down) in the mountains.

 

[Koolau]

I had the opportunity to visit Los Alamos (work related) almost 15years ago. What a remote and spartan area, even now. Supposedly they can still detect elevated background radiation where some of the old laboratories were located back in the 40's. (Or so I was told)

But I can see why the area was selected for much of the work. Nothing else to do there other than work (Still today). Nearest town is Santa Fe ~45 mins away up/down a 2 lane road (one lane up and one lane down) in the mountains.

90 degrees off topic: I've seen maps of the USA where fallout from the various tests made a final resting place. It's not what you would expect as there were lots of places that were elevated 2000 miles away. I noted that where I was born and raised in the midwest was a hot spot.

No idea if it is related (70 years of exposure - but especially as a child drinking Strontium90 laced milk) but I have stage 4 thyroid cancer. Doc thinks (thyroid removed and radiated internally with 131I) has arrested the cancer. Only time will tell.

Can't say "hey, that's what caused it" but seems the most likely cause in this case. Who knows? Just glad to be alive. YMMV