Movies: Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer

S E P H

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Mar 5, 2010
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Some people say there's too much nudity in this film, I want to go for the story so please tell me it doesn't turn into a stupid Game of Thrones porn film?
 
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Mario_is_BACK!!

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Nov 29, 2003
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Megahab

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Apr 30, 2009
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I just came back from this. What the hell was Sean Avery doing in this?!?!

Some people say there's too much nudity in this film, I want to go for the story so please tell me it doesn't turn into a stupid Game of Thrones porn film?

It's only a couple of scenes and I don't think it added anything to the movie/story. Not that I'm complaining but it's not what I go to the movies for. On such a big screen, it's hard to be discrete of what part of it your eyes are focused on.
 
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Mount Suribachi

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Nov 15, 2013
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Some people say there's too much nudity in this film, I want to go for the story so please tell me it doesn't turn into a stupid Game of Thrones porn film?

There's like two scenes (both with the same woman) with her breasts out. One is having sex, one is dialogue.

As for the film - mixed bag. It's a movie in 3 acts and at 3 hours is really long.

Act 1 is pre-war and features Oppenheimers early career, womanising and flirtation with communism. It was kinda meh.

Act 2 begins when Matt Damon (General Groves) arrives and is all about development of the bomb. Best part of the film for me. Loved the interactions between Damon and Murphy, both humorous and serious. The build up to the Trinity test is epic, the use of sound is incredible, and I got literal goosebumps at the moment of explosion.

Act 3 completely changes pace and becomes a courtroom drama - actually TWO courtroom dramas, one featuring Oppenheimer (in colour) and one featuring Robert Downey Jr (in Black and white). No spoilers, but this is what drags the film out way too long. Honestly, it should have been (and feels like) a completely separate movie, or at the very least, the RDJ portion should have been cut. It's beautifully shot, and RDJ is fantastic in it, but it just doesn't feel like it fits with the rest of the film.

Disclaimer: I have two science degrees, work with radiation all day every day and have read several books on The Manhattan Project. This may influence my opinion on what was important about this film :)
 

Osprey

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Feb 18, 2005
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Thanks brethren, glad to see that those people were overblowing the scenes.
Some people also said that Babylon opens with a half-hour-long debaucherous orgy. I was surprised the other night by just how tame it was. Those people have obviously never seen Caligula.
 
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GabeTravels

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Nov 24, 2011
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Just got back from seeing it. Very powerful, extremely well done film. Very good biopic.

The cast is unreal, everyone nails it. Sound design and visuals are great. No issues with the audio mix, which I know is a common Nolan complaint. I personally struggle to comprehend some of the dialogue, but not because of the mix. Can't wait to watch it with subtitles at home, haha.

The third act does feel a bit tacked on, even if it was interesting. I still really enjoyed it, but the shift between act 2 and 3 is jarring. The last scene sticks with you though, and really wrap up the point of the movie in a neat bow.

9.5/10 for me.
 
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TheBeastCoast

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Mar 23, 2011
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I really enjoyed it, started off a bit slow but the middle and ending really landed for me. Thought RDJ was a standout performance. Movie was far far better then Tenet. I didn't feel myself looking at the time through the movie either for such a long movie.
 

Osprey

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Feb 18, 2005
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Thought I saw it was only projected to hit 80 mil this weekend so pretty good. Seeing it late tonight so I'll regret it tomorrow but whatever.
$80M was the domestic projection, and it hit that exactly (well, $80.5M). Most weekend projections are just for the domestic numbers.
 

Tuggy

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I enjoyed it. Not sure I would call it the greatest movie of the century like I've seen, but it was good. 3 hours is a long run time but I never felt it dragged.

I think I would have liked to have seen more of his personal life after the bomb.

And wtf Sean Avery :laugh:
 

StreetHawk

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Sep 30, 2017
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Thought I saw it was only projected to hit 80 mil this weekend so pretty good. Seeing it late tonight so I'll regret it tomorrow but whatever.

Heard the salaries for the big stars were all in the 7 figures only. Murphy, as the featured character got the most at $5 million. RDJ, Blunt, and Damon around $4 million each. Pugh got around $1 million. Big name ensemble cast, so they all put their egos aside to work with Nolan.

Studios do need to reign in their budgets moving forward.
 

mrmovies779

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Feb 5, 2013
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Looking forward to seeing it on friday.I am glad pacing isn't an issue for this 3 hour movie
 

RandV

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Jul 29, 2003
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Heard the salaries for the big stars were all in the 7 figures only. Murphy, as the featured character got the most at $5 million. RDJ, Blunt, and Damon around $4 million each. Pugh got around $1 million. Big name ensemble cast, so they all put their egos aside to work with Nolan.

Studios do need to reign in their budgets moving forward.
So that's $18M for the top star cast you've listed, on a movie that cost $100M total to produce, and going by the numbers in here projected to open at $80M (domestic?) but hit $174M globally. I know they're taking pay cuts here but that's not breaking the bank either way, and not the same thing but consider that in pro sports the athletes tend to take home 50% of revenues.
 

FriendlyGhost92

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Jun 22, 2023
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Overall I thought it was pretty good. I was a lot more interested in the nuke part of the story than the Strauss vs. Oppenheimer drama, so it got a little long and drawn out for me.

I think Nolan tried to be pretty down the middle on the moral conflict of it, but still, perhaps unintentionally, pushed it toward the idea that it was a mistake. (Without turning the thread political, I see the issues but still disagree) That said it's a breath of fresh air from some other Hollywood productions that would throw it in your face and talk about how you should feel like shit for what people generations before you did.

Falls in the same category as Dunkirk for me. Certainly don't regret watching it, and its very well done, but I just don't see it as a movie you can watch over and over... Although Florence Pugh gives you two compelling reasons. :naughty:
 
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HanSolo

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Apr 7, 2008
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I thought it was very good. Not sure I'd call it a masterpiece as some critics have but definitely one of Nolan's strongest works.

I'm putting my two big gripes in spoiler tags, not really to hide some big spoilers because it's a bit of a blurt of my thoughts that I'd rather just leave for anyone who cares to read but TL;DR: 1) I understood the whole plot but the pace was so frantic that I barely hung on for the ride 2) as worthy a story as the Strauss and Oppenheimer stuff is for people to know, I didn't find it to be the most compelling part of the movie though it was the most exposition heavy.

I also don't know that I agree that the movie lacks pacing issues but it's not in the sense that it drags or has senseless bloat. There'3 distinct acts and even some of the scenes you could objectively cut or shorten without suffering much all serve their purpose well. I think the inverse is the problem that there are times where the plot is moving almost too fast to build out everything the story is trying to accomplish. With so many relevant characters and moving parts to the Strauss v Oppenheimer stuff...I didn't feel like I lost the plot but it felt like I was barely holding on by my fingertips. By the conclusion I understood just fine what was going on but throughout the movie it felt like my brain needed time to process exposition I just heard but the movie wasn't giving me the time to breathe (but that's fairly common with Nolan).

And with that I echo the sentiment that the Strauss v. Oppenheimer stuff was just not as inherently compelling as the race to build the bomb. That's not to say it wasn't, but the movie feels a fair bit less meaningful once the bombs had been used. The most compelling stuff to come in the third act to me was the human impact the bomb had on Oppenheimer, but that wasn't the main scope until the end. It's a lot of scenes, with some great moments that turn out to be a battle over Oppenheimer's legacy and reputation. But instead of how the world and history might view him for what he brought into the worlda, it's how the American public in the days of McCarthyism may have viewed him as a hero or a communist traitor because of his associations and dabbling in advocacy. And that really doesn't matter today with how it played out.

All that said, there was certainly value in telling the full story this way. I just didn't find it as compelling for cinematic storytelling as I would prefer but that's just me. I likely would never have learned of this side of the story if not for it being a focal part of a Nolan film, and I'm not upset that I have now.

Anyway, all that aside, in all other respects, this really feels like Nolan at his directorial peak. Every scene feels masterfully crafted and it's hammered home by outstanding performances across the board. I mean this felt like just as much of an acting talent showcase as a filmmaking one.

Cillian Murphy delivers a career defining performance and as someone whose been a fan of his for a while, I'm so happy to see him get a major motion picture starring role and just slam it out of the park. Unbelievable performance. RDJ comes in a very close second for standout performances, I mean he just ate up every scene he was in (I'm almost inclined to say Cillian and RDJ were on even footing because most of the latter's scenes are without Cillian and when they share the screen, RDJ steals the scenes but I think that's just as much the direction of those scenes). Emily Blunt is a knockout, Matt Damon (who I find inconsistent) sold every scene he was in, and I think Florence Pugh deserves some serious props for impacting the film so heavily in a relatively limited role. Jason Clarke packed in an outstanding performance in a pretty narrow role and lent the movie a huge dose of tension on his own (arguably one of the best attorney roles I've seen in a long time). But I mean, like I said. There were no passengers in this cast. Everyone was outstanding.

I'm a bit miffed that I didn't notice Sean Avery.

Anyway. Terrific bit of cinema, but I'd say it falls a bit short of a magnum opus. Or at least I hope it does in Nolan's case and hopefully the best is yet to come.
 

Peasy

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May 25, 2012
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I really enjoyed it. Easily my favourite Nolan film since Interstellar.

Impressive to have a 3 hour extremely dialogue heavy movie and not really feel bored once. For example when I saw the 2nd Avatar I found myself wondering more of when it would be over.

Had no problem with the 3rd act at all. Does a great job portraying the typical nature of humans. Always wanting more for themselves and the lengths they'll go to get that. Also showed how the politicians and the government will toss you away once they get what they needed from you. There was a line early in the movie about a scientist turning down the offer for that exact reason. Being in academia for a bit I often saw this first hand. They pay you for this work, and when the experts explain the situation at hand or the proper things that need to be done, they will often be dismissed if it is not what they want to hear. Chernobyl mini series did a great job portraying this as well.

Loved all the nuances and complexity that made up Oppenheimer. A lot of interesting philosophical and social discussions. Nolan does a great job taking a very straight forward story but adding in elements of deception or twists to keep the viewer interested and engaged.

The final scene is exceptional, and couldnt really think of a better way to end it.
 
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GabeTravels

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Yeah it does in a lot of ways feel Chernobyl-esque.

I think my favorite scene in the film is the meeting with the Secretary of War. Tense, serious, but with some wry humor.
 
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Pink Mist

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Jan 11, 2009
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3rd act is arguably the most essential act in the film. Its concerning Oppenheimer reckoning that his world destroying technology is now at the hands of faceless petty bureaucrats/politicians - the pettiness and vindictiveness of Strauss is used to illustrate this. Sure its lighter on "action" but thematically its the soul of the film
 
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HanSolo

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Apr 7, 2008
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3rd act is arguably the most essential act in the film. Its concerning Oppenheimer reckoning that his world destroying technology is now at the hands of faceless petty bureaucrats/politicians - the pettiness and vindictiveness of Strauss is used to illustrate this. Sure its lighter on "action" but thematically its the soul of the film
Granted by the time all that was going on it was like 1-2 in the morning but I was reading that all like Oppenheimer was still fighting for his reputation and his capacity to use his station to fight back against proliferation, which in the back of my mind I still read like he could have done so but in a diminished capacity, so the stakes didn't seem too impactful. But like I said, I was getting tired, so maybe I'll appreciate the third act more on a re-watch.
 
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