OPPENHEIMER REVIEW RE-POST!!!!

*** I had the opportunity to see this film for the second time during a one week engagement! I didn't get a chance to give an updated take on the film so I am re-posting my initial review that I worked on in August. Still a remarkable film and SHOULD be seen on the big screen if you have the chance. If you don't get a chance, Oppenheimer will be streaming on Peacock starting February 16!!!***

The biography, ‘American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer,’ is a 2005 book written over a period of twenty-five years. The subject of this acclaimed biography is J. Robert Oppenheimer, who was the leader of the Manhattan Project which produced the first atomic bombs.

Now, acclaimed filmmaker Christopher Nolan uses inspiration from this book and has created an historical-biographical feature that is really powerful and gives us a look at the creation of the first atomic bomb.

During World War II, Lt. Gen. Leslie Groves, Jr. appoints physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer to work on the top secret Manhattan Project.

Oppenheimer and a team of scientists spend years developing and designing the atomic bomb.

Their work comes to fruition on July 16, 1945, as they witness the world’s first nuclear explosion, forever changing the course of history.

‘Oppenheimer’ is a cinematic experience that really delivers incredible performances, amazing visuals, and some heart-pounding emotion.

The main thing that really stands out in this film is, of course, the atom bomb explosion test. The countdown to the test can also be quite suspenseful and pulse-pounding, even though we know that the test was a success before seeing this film. The explosion itself is incredible to watch since the whole sequence is done with practical effects.

The entire cast of the film is really great and there are many notable actors and actresses that appear in ‘Oppenheimer’ Cillian Murphy knocks it out of the park as J. Robert Oppenheimer and his portrayal of the renowned physicist is really captivating. Murphy, who is a Nolan regular, better receive some nominations for his role. In fact, most of the cast better receive a nomination at some point once the awards season starts up.

All of the other actors, such as Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, and many others are really remarkable in this film. Even Josh Hartnett, who was pretty much everywhere in the late 90s and early 2000s, also appears in this feature film. Do you remember the actor?

Christopher Nolan delivers another amazing film that several history buffs will really enjoy. I don’t think there is one film that Nolan has directed that wasn’t really great. His 2020 film, ‘Tenet,’ was just OK and I haven’t really seen it since I reviewed it when it initially was released.

So, I highly recommend ‘Oppenheimer.’ It’s definitely one of Nolan’s best films and, like I stated before, all history buffs should really enjoy this film.

Some of the cast includes: Cillian Murphy as Oppenheimer; Emily Blunt as Kitty Oppenheimer; Robert Downey Jr. as Lewis Strauss; Jason Clarke as Roger Robb; Tony Goldwyn as Gordon Gray; James D’Arcy as Patrick Blackett; Kenneth Branaugh as Niels Bohr; David Krumholtz as Isidor Rabi; Matthias Schweighofer as Werner Heisenberg; Florence Pugh as Jean Tatlock; Matt Damon as Leslie Groves; Rami Malek as David Hill and Josh Hartnett as Ernest Lawrence, among many, many others.

‘Oppenehiemer’ is written and directed by acclaimed filmmaker Christopher Nolan, who has also brought us ‘The Dark Knight Trilogy,’ ‘Tenet,’ ‘Inception,’ ‘Interstellar’ and ‘Insomnia.’

‘Oppenheimer’ is rated R for some sexuality, nudity and language and has a running time of three hours.

If you have seen this film, let me know on my Wyoming County Press Examiner reviews Facebook page your thoughts!

Here are many interesting tidbits about this incredible film!

• In order for the black and white sections of the film to be shot in the same quality as the rest of the film, Kodak produced a limited supply of their Double-X black and white film stock in 70mm. This film stock was chosen specifically for its heritage - it was originally sold to photographers as Super-XX during WWII, and was very popular with photojournalists of the era.

• The Trinity detonation scene uses a combination of practical effects and digital compositing. Multiple explosions were performed practically, with a hybrid of gasoline, propane, aluminum and magnesium substances involving big miniatures. These were filmed at high speeds from multiple angles, and then layered using digital effects to create the iconic mushroom cloud.

• Several scenes were shot on location at Princeton. Actor Tom Conti found it "really very funny" to walk through Princeton and have people react to him dressed as Einstein.

• Although they previously collaborated in five other films, this is the first time Cillian Murphy plays the lead in a Christopher Nolan film.

• Christopher Nolan wrote the screenplay through first person. Envisioning the story without any specific actor in the role.

• Nolan's first R-rated film in the US by the MPAA since 2002s Insomnia.

• The second highest grossing biographical film domestically after American Sniper.

• The fifth highest grossing film worldwide that runs three hours or longer, after Avengers: Endgame, Avatar: The Way of Water, Titanic and LOTR: Return of the King.

• Following the publication of J. Robert Oppenheimer's biography American Prometheus (2005) by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin, director Sam Mendes had been interested in adapting the book into a film. After that project failed to materialize, the book was optioned by various filmmakers over the next 15 years, but the authors became pessimistic about a film adaptation.

• Nolan had long desired to make a film about Oppenheimer, even prior to reading American Prometheus. In 2019, towards the end of production on the Nolan sci-fi flick Tenet, star Robert Pattinson gave the director a book of Oppenheimer's speeches.

• Due to his strained relationship with WB (Nolan and WB fought over the release strategy of Tenet and how they handled the 2021 day and date film releases), Nolan approached multiple studios for this project, including, Sony, Universal, Paramount and Apple.

• Universal agreed to Nolan's terms, which included a production budget of $100 million, an equal marketing budget, an exclusive theatrical window ranging from 90 to 120 days, 20% of the film's first dollar gross, and a three week period both before and after the film's opening in which Universal couldn't release another new film.

• As of February 2, 2024, Oppenheimer has grossed $328.6 million domestic and $628.8 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $958.4 million. It's the second highest grossing R-rated film of all time, behind Joker.
  

https://youtu.be/uYPbbksJxIg