Submitted 1 year ago by jeena@jemmy.jeena.net to moviesandtv@lemmy.film
I watched Openheimer in a IMAX movie theater today, it was not bad I liked it, especially the cinemography.
But somehow - probably because I didn’t do enough research before going - I was expecting a lot of nerdy physics science like in the Martian, but it was mostly politics.
The last hour was definitely hit or miss depending on the person. Most of the movie was pretty much what I expected but after the bomb it mostly turns into just courtroom politics. I really think they could’ve shaved a lot of time there.
Oppenheimer went through his life naively and confidently making certain choices. Juxtaposing him facing consequences for a lifetime’s worth of small actions while being the one to punish himself for the big one was brilliant and crushing.
Any director could have made a movie where the climax was the explosion, or a debate about the morality of it featuring a lot of footage of dead civilians.
Perfectly said.
People seem to be missing the point it was a character study. Not a Manhattan Project movie nor a war movie. I wasn’t expecting the courtroom as I was only familiar with the Manhattan Project stuff and the movie wouldn’t be the same without those parts for the reasons you see well described.
Nolan picked politics because that seemed to be the more compelling story with the more compelling subject.
If you wanted a movie specifically about making the bomb, it probably would have been better to choose Leslie Groves as the POV character because he would be in the rooms where the logistical hurdles of the program were being solved. However, the movie would have had a fat different tone.
Perfect typo
I… didn’t enjoy this one. Two white dudes fussing over their reputation across three hours of meetings. In a non-linear style.
The biggest issue I have with it is myself. I wanted a story about problem solving, in this case building, testing and deploying the first nuclear weapon before the nazis and I didn’t get it.
I know I should review a film for what it is trying to be and not what I want it to be but I just couldn’t with Oppenheimer. It felt like it was trying too hard to subvert expectations and keep me engaged with a lame duck parlor trick, and it could have been so much better.
No issues with the acting, cinematography though.
Yeah, the problem solving part is what I meant by nerdy science like the Martian, exactly.
Is this partially down to the way you personally view the event? If you’re comfortable with the use of the bomb, then your interest is in the “how?”.
If you’re not that way, your interest is in the “why?”. Personally I found the film called into question the justification. I’d never really appreciated that the race was so explicitly against the Nazis, but by the time it was complete they were defeated.
Truman’s decision to use it against Japan led to the world knowing (rather than just suspecting) it existed, and the Russians making sure they could do the same. Russia was always going to be enemy after the war, but now it was enemies with a country that showed it would use the bomb. That decision shaped the next 100 years, which we’re still living through.
The film also showed that Oppenheimer himself was naive, thinking that “better I do this than evil men” assumes you can control what you build after you build it. The politics was the battle for control of the bomb, and the realisation that he lost that control as soon as it was complete.
I think the film raises a lot of questions that engineers should think about more often. The ethics around these things is often overlooked in favour of “that’s an interesting problem” and we dive in head first.
Thank you for your comment it was thought provoking.
I definitly agree with “The film also showed that Oppenheimer himself was naive, thinking that “better I do this than evil men” assumes you can control what you build after you build it. The politics was the battle for control of the bomb, and the realisation that he lost that control as soon as it was complete.”
But as for how I personally view the event… I went to see a movie and in how I personally view a movie it failed to justify its length and its non-linear presentation.
If I consider the event, I view it as a fixed point in time, something done that cannot be undone and arguing for or against it is tangential. There are lessons to be learned, like what you have pointed out that I agree make a compelling case study. But if that was the takeaway from Oppenheimer, then you just did a better job of telling it than the movie. Short, succinct, to the point.
I did not need Florence Pugh to be riding his dick at a commitee hearing to get that the hearings were uncomfortable, y’know?
Saw it (70mm though) and was surprised how great it was, but I saw a lot of people complaining after and during intermission that it wasn’t what they expected.
I’m currently reading American Prometheus, which is the book it’s based on, and it is very much like the movie.
If you don’t understand American politics, which many (where I live) doesn’t, it is very hard to follow and understand.
Looking forward to finishing the book and rewatching it when it’s released digitally.
I definitely understand why it isn’t everyone’s cup of tea and not a traditional Nolan film.
There was an intermission? I didn’t get an intermission! I just held my bladder the entire 3 hours.
When showing in 70mm there’s an intermission to change film reel. It’s old school when it isn’t digital.
The aspect of the Manhattan project that’s still relevent and worthy of comment is “Should we (humanity, and more specifically scientist & engineers) created it?”. Then “Having created it, should it have been used?”
I just saw the movie last night and i kept telling myself I would prefer watching this as a documentary.
I liked the movie for what it was but I did not like the story telling nor cinematography. It felt like it was made for people who were looking at their phones. I felt like I could have left and missed 1/4 of the movie and I wouldnt have missed anything.
Wife and I had a similar experience. We kept thinking “oh, here’s the part where we’re going to talk about all the science and physics!” but then went off on another track. I liked it overall though and have generally been a Nolan fan.
Most people who go to the theater to watch movies are dumb as a box of rocks. They can understand politics and drama moreso than they can understand science and engineering. Unfortunately that just means most Movies and TV are watered down heavily or transformed into something like…Oppenheimer.
Even for the internet, this is stupid.
Yeah I was hoping for a less political movie but it was still nice overall
ArghZombies@lemmy.world 1 year ago
It’s a movie about a theoretical physicist who became a project manager.
burgersc12@sh.itjust.works 1 year ago
No, I’m pretty sure Oppenheimer was more than theoretical /s