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Oppenheimer
Movie:
4K Video:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:
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Movie:
4K Video:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:
AV NIRVANA is member and reader-supported. When you purchase an item using our links, we might earn an affiliate commission.
This year has been full of movie surprises. Last week I didn’t expect to find a 10 sequel to the Saw series to be one of the best of the franchise, nor did I expect a silly looking movie about Barbie dolls to become this years biggest smash sensation hit. Couple that with the fact that Christopher Nolan was putting out 3 hour epic about the story of the scientist who made the atomic and I was SURE that this summer was going to be bland. Don’t get me wrong, but Oppenheimer had all the ear marks of a niche Nolan film that was going to appeal to film enthusiasts, but the general population would naturally shun the over long drama for something more palatable. So color me shocked when Barbie blew up astronomically, and actually took Oppenheimer with it. Double featuring Barbie and Oppenheimer exploded on social media, with it being memed to death as Barbenheimer. I thought it would last a week or two and then fade off, but Oppenheimer followed Barbie to the top, becoming one of the biggest surprise hits of the fall.
Oppenheimer tells the story of one Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy, who turns in the performance of his life) and his rise to becoming one of America’s most well known men during the 1940s and 50s. You see, Robert Oppenheimer was none other than the man who helmed the U.S. creation of the Atomic bomb, and hailed by a nation as the man who brought World War II to a close. During WWII Lt. General Leslie Groves (Matt Damon) appoints Oppenheimer to work on top secret “Manhattan Project” and race the Germans to the finish line at creating a nuclear weapon before the Nazis could create one, thus effectively winning the war.
Told through a series of fractured timelines, Nolan crafts a cunning tale of greed, narcissism, hubris, naivety, all wrapped up in the guise of thriller. I have no idea how Nolan took the dry and rather academic life of one Robert Oppenheimer and turned it into a thriller, but he did. The entire film you know exactly how the film is going to turn out if you’re even the mildest history buff, but I was enraptured the entire 3 hour run time. The story (while fractured) is told in 3 distinct phases. The first being Oppenheimer’s naive stage of life, where he is optimistic about how the bomb will be used, and how little “blame” is on his shoulders. The second is more grim and foreboding, as everyone starts to realize the magnitude of what they’re creating. And of course we have the final hour of the film where Nolan portrays the repentant and grieving Oppenheimer who spent the rest of his life trying to make up for the devastation he feels he caused.
While the movie is one of the largest ensemble movies I have ever seen, with some great stand out performances by Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Jason Clarke and Florence Pugh, there are two roles that just stand out as jaw dropping performances. And those two performances would be Robert Downey Jr. as Lewis Strauss, and Cillian Murphy as Oppenheimer himself. Both of them give absolutely legendary and career performances. Downey is near unrecognizable as the slimy politician, but it’s really Murphy who gives us the most perfect performance I’ve ever seen. He falls so deeply into the role of the most famous bomb maker in history (pun intended) that I have a hard time looking over his career and finding a performance from his repetoire that comes CLOSE to how well he performs here. Simply put, this is a must watch if only for the performances by those two men alone.
Rating:
Rated R for some sexuality, nudity and language
4K Video: Video:
Audio:
Extras:
-- NOW I AM BECOME DEATH - The cast, crew and producers join Christopher Nolan in sharing the personal stories that made them passionate about the project's ambitious design for bridging multiple genres.
-- THE LUMINARIES - OPPENHEIMER's all-star cast discusses how they synthesize the script's dramatic narrative with the real lives of historical figures to embody their complex characters.
-- THE MANHATTAN PROJECT - To visualize Oppenheimer's ability to see different dimensions and to recreate the historic Trinity test, filmmakers developed unique techniques to craft stunning effects without using CGI.
-- THE DEVIL OF DETAILS - A look at how production designer Ruth De Jong and team recreated the entire town of Los Alamos with period-accurate props, spectacular sets and painstaking attention to authenticity.
-- WALKING A MILE - Costume and makeup craftspeople populate OPPENHEIMER's immersive environments with iconic figures by utilizing thousands of pieces of clothing and cutting-edge prosthetic applications.
-- CAN YOU HEAR MUSIC? - Working closely with Christopher Nolan, Ludwig Göransson composes a deeply personal, historically expansive score ranging from the organic to the alien to accompany the visual landscape.
-- WE CAN PERFORM THIS MIRACLE - Christopher Nolan's closest collaborators demonstrate how his artistic vision creates camaraderie that drives his talented crew to continue breaking new ground in filmmaking.
• TRAILERS
• INNOVATIONS IN FILM: 65MM BLACK-AND-WHITE FILM IN OPPENHEIMER - FotoKem opens the door to its film labs, where new technologies are invented for using color and black & white 65mm film to visualize OPPENHEIMER's dual timelines while pushing the format further forward.
• MEET THE PRESS Q&A PANEL: OPPENHEIMER - Chuck Todd moderates a conversation where Christopher Nolan, author Kai Bird, and physicists Dr. Kip Thorne, Dr. Thom Mason and Dr. Carlo Rovelli reflect on the fascinating science and doomsday concerns OPPENHEIMER illustrates onscreen.
• TO END ALL WAR: OPPENHEIMER & THE ATOMIC BOMB - Explore how one man's relentless drive and invention of the atomic bomb changed the nature of war forever, led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people and unleashed mass hysteria.
Final Score:
I went into Oppenheimer completely blind and ended up really enjoying the movie. I can stand 2.5 hours movies and below, but 3 hour films usually require an intermission, but for some reason I was just entranced the entire time. Only once did I even get up for a drink of water, and back to the seat I was. It’s not a perfect film, but I can definitely see why Nolan got so much praise for this one. Much like Dunkirk this is not going to be everyone’s cup of tea. The film is 3 hours long, fractured with it’s narrative chronology, but is filled with absolutely career defining performances all around. Not to mention the disc itself is basically this year’s demo disc. My recommendation is going to be a FULL two thumbs up all around.
Technical Specifications:
Starring: Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., Florence Pugh, Josh Hartnett, Gary Oldman
Directed by: Christopher Nolan
Written by: Christopher Nolan, Kai Bird, Martin Sherwin
Aspect Ratio: 2.20:1 HEVC / 1.78:1 HEVC (shifting aspect ratio)
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1, French, Spanish DTS 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish
Studio: Universal
Rated: R
Runtime: 180 minutes
Blu-Ray Release Date: November 21st, 2023
Recommendation: Great Buy
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