I saw Oppenheimer last night and it was an outstanding movie.
Best drama I have seen in a very long time, even though it was long it moved very well. I am reading the book this film is based on, just started it and it is 1143 pages long but reads very well.
They got this film historically accurate with no revisionist history or political correctness in it.
The story of developing the A Bomb was fascinating to watch, the critical moment came when they tested the bomb and the sight of what they had created caused a number to question whether they should have even done what they did, but they were pushed by the thought that Germany would develop a bomb before they did.
A lot ethical and moral soul searching ensued including for Oppenheimer. So I would highly recommend this film to see.
This is a thinking person’s film and I hazard to guess many in the audience probably could not really understand what they were watching and taking in the deep concerns and problems that many of the scientists had during that era.
While Oppenheimer was a brilliant man and scientist he was also somewhat naive about a number of things and clung to an Idealism that was not very realistic.
Basically many in his circle of friends and fellow scientists tended to be Leftists and were not cognizant of the realties of Communism and the Soviet Union or the horrors that Stalin inflicted upon his own people.
But I could empathize with Oppenheimer and these scientists in trying to reconcile what they had created. Seeing something like they saw would give anyone a great deal of pause for thought to what had been unleashed.
I think Sam Waterson in the 1990s TV series did a better job portraying Oppenheimer. I found the long cinematic pauses for Oppenheimer introspection annoying. Mat Damon did an excellent job portraying Groves. The other movies on Oppenheimer and the Manhattan Project also have strong and weak points. Fatman and Little Boy is the only one who showed how dangerous the work was with its composite portrayal of the “Tickling the Dragon’s Tail” incident.
That movie was more about the project then Oppenheimer as was Day One.
My overall assessment of Oppenheimer was good but for me the psychological angst parts over and over was irritating. However that’s my tastes in movies others may see it differently.