Spyderco Forums

Oppenheimer 2023. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt15398776/

I saw it, was OK, not all that good as the hype said for sure. It could have been shorter, a lot shorter actually for the content it had, or lack there of actually, could have been 60 mins to 90 mins.

The TV Show Manhattan 2014-2015 was MUCH better by leaps and bounds IMHO. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3231564/

I thought Barbie 2023 was a better movie. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1517268/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

Yep, one of the few movies in a good while I was interested in seeing, it was disappointing.

Thanks Fellas. I had really regretted not going to the theater to see Oppenheimer.

MacLaren wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 15, 2024 5:56 pm

Thanks Fellas. I had really regretted not going to the theater to see Oppenheimer.

It's worth watching if you stream it, and don't have to spend any serious money to do it.

This was quite a bit better too:

https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0078037/

TV series from 1980

I think they should take the Everything Everywhere All at Once movie, toss the mother and daughter, insert Oppenheimer and Edward Teller, and let them fight each other for several hours across multiple realities.

AI should be able to do that in a few years.

When it is on TV for Free, will watch.

I personally really enjoyed Oppenheimer (besides the audio mixing for dialogue).

That being said, I'm currently reading the biography it is based on, American Prometheus by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin, and it is undoubtedly better than the movie. Obviously, that is the case with many books/movies. But, Oppenheimer is a person with such texture and in a political context (or multiple really) so ripe that is is hard to include all the nuance of a 600 page book in a 3hr movie. Highly recommend the book.

i think it would have been better suited as a miniseries almost. his early life, early career, manhattan project, etc all could have been separate episodes. i felt like they tried to jam too much of a timeline into a few hours and sort of didn't give each aspect enough justice, so it felt empty. i liked it, but expected more.

Windward wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 16, 2024 10:21 am

i think it would have been better suited as a miniseries almost. his early life, early career, manhattan project, etc all could have been separate episodes. i felt like they tried to jam too much of a timeline into a few hours and sort of didn't give each aspect enough justice, so it felt empty. i liked it, but expected more.

More like they jammed too many major actors into the same movie and stretched it out forever to give them all screen time.

Not so much on relevant content though.

Same thing happens with pretty much every movie they make that they want to get all the awards, they all are WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY TOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGG with little or no relevant content to back up the length.

Well this is a bummer to hear. I am a fan of Christopher Nolan's films.

I enjoyed it, but it *is* too long.

To add injury to insult, and I kid you not, the parking charge slid over the 4 hours to the punitive 24 hour rate and it cost me about $45 …

I was stoked about this movie, and so was my wife. We watched it half way through and turned it off. To say we were bored and disappointed is an understatement.

The movie didn't know if it was coming or going. The time line kept changing and bizarre things were going on for no good reason, and it was overly tedious.

Doc Dan wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 16, 2024 11:43 pm

I was stoked about this movie, and so was my wife. We watched it half way through and turned it off. To say we were bored and disappointed is an understatement.

The movie didn't know if it was coming or going. The time line kept changing and bizarre things were going on for no good reason, and it was overly tedious.

I turned it off too, watched it over the course of a day here and there.

Ankerson wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 16, 2024 11:18 am

... pretty much every movie they make that they want to get all the awards, they all are WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY TOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGG with little or no relevant content to back up the length.

THIS!!!

This is why I avoid watching any movie where it's obvious that it's specifically being made to win the academy awards. Especially within the last decade or two. I watch movies to be entertained, not to be bored, or preached to.

Jim

James Y wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 17, 2024 9:14 am

Ankerson wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 16, 2024 11:18 am

... pretty much every movie they make that they want to get all the awards, they all are WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY TOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGG with little or no relevant content to back up the length.

THIS!!!

This is why I avoid watching any movie where it's obvious that it's specifically being made to win the academy awards. Especially within the last decade or two. I watch movies to be entertained, not to be bored, or preached to.

Jim

Jim,

Yeah, they are all boring that's of sure, could cut 2 hours out of them if they just wanted to leave in the relevant content.

Jim

However, there are films that are both very good and justifiably very long. I think those are more suited to the cinema to avoid distractions, but I have learned the hard way not to have too many beers beforehand …

Alright, so parents and me rented it not long ago. It is more political drama than science drama. It was good but not what I was really wanting to watch. After it came out and I read some reviews I lost interest in going and seeing it on the big screen. I wanted more science, scientists, testing etc.

*Special effects spoilers given*
Trinity test scene got built up well and then....meh. I was expecting a lot more from all the talk about the non-cgi special effects to make the nuclear bomb etc. It was just disappointing, all the talk of special effects and it is literally like a few minutes out of the HOURS of the movie that these "effects" were used.

Interesting note:
After it was done, my dad mentions that he had a math class at New Mexico Tech in Socorro, NM from Rossi Lomanitz that worked on the triggering mechanism. He was depicted in the movie. Brilliant man reduced to doing menial labor jobs until finally off the black listing.

I read the book a few years ago and found it to be good, definitely worth reading. The book taught me that, for me at least, the Manhattan Project as a subject is far more interesting than Oppenheimer’s life in general. Since the Manhattan Project isn’t really the focus of the movie, and the movie requires a 3-hour time investment, I probably won’t watch it.

I watched in theaters and thoroughly enjoyed it! Everyone I was with liked it. Different strokes I guess. It's as much about the politics of the time, "red scare" and all, as it is about the Manhattan Project. You also see how the various scientists navigate the morality of participating as they are increasingly faced with the fact that there is a very high likelihood that their research may be used for the wrong reasons (or at least reasons they do not agree with). The extra length of the movie was entirely justified IMO because you see how the aftermath of the use of atomic weapons and the progress towards even more powerful H bombs affected Oppenheimer. Also, you see how the most brilliant scientists like Oppy and Einstein could be eaten alive by the political process as soon as they have served their usefulness and step out of line politically. Oppenheimer fears the future he helped to bring about, in which each new technology could become dangerous when it becomes a political bargaining chip and gets into the hands of those who thirst only for more power. I think that Nolan will go down in history as one of the best Hollywood directors ever and this movie will be part of that. Amazing performances as well.