The more I think about it, the more I’m leaning toward declaring Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” the best movie of the year. At the very least, it’s a monumental achievement; a technical marvel that turns scene after scene of guys sitting in rooms talking about physics into something incredibly exciting. It doesn’t play like a biopic; it’s more like a thriller. Nolan’s stunning film follows J. Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the atomic bomb, as he first helps create the weapon — and then comes to regret it. As played by Cillian Murphy in a sure-to-win-awards performance, Oppenheimer is a haunted figure, his large eyes seemingly seeing into other planes of existence. He’s always calculating; always figuring things out. And his insatiable thirst for knowledge will ultimately result in his downfall, and perhaps the downfall of all of humanity. This is bleak, heavy stuff, and yet Nolan and his team are able to keep the film flying by at an almost breakneck speed, conveying tons of information in succinct, easy-to-digest ways. This movie is a knock-out, and it might very well be Nolan’s masterpiece.
Special features:
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THE STORY OF OUR TIME: THE MAKING OF OPPENHEIMER*
- 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.
