Folks: I'm aware that the movie is a biopic. What I meant to say in my review was "bad biopic." Apologies for misspeaking. The rest of my points still stand.
It was over wrought, self important and indulgent. A huge mess of a movie. The music and sound design was so confounding that it felt like it was trying to mask the constant, relentless expositional dialogue. One character asks a question, the other simply gives all the information. On and on it goes. For 3 hours. Also, 3 threads of story. Every time one had nowhere else to go, it switched to another. But Strauss’s narrative and the whole closed hearing/communist thread being used as the opening and closing of the film is a huge miscalculation. Those threads might have worked better as a minor subplot rather than as one of the main threads to a story about Oppenheimer and the atomic bomb. There were so many opportunities to show us things about the bomb. Just how big was the explosion compared to bombs from before? How far did they have to drive to escape the blast? Show us, instead of telling us. Nobody dares to say no to Nolan. He’s the golden boy who can “do no wrong”. I miss the influence of Jonathan Nolan, Hans Zimmer and Wally Pfister on his work.
it was an incredible film. Christopher Nolan did not miss! I wasn't all aware of OPPENHEIMER's story and the film does a great job telling that story from several perspectives (you'll see during the third act). Was sad Zimmer wasn't composing the OST but the composer they used did an outstanding job. The tension could be felt thanks to the acting and the score working together. I'm going to watch this again on Tuesday
Nolan didn't set out to make your typical superhero story. He went out to make something much more grounded. I may not like all the choices he made, but it's nowhere near as fantasy-driven as Marvel kept pushing out. Which not to say is a bad thing, there are a handful of MCU gems i like - but after 30 movies, it all starts to blend in. It doesn't feel as great to sit through 10, or even 20 movies ago.
Honestly this movie made it really hard to keep up. If you didn’t know anything about Oppenheimer before the movie then you’d be extremely lost. Also it switched perspectives and time frames too much. I feel it was based more around politics then the actual science. Also the nuclear bomb scene failed to show the scale of it. Overall 5/10
So you saw it in regular 2k digital theater? It seems people who saw it on IMAX 70mm has overwhelmingly positive review without the pacing or dialogue issues. I will find it out my self, going to see it on 70mm IMAX and then normal IMAX and then 4k at home.
It's nice to find a nuanced review of a highly anticipated movie. Always irks me when a movie is barely a few days old and people are already hailing it as the greatest thing since sliced bread.
I have to say that I loathe how the corporate term “challenging” has seeped into our everyday life in modern society. What happened to “it was difficult to watch”, “hard to get through”? Make saying hard and difficult normal again, not just blanket replacing them with “challenging” all the time so we don’t come off as negative.
I thought it was fine. On the technical side the film is flawless, but I don’t think the story- riveting as it is in real life- was well told. Easily could’ve lost about 30-45 minutes. I wanted the film to focus more on Oppenheimer’s personal feelings towards his creation. Instead it spends a lot if time on political intrigue, which I found less interesting. Lots of needlessly and dull exposition in the middle of the film that could’ve been cut. Definitely not Nolan’s best film. That would be Inception, Dunkirk, or TDK. Better than Tenet at least!
Movie is hot trash 🗑️ Nolan needs to retire honestly. He made me waste money on Dunkirk, tenet and now Oppenheimer. After interstellar it’s all been down hill
Great review. Not really a Nolan guy and I’m also pretty tired of the pretentiousness surrounding the *seriousness* of his filmmaking. I will watch this eventually on my phone in 10 minute chunks over the course of a couple weeks and maybe with a podcast on in the background.
Yeah, because everyone who doesn't like his movies lacks the hyper intelligence of someone like yourself and only have attention spans for dumb action movies. Do you realize how 'pretentious' you actually sound? Nolan ain't that great man . 😂
I do agree. I did like the movie and it was a good film, the cinematography, acting and editing was amazing, but yes the last 35 minutes especially did drag on. This is probably Nolan’s most no watchable movie compared to his others. Still a good movie but not rewatchable
Being that I'm hearing gushing reviews from most, it's fine to have something that's differs. I know everybody loves Dark Knight, but I felt the movies conclusion dragged on.
This is the type of movie that will have my brain stressed out while I'm laying awake in bed at night. I remember when I saw War Games on TV as a kid it made me physically sick. It was the first time I had learned of nukes or that the world could end at the push of a button. I was shaking, sweating, had a fever, complete misery. It was probably some sort of panic attack. I even stayed home from school the next day. Perhaps I never fully recovered. I'm worried Oppenheimer will end me.
I love 80s Cold War, fear propaganda movies ... Red Dawn was also pretty great... I think War Games definitely trumps that one though. ... "Take us to Defcon 3 and get SAC on the horn!"
@@TheWisestWizards I haven't seen it.. I'll check it out. I liked the Robocop remake everyone hated .. I thought it actually had some pretty interesting things to say about transhumanism and the dangers of A.I .. It wasn't as satirical as Verhoeven's , but it definitely had its own thing going for it. I think it was unfairly bashed just because it was a remake.
This literally was a biopic, its called Oppenheimer for a reason. We follow Oppenheimer for the whole movie, for a reason. In all the promotions and marketing and interviews, every single cast member (and Nolan himself) said that this movie is riding on Cillian Murphy's back and the rest of the stellar cast was just there to support him. There's a reason why the script was written in first-person and not third-person, to emphasize that this is Nolan taking us on this journey with Oppenheimer, and seeing what he saw, feeling what he felt. The movie doesn't stop with the Trinity test because it's not a movie about the Trinity test or The Manhattan Project, it's about Oppenheimer - his life, his work, and what the aftermath of Hiroshima and Nagasaki did to the man. I enjoy your reviews, but I don't quite agree with your criticism of the third act and of the roles of the other cast members
When you make a four-quadrant blockbuster targeted to appeal to the maximum possible audience, the majority opinion is probably going to be a dismissive "it was good/entertaining" with no real teeth behind it. When an auteur makes something with a vision behind it, it's going to generate passionate opinions across the spectrum.
That's every one of his movies ... I have a hard time connecting to his characters, simply because of the focus of cramming in plot into already bloated films .. He has a hard time settling into character development. It makes me bored. Yeah, .. I know he's a great director, but I think he's seriously overrated. People talk about him like he's the new Stanley Kubrick and he just isn't. The only movie I really enjoyed of his was Batman Begins, and I think it was most likely because the studio was reining him in. I've always thought The Dark Knight was a mess of a movie .. while most of his other films are just dull. I'm still going to check this one out though.
@@ktom5262 Still haven't seen either of those .. I need to watch them. I tried watching Dunkirk and was bored out of my mind. 😂 ... I also didn't understand what the big deal was about Memento.... There's a cold, dry way he direct actors and writes dialog ... It's stiff .. half the time I can't even understand what they're saying. Give me a wacky director like Aronofsky any day... That kind of crap I have fun with ... Nolan is usually just boring to me. I think there was a great movie in The Dark Knight, but it got lost forcing too much story and too much coke snorting during editing. ... He's complicated, not complex, .. he's a pretentious mess in my view.
@@Fiveash-ArtI see your point. Respect it. And I agree on some parts. I am not trying to change your point of view, but I would just recommend to watch some of his other movies. Like Inception or Prestige. Again, not trying to convince you about anything. But give it a try. We can't evolve if we won't challenge ourselves) Many of my favorite movies have been watched at least twice before I sincerely loved them.
The twist (double or even triple one) twist regards to RDJr’s character in last 5 minutes of the film was as shocking as anything with Trinity. And lead up to Trinity was absolutely breathtaking too. The Oppenheimer speech in hall with feet stomping post bombing; will be as iconic as Docking sequence in Interstellar. The visuals & audio… absolutely nuts.
Folks: I'm aware that the movie is a biopic. What I meant to say in my review was "bad biopic." Apologies for misspeaking. The rest of my points still stand.
It was over wrought, self important and indulgent. A huge mess of a movie. The music and sound design was so confounding that it felt like it was trying to mask the constant, relentless expositional dialogue. One character asks a question, the other simply gives all the information. On and on it goes. For 3 hours.
Also, 3 threads of story. Every time one had nowhere else to go, it switched to another. But Strauss’s narrative and the whole closed hearing/communist thread being used as the opening and closing of the film is a huge miscalculation. Those threads might have worked better as a minor subplot rather than as one of the main threads to a story about Oppenheimer and the atomic bomb. There were so many opportunities to show us things about the bomb. Just how big was the explosion compared to bombs from before? How far did they have to drive to escape the blast? Show us, instead of telling us.
Nobody dares to say no to Nolan. He’s the golden boy who can “do no wrong”. I miss the influence of Jonathan Nolan, Hans Zimmer and Wally Pfister on his work.
it was an incredible film. Christopher Nolan did not miss! I wasn't all aware of OPPENHEIMER's story and the film does a great job telling that story from several perspectives (you'll see during the third act). Was sad Zimmer wasn't composing the OST but the composer they used did an outstanding job. The tension could be felt thanks to the acting and the score working together. I'm going to watch this again on Tuesday
Love the point regarding Nolan's popularization of superhero films, only for them to dominate the art form he's so passionate about.
Nolans Batman isn't a superhero. His suit is mechanically enhanced and it's constantly emphasised that he's a rich dude with expensive toys.
Nolan didn't set out to make your typical superhero story. He went out to make something much more grounded. I may not like all the choices he made, but it's nowhere near as fantasy-driven as Marvel kept pushing out. Which not to say is a bad thing, there are a handful of MCU gems i like - but after 30 movies, it all starts to blend in. It doesn't feel as great to sit through 10, or even 20 movies ago.
Honestly this movie made it really hard to keep up. If you didn’t know anything about Oppenheimer before the movie then you’d be extremely lost. Also it switched perspectives and time frames too much. I feel it was based more around politics then the actual science. Also the nuclear bomb scene failed to show the scale of it. Overall 5/10
Great to hear your thoughts Dave. I knew you’d have some great insight all around for this one.
Other question, where did get your shirt!
So you saw it in regular 2k digital theater? It seems people who saw it on IMAX 70mm has overwhelmingly positive review without the pacing or dialogue issues. I will find it out my self, going to see it on 70mm IMAX and then normal IMAX and then 4k at home.
It's nice to find a nuanced review of a highly anticipated movie. Always irks me when a movie is barely a few days old and people are already hailing it as the greatest thing since sliced bread.
I have to say that I loathe how the corporate term “challenging” has seeped into our everyday life in modern society. What happened to “it was difficult to watch”, “hard to get through”? Make saying hard and difficult normal again, not just blanket replacing them with “challenging” all the time so we don’t come off as negative.
I thought it was fine. On the technical side the film is flawless, but I don’t think the story- riveting as it is in real life- was well told. Easily could’ve lost about 30-45 minutes. I wanted the film to focus more on Oppenheimer’s personal feelings towards his creation. Instead it spends a lot if time on political intrigue, which I found less interesting. Lots of needlessly and dull exposition in the middle of the film that could’ve been cut. Definitely not Nolan’s best film. That would be Inception, Dunkirk, or TDK. Better than Tenet at least!
So you can see one in the theater this weekend - Oppenheimer, Barbi, Mission or Destiny?
All three except Indiana Jones
Mission
Movie is hot trash 🗑️ Nolan needs to retire honestly. He made me waste money on Dunkirk, tenet and now Oppenheimer. After interstellar it’s all been down hill
Atomic Bomb: I am here to end humanity, bitches!!
TikTok: Hold my beer bruh
Dunkirk is still Nolan's best film
I personally think that is his worst, but I get why people like it
@@Deadpool784 naaaah, his worse is Tenet. Second worst is Interstellar. Third worst is the third Batman. Everything else is pretty damn awesomesauce!
Great review. Not really a Nolan guy and I’m also pretty tired of the pretentiousness surrounding the *seriousness* of his filmmaking. I will watch this eventually on my phone in 10 minute chunks over the course of a couple weeks and maybe with a podcast on in the background.
Yeah, because everyone who doesn't like his movies lacks the hyper intelligence of someone like yourself and only have attention spans for dumb action movies. Do you realize how 'pretentious' you actually sound? Nolan ain't that great man . 😂
Nobody cares
@@MikeHoncho610 You must .. you responded to him
Spoiled it by saying Rami Malek. Bye.
I do agree. I did like the movie and it was a good film, the cinematography, acting and editing was amazing, but yes the last 35 minutes especially did drag on. This is probably Nolan’s most no watchable movie compared to his others. Still a good movie but not rewatchable
This is truly a lovely piece of criticism. I am excited to see this movie for myself and revisit this video.
me too. I gonna see it on IMAX 70mm, then come back here again.
Being that I'm hearing gushing reviews from most, it's fine to have something that's differs. I know everybody loves Dark Knight, but I felt the movies conclusion dragged on.
Hi Dave. Did it bother you at all that A LOT of people in this movie are famous? :)
Dave, your t-Shirt rules
I continue to think your 5 minute reviews are a great format. Thank you!
If I am not wrong Oppenheimer cost 100 million dollars
Which is 1/3 of what Indiana Jones costs.
This is the type of movie that will have my brain stressed out while I'm laying awake in bed at night. I remember when I saw War Games on TV as a kid it made me physically sick. It was the first time I had learned of nukes or that the world could end at the push of a button. I was shaking, sweating, had a fever, complete misery. It was probably some sort of panic attack. I even stayed home from school the next day. Perhaps I never fully recovered. I'm worried Oppenheimer will end me.
I love 80s Cold War, fear propaganda movies ... Red Dawn was also pretty great... I think War Games definitely trumps that one though. ... "Take us to Defcon 3 and get SAC on the horn!"
@@Fiveash-Art I love Red Dawn. I didn't even hate the remake as much as everyone else seemed to.
@@TheWisestWizards I haven't seen it.. I'll check it out. I liked the Robocop remake everyone hated .. I thought it actually had some pretty interesting things to say about transhumanism and the dangers of A.I .. It wasn't as satirical as Verhoeven's , but it definitely had its own thing going for it. I think it was unfairly bashed just because it was a remake.
Too much Nolan cutted the real history. He is now propagandist, positively and negatively.
This literally was a biopic, its called Oppenheimer for a reason. We follow Oppenheimer for the whole movie, for a reason. In all the promotions and marketing and interviews, every single cast member (and Nolan himself) said that this movie is riding on Cillian Murphy's back and the rest of the stellar cast was just there to support him. There's a reason why the script was written in first-person and not third-person, to emphasize that this is Nolan taking us on this journey with Oppenheimer, and seeing what he saw, feeling what he felt. The movie doesn't stop with the Trinity test because it's not a movie about the Trinity test or The Manhattan Project, it's about Oppenheimer - his life, his work, and what the aftermath of Hiroshima and Nagasaki did to the man. I enjoy your reviews, but I don't quite agree with your criticism of the third act and of the roles of the other cast members
Wow, the point you made about the Superhero movies going out of control is very neat!
I am so surprised how polar opposites the reviews are for Oppenheimer and Barbie. Everything from “Meh” to “Greatest since sliced bread!”
there is often mold in sliced bread
When you make a four-quadrant blockbuster targeted to appeal to the maximum possible audience, the majority opinion is probably going to be a dismissive "it was good/entertaining" with no real teeth behind it. When an auteur makes something with a vision behind it, it's going to generate passionate opinions across the spectrum.
That's every one of his movies ... I have a hard time connecting to his characters, simply because of the focus of cramming in plot into already bloated films .. He has a hard time settling into character development. It makes me bored. Yeah, .. I know he's a great director, but I think he's seriously overrated. People talk about him like he's the new Stanley Kubrick and he just isn't. The only movie I really enjoyed of his was Batman Begins, and I think it was most likely because the studio was reining him in. I've always thought The Dark Knight was a mess of a movie .. while most of his other films are just dull. I'm still going to check this one out though.
Dull?..🤦😳 Inception or Tenet dull? OMG.
@@ktom5262 Still haven't seen either of those .. I need to watch them. I tried watching Dunkirk and was bored out of my mind. 😂 ... I also didn't understand what the big deal was about Memento.... There's a cold, dry way he direct actors and writes dialog ... It's stiff .. half the time I can't even understand what they're saying. Give me a wacky director like Aronofsky any day... That kind of crap I have fun with ... Nolan is usually just boring to me. I think there was a great movie in The Dark Knight, but it got lost forcing too much story and too much coke snorting during editing. ... He's complicated, not complex, .. he's a pretentious mess in my view.
@@Fiveash-ArtI see your point. Respect it. And I agree on some parts. I am not trying to change your point of view, but I would just recommend to watch some of his other movies. Like Inception or Prestige. Again, not trying to convince you about anything. But give it a try. We can't evolve if we won't challenge ourselves)
Many of my favorite movies have been watched at least twice before I sincerely loved them.
Am sure you haven't watched all of kubrik's work either. Anyway, be happy with what you like.
The twist (double or even triple one) twist regards to RDJr’s character in last 5 minutes of the film was as shocking as anything with Trinity.
And lead up to Trinity was absolutely breathtaking too.
The Oppenheimer speech in hall with feet stomping post bombing; will be as iconic as Docking sequence in Interstellar.
The visuals & audio… absolutely nuts.