I read American Prometheus almost a year ago to the week. If the film lives up to the book, it should win plenty of Oscars.
I haven't been this excited since I was a kid to see a movie. Oppenheimer finally comes this weekend.
- Thread starter Mr. Potter
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Last movie I felt I 'must see' in a theater was also a Nolan movie - 'Dunkirk'. Glad I did. Hoping to see this on the big screen as well.
As I’ve said in an earlier thread, I’m curious to see how Nolan can get through this life in only three hours. Oppenheimer was a very complicated man, with paralyzing demons, and his relationships with others could be very difficult. Nolan has four difficult stories to tell: Oppenheimer’s time in Cambridge and Gottingen, his relationship with Jean Tatlock, his time with Groves in Los Alamos, and his fight with Strauss and Teller. I checked the cast list, even Heisenberg is in the movie. From the early scuttlebutt I’ve heard, Nolan does indeed pull it off.
One thing about Oppenheimer which is sometimes overlooked is that he wasn’t just a brilliant administrator, he was a very great physicist. (His advisor, Max Born, and one of his students, Willis Lamb, won Nobel Prizes.) I hope this comes through.
One thing about Oppenheimer which is sometimes overlooked is that he wasn’t just a brilliant administrator, he was a very great physicist. (His advisor, Max Born, and one of his students, Willis Lamb, won Nobel Prizes.) I hope this comes through.
I appreciate good snark and this was incredibly well played
Going w/my Dad who is a pretty renowned physicist, he’s pumped re same. I too read American Prometheus. Opps was highly flawed individual but effin’ schmart, like you Lion Jim. Tried to poison one of hos teachers. Struggled to stay away from the Communism label…
Yep, Oppy executed the most successful scientific project in the modern era. Only Cillian Murphy has a chance to portray him, I am skeptical that Emily Blunt can portray Kitty. Plus the eccentric scientists offer the actors a challenge of a lifetime.
I’m not that smart, but thanks just the same. Yeah, Patrick Blackett, the guy Oppenheimer tried to poison, is in the movie, so I guess we’ll see that play out. Incidentally, I only just today discovered that Blackett himself was awarded a Nobel Prize.
Yeah, the communism label came in very large part from his relationship with Jean Tatlock, and this is a crucial part of the story. I hope they don’t scrimp on Groves’s role in getting the Manhattan Project done.
Feynman is in the movie. Lol, it’s either going to be a “blink and you missed him” role or it’ll be something real substantial, no two ways about it.
Look forward to movie. My kids late grandfather was a radioman in the Pacific during ww2. He heard over the radio on August 61944 of a bomb (I believe) equivalent to 20000 tons of TNT. He thought at first it was an Orson Wells radio show he was hearing. He soon realized it was real. As he was scheduled to be involved in the invasion of Japan his life may have been saved by the bomb-instead he was involved in the occupation which was generally quite peaceful he said. Look forward to movie.
I saw a special on his life recently. It described the Manhattan project as getting a 10 year project done in 3 years.
I saw a special on his life recently. It described the Manhattan project as getting a 10 year project done in 3 years.
First ‘R’ rating for a Nolan movie. Good news if you’re a fan of Florence Pugh and/or Cillian Murphy….
As a part-time Chemistry Professor in retirement who teaches a bit of Nuclear Chemistry, this is a movie that I have been waiting four.
Ironically, I did work with Thorium as an additive in a Magnesium Alloy in a Metals Plant during the mid 1980's. A lot of people do not realize the precautions that have to be put in place when working around radioactive materials.
Ironically, I did work with Thorium as an additive in a Magnesium Alloy in a Metals Plant during the mid 1980's. A lot of people do not realize the precautions that have to be put in place when working around radioactive materials.
Feynman is played by Jack Quaid (son of Dennis and star of Prime’s ‘The Boys’). Probably a decent sized part. Also just saw that Gary Oldman plays Truman!
100% there will be the scene of Truman talking with Oppenheimer. This conversation is iconic, so no spoilers from me.
Sam Waterston was my Oppenheimer. This series didn’t need CGI, and gave more than 5 minutes screen time to complicated human relationship.
Then there was this disaster of poorly cast actors with a fictional history. Paul Newman was laughable as Groves. Dwight Schultz as Oppie? Ugh
And then there was David Straitairn. He and Waterston tapped intellect to convey the Oppenheimer character. Straitharn, I must say, added more conceit and despair. A great performance. Brian Dennehy was outstanding.
Straithairn returned 15 years later for a BBC documentary that showed how foolish and reckless Oppenheimer was, while trying to defend him. Did the US use him then discard him. Yes. Should they have done that? Absolutely. Truman sized him up for the fool he was.
So another fifteen years has passed and we have another go at the character. I guess if you must you must.
Interesting Fact : The Waterston and Straithairn Oppies were portrayed by men close to Oppies 38 year old age when he joined the 45 year old Groves for the Manhattan Project. Murphy is 47, older than the other actors and more like the older Oppie people remember from the 50s.
Then there was this disaster of poorly cast actors with a fictional history. Paul Newman was laughable as Groves. Dwight Schultz as Oppie? Ugh
And then there was David Straitairn. He and Waterston tapped intellect to convey the Oppenheimer character. Straitharn, I must say, added more conceit and despair. A great performance. Brian Dennehy was outstanding.
Straithairn returned 15 years later for a BBC documentary that showed how foolish and reckless Oppenheimer was, while trying to defend him. Did the US use him then discard him. Yes. Should they have done that? Absolutely. Truman sized him up for the fool he was.
So another fifteen years has passed and we have another go at the character. I guess if you must you must.
Interesting Fact : The Waterston and Straithairn Oppies were portrayed by men close to Oppies 38 year old age when he joined the 45 year old Groves for the Manhattan Project. Murphy is 47, older than the other actors and more like the older Oppie people remember from the 50s.
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On a more reflective note, thank God that Hitler didn't give Heisenberg and the German atomic scientists the funding to develop the atomic bomb. With sufficient funding, they may have done it first.
I'll be interested to see how the movie handles the Russian/Soviet spies.
And in a little dark humor, Heisenberg, like most young German men was assigned to a Wehrmacht reserve unit. Even though he was a Nobel Prize winner, the Wehrmacht assigned him to a machine gun squad. After a while, someone in the Wehrmacht figured out he might be of more value in a research venue.
I'll be giving an OLLI two part course on the Manhattan Project this fall.
It’s important to understand that if you want Oppenheimer’s biography, you need to read American Prometheus. Nolan only has three hours, after all. But it’s an interesting choice on Nolan’s part to include the Blackett story. I see no overwhelming need to include anything prior to his getting his doctorate, which happened when he was 23. I’m comparing this choice to Ron Howard’s own choices in A Beautiful Mind, where he glossed over the uglier aspects of John Nash’s treatment of people. Nolan’s going for the home run, that’s clear. I really hope he can pull it off.
One thing I can tell you is Cillian Murphys Peaky Blinders' Character, Tommy Shelby, gave him plenty of practice smoking cigarettes in this role. Because the only person or character that liked smoking cigarettes more according to my research is Robert Oppenheimer.
"BY ORDER OF THE PEAKY BLINDERS"
Shalom
"BY ORDER OF THE PEAKY BLINDERS"
Shalom
I’m also really looking forward to this.
Richard Rhodes book The making of the atomic bomb is perhaps the best popular coverage of this topic.
In his book, the single most important person was General Lesley Groves. Germany had as many or more brilliant physicists as did the US. But US had the industrial scale production of enriched uranium and plutonium. There were 2 cities developed for this purpose. Oak Ridge Tennessee and one in eastern Washington. Forget the name. These cities employed 20k each, for the sole purpose of producing enough enriched U235 and plutonium to construct a few (ie, 2 or 3) bombs. Germany wasn’t able to produce enough material.
100% on The Making of the Atomic Bomb. I have actually not read American Prometheus, but Rhodes goes over Oppenheimer’s life in decent detail in his book. I am dying to see if Nolan includes the issues with the male-female connection for the Trinity test, no one reading that book could possibly forget it.
You can find a number of videos on You Tube that discuss the German bomb project or tour facilities likely built for their project. Interesting enough there were reports of a possible bomb test in a remote valley cut off from travel. Who knows?
It’s incredible that Groves (45) and Oppenheimer (38) guided this project to completion. Groves deserved much more credit than the documentaries give him. Being military Groves is characterized as a rigid authoritarian. He may well have been that, but he was also a genius, a great engineer, a powerful organizer and a man with many accomplishments of his own. He had Oppenheimer sized up for what he was, and he manipulated and defended him brilliantly to get his job done. Groves deserves his own biopic. As a much less gifted engineer I am really in awe of what he accomplished.
My wife’s father was pushed through Notre Dame in 3 years (‘43), then one year at MIT ( chemical engineering) before being sent to Oakridge TN. No idea what he was working on until after the end of the war. He passed away years before wife and I married but recently one of wife’s sisters found this… note the date (post dated obviously)
I did not read the book either. I am older than you guys and I remember the number of books, films and series put out on this subject in the 70s and 80s. I’ll wait till the movie is out streaming. I’m just going to have to be convinced this guy is worth more exploration.
It was by happenstance I found this book perusing in the library looking for a good read last summer. For me it's just the brilliance he possessed and manifested into the creation of the atomic age.
Just for kicks, here is the opening paragraph of The Making of the Atomic Bomb, describing Szilard’s conceiving of the nuclear chain reaction:
In London, where Southampton Row passes Russell Square, across from the British Museum in Bloomsbury, Leo Szilard waited irritably one gray Depression morning for the stoplight to change. A trace of rain had fallen during the night; Tuesday, September 12, 1933, had dawned cool, humid, and dull. When Szilard told the story later he never mentioned his destination that morning. He may have had none; he often walked to think. In any case, another destination intervened. The stoplight changed to green. Szilard stepped off the curb. As he crossed the street time cracked open before him and he saw a way to the future, death into the world and all our woe, the shape of things to come.
I think Nolan intended Oppenheimer to be seen in Imax 70mm. Toying with the idea of heading into the city to see it that way.
I've got my tickets for an IMAX show this weekend in my city, but we only have it in IMAX laser which is still excellent. I see all Christopher Nolan releases there. I've read that there are only about 30 or so 70mm IMAX theaters left and that tickets are sold out for several weeks.
I heard Kodak created a special 70mm black and white film so parts in B&W would be consistent with the stuff in color. Few directors have that kind of clout…
I forgot this tidbit. Moe Berg was a catcher for the Red Sox and a man with a secret life.
Just one of his assignments was to kill Werner Heisenberg. And he came very close to doing it.
This brief story gives you just a few hilites of the man’s life. Now this would make one hell of a movie.
A genius, a spy, and a ballplayer
Just one of his assignments was to kill Werner Heisenberg. And he came very close to doing it.
This brief story gives you just a few hilites of the man’s life. Now this would make one hell of a movie.
A genius, a spy, and a ballplayer
Yes, this story is told in Heisenberg’s War, by Thomas Powers. Berg was placed in Zurich at the same time as Heisenberg, and Berg’s actual orders were to kill Heisenberg if he determined that Germany was close to making the bomb. Berg concluded that Heisenberg was not close to making the bomb.
If I recall Powers correctly (I loaned out the book and never got it back), he postulated that Heisenberg intentionally slow-walked the Nazi nuclear bomb project. I don’t buy that, and neither do most Heisenberg scholars, as far as I can tell.
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