On July 21, 2023, the highly awaited film “Oppenheimer” hit the big screen. Detailing the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer and his work on the Manhattan Project that developed and designed the first atomic bomb. The movie broke records at the renowned TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. Within its first three weeks there, it became the highest-grossing film release in the theatre’s 97-year history. This is just one of the records that the movie broke when it came out.

The story of the development and creation of the first atomic bomb is an integral part of the U.S. history curriculum here at LHS. U.S. history teacher Bryan Looker is an expert on this topic and rushed to the theater to see the film. 

Oppenheimer is currently ranked as the highest-grossing World War II film in history. Do you feel it deserves this?

I don’t think it quite fits nicely with the other World War II films out there, an example being “Saving Private Ryan,” which is set in Europe and a World War II movie, and other examples from history like “Tora! Tora! Tora!” are actually combat. So, when I think of World War II movies, I think more about combat. Obviously, this is a World War II movie, but I think it should almost sit in its own class of movies because it’s talking about something that was on the periphery that greatly affected the war, but it wasn’t inside of actual military combat regions. Also, because of inflation, you can’t compare movies from 50 years ago to today in terms of performance at the box office. I am slightly surprised though that “Oppenheimer” made so much money because of how long of a movie it is and how much dialogue is in it because most people don’t have the patience for that type of movie.

What were some facts or parts of the movie you remember that weren’t completely accurate? Did you feel the movie overall was a reliable source of that info?

Of the things that I know about the Manhattan Project, Oppenheimer and the heart of Einstein’s influence going on, I felt the movie did a really good job staying true to the facts. As a matter of fact, there are things in the movie that I learned that I didn’t know and went back and checked just to make sure. So, I think Christopher Nolan did a really great job of getting the facts into the movie and not negotiating or compromising for drama. The events in the movie actually happened in life, everything from Oppenheimer’s infidelity to the construction of the bomb, and so I think he did a great job at doing that. The only sticky point I had is that they used a 50-star flag at one part of the movie, and that drove me nuts because there were only 48 states at the time. That’s incredibly ticky tack though.

3. What’s your overall opinion of the movie? Was it entertaining, or stressful? Was it worth your time? Would you watch it again or recommend it?

For me, movies fall into several different categories. When I was a kid, I had just a single favorite movie, and as an adult, it’s a nuanced conversation. I have movies that are my favorite movies and are extremely rewatchable such as “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” and “Back to the Future.” Then, I have other movies that I consider to be masterpieces of cinema-making that I might never watch again. I have seen “Schindler’s List” all the way through one time. I’m not opposed to seeing it again. But, it’s been 30 years since, and I believe that movie is an absolute masterpiece. It’s not enjoyable to watch though. I think Christopher Nolan’s job at the editing, the cinematography, the storytelling and the historical accuracy of  ‘Oppenheimer’ were great. It was a masterpiece of a movie, and yet I don’t know how many more times I’ll see it in my lifetime. It doesn’t diminish what I think the movie is. I think that it will win multiple Oscars here in a few months. It’s a movie though that doesn’t bring joy to rewatch.

4. Here’s a silly question. Going into this movie for some reason my perception of time was way off, and I wasn’t aware that Albert Einstein was still alive. Were you aware of this fact?

I was indeed aware that Einstein was still alive, obviously. Einstein died 10 years after World War II, but it’s difficult for anybody to imagine a time they didn’t live in because anything before their lifetime falls in the same time period, but yes, I was aware of that fact.