🔥 3rd Watch | Top 100 | 2023 Ranked | Nolan Ranked

A film that gets better on every subsequent rewatch, Oppenheimer never fails to amaze me. Christopher Nolan's latest masterpiece tells a story that spans over 30 years, but he somehow condensed it into just three hours. Ridley Scott's latest epic Napoleon has received a lot of scrutiny and fans from people who have said that the film did a poor job at weaving through the complicated life of the famous Corsican military mastermind and government reformer. I have yet to see Napoleon, but I have seen Oppenheimer, a film that does succeed in capturing the essence of the complex titular character in a relatively short runtime.

But how exactly does Oppenheimer succeed? Oppenheimer is no ordinary tale. Like almost all of Nolan's films, the director's signature trademark of nonlinearity was present in Oppenheimer, and while serving a different purpose, like Memento, the film alternates from using color and black and white. Oppenheimer is an interesting case, as its base genre is a biopic, but its dazzling execution also makes it feel like a thriller, or even a horror movie according to Nolan. As a result, there is nothing quite like the film, making it tricky to compare it to anything. However, if there's one film I could compare it to, it would be The Social Network. Although they share many more similarities including the quality of their performances, quality of their scores, quality of the films in general, and the quality of their dialogue, Oppenheimer's editing feels very much in tune with David Fincher's 2010 masterpiece with how it feels like a courtroom drama. The Social Network excels in how to effectively tell the story and add emphasis to certain ideas based on the manner of which its presented. Oppenheimer does that too, specifically proposing questions but purposefully leaving them unanswered to keep them lingering in our minds as the film's plot progresses. Switching back and forth between timelines and perspectives, Oppenheimer could've easily been a chaotic and could've certainly left an impression as such if one wasn't truly prepared. One my first, I thought I was prepared for all of the traditional Nolan characteristics, but even I felt the editing seemed a little frenzied. In my original review, I justified it saying it reflected the "paradoxical nature of his character," but in truth I feel like I just wasn't truly ready to digest such a rich meal. I've rewatched this movie twice since then, once in IMAX and now another in 4K, and each time I've digested more and more, but I still don't feel finished. A truly powerful movie can linger in one's mind for a long time and offer more information on subsequent rewatch. Most movies have enough juice to last around a day before I watch another movie. Some movies have enough to last around a week. If they're lucky, they might have just a tiny bit juice to last after a rewatch. But to remain just as strong after three rewatches and counting is a feat reserved for only the most deserving of films. It is in the same boat as films like The Fellowship of the Ring, 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Shining, and There Will Be Blood, films that have eternally solidified their place in my mind. The more and more I watch and ponder about these movies, the greater they become. The same process is slowly happening with Oppenheimer, and as evident with the beauties of not just the editing, but the cinematography and soundtrack too, Oppenheimer has a very high capability of growing even more on me in the coming weeks, months, or even years and decades.

The only aspect of the film that I could say got worse on a rewatch was a few shots during the Trinity test scene that didn't look great. However, even if those couple shots don't look great on the frame, the knowledge that Nolan executed those shots practically and didn't effectively capture the horrific essence of a nuclear device, let alone thousands of much scarier ones seen today, is terrifying and proves this 'chain reaction' that Oppenheimer was talking about in the most iconic scene of the film. I don't think Nolan intended this to be how I viewed the scenes, but like J. Robert Oppenheimer's creation, Nolan's creation also had a few unintended consequences of its own.

However, enough with this tangent and back to the beauty of the editing. Something that struck me on this viewing was how synergized it was. This film didn't feel like a collection of multiple different shorter stories that tell partial pictures of Oppenheimer's life, but one massive story telling the complete picture. There were five major sections of the film: Oppenheimer's early life, Oppenheimer at Los Alamos, Oppenheimer after the war, Oppenheimer's appeal, and finally Strauss's hearing. Some were presented in color. Some were presented in black and white. Some were even presented in a combination of both. However, the rhythm and flow of Oppenheimer could've easily been disjointed, but instead it told its story quite fluently and naturally. The transitions between one part of the story to the next were flawlessly executed, conserving the tension to give the illusion of one smooth narrative that crescendos with an ending containing some of the ten best minutes of film ever devised. Weaving through the rich life of a paradoxical individual in three hours is a difficult task, but Christopher Nolan and editor Jennifer Lame expertly not only managed to capture the tale, but the essence of the tale too, presenting a complete picture of the famous scientist and slowly conserving and building the tension of the story that ends in a bang.

All of this praise was dedicated to just one of the pieces to a much larger puzzle on why Oppenheimer is such a tremendous achievement in filmmaking. Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey Jr.'s performances as the titular character and Lewis Strauss respectively require no introduction to the brilliance they bring to their roles. On a lesser but still impressive scale, performances from Emily Blunt and Matt Damon are also incredible. However, the strength in numbers from the cast doesn't end there. Jason Clarke gives a chilling performance as Roger Robb, the obstinate interrogator who served as the special counsel in an Atomic Energy Commision hearing during Oppie's appeal for his security clearance. He brought a vile and violent energy that was perfect for the role. On the much more likeable spectrum, Alden Ehrenreich also gives a great performance that represents the spark of hope and commitment for justice despite whatever obligations might stand in the way. Like most of the actors, he doesn't get much screentime, but also like most of the actors, he shined for the brief time that the window was open. There are plenty of stellar performances in Oppenheimer. To know a complete list of every actor who did amazing in the film, all one needs to do is search "Oppenheimer cast" on their browser. Everyone was phenomenal.

Another pivotal aspect to the film was its cinematography that was flawlessly captured on film by Hoyte van Hoytema. Christopher Nolan is well known for using IMAX cameras since the release of The Dark Knight and always finding new and creative ways to use the large image format. However, prior to Oppenheimer, while Nolan used IMAX in different ways, they always seemed to accomplish a similar goal: creating a larger scope. In fact, Inception didn't use the IMAX format because Nolan didn't want the story to be told within the large bounds of the IMAX format; he wanted a more intimate feel. However, Oppenheimer not only marked the first time where IMAX was used for a black and white shot, but it was also used for the same reason why it wasn't used in Inception. While there were plenty of shots that highlighted the magnitude of the tale, plenty of IMAX shots also captured the intimacy and complexion of the titular character. Even on a 4K Blu-ray where it's not the same as the IMAX one would see in the theater, the residue of the intimacy from the format still remains, producing a crisp and powerful image that looks stunning even at home. Speaking of watching the film at home, Christopher Nolan's movies have never been shot entirely on IMAX, but rather a combination of IMAX and traditional 65mm large format film. However, this results in the changes in aspect ratio that one has probably grown accustomed to with Nolan films. However, while in some films of his films it is distracting (like in Interstellar), it is not in the 4K Blu-ray of Nolan's latest film, Oppenheimer. However, how Hoyte van Hoytema filmed the near 1-billion-dollar hit is not entirely what comprises of cinematography. The traditional techniques to capturing the story must also be analyzed, but Hoytema masterfully uses those techniques as well, presenting the story in a beautiful manner. The color palette, framing, and lighting were excellent, and the cinematography felt incredibly organic, bringing the character of J. Robert Oppenheimer to life.

There have been some decent scores this year from Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Killers of the Flower Moon, and more, but they all pale in comparison to Ludwig van Goransson's masterpiece. With one of the best original soundtracks of all time, Oppenheimer's music helps propel numerous scenes from greatness to excellence. "Can You Hear the Music" is a track that everybody has seemed to lose their minds over, but there are plenty of other tracks are equally as amazing if not better (in my humble opinion). The soundtrack was beautiful, and it was edited astonishing well in the film. In combination with the stellar sound design and audible dialogue, Oppenheimer is the truly the best sounding film of the year.

However, Oppenheimer is more than just the best sounding film of the year; it is also the best edited, acted, shot, written, and directed film of the year. Oppenheimer is a riveting film, with all of its different aspects synergizing flawlessly to capture and present the life of a dividing figure in history. Christopher Nolan's latest film is labeled as a biopic, but it plays and acts like a thriller, with levels of tension that rise way beyond what a biopic should have. Oppenheimer is more than a film; it's an achievement; it's a warning; it's something that has risen above cinema.

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