[Review] Oppenheimer IMAX 70mm Version

Last week, I went to Cineplex Cinemas Vaughan to watch Christopher Nolan's new film Oppenheimer in the IMAX 70mm film format. This version is only showing in about thirty cinemas worldwide, with only six in Canada. I had to book tickets two weeks in advance to secure decent seats.

From what I recall, this was my first time watching a film projected on film. At the very beginning, it felt like constant flickering, and it took a while to get used to it. Compared to the director's recent works, Oppenheimer has fewer action sequences; almost the entire movie is dialogue-driven. However, the film's deep characterization, coupled with the brilliant performances of Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey Jr., makes this movie more emotionally resonant for the audience than Nolan's recent films.

The most outstanding aspects of the film are Ludwig Göransson's score and the sound design. The movie is three hours long, and the majority of it is dialogue-heavy. The score almost entirely strings the film together, driving the rhythm and atmosphere, preventing the movie from becoming dull. The film's handling of the Trinity test explosion scene's visuals and sound effects is incredibly impactful. However, even more striking is how the film uses the cheers and stomping sounds of the crowd to contrast Oppenheimer's complex emotions. The movie chronicles the beginning and end of the atomic bomb design project, the highs and lows of Oppenheimer's career, but these are just pages of history. From the perspective of that era, their work in helping the US and Allied forces defeat their enemies was a great achievement. But as Oppenheimer said, his concern was the chain reaction he unleashed, which could lead to the world's destruction. We cannot predict the future, nor can we know if or how the world will end. We can only constantly remind ourselves that the world is ever-changing. A scientific discovery can potentially lead to the end of the world. Oppenheimer is an American hero one moment, and the next, his reputation can be completely ruined. Success and failure, gain and loss, good and bad – things are changing every second. History is constantly evolving, and perhaps it will only be decades or even centuries later that a final verdict can be reached.

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Photo: Universal Pictures