Filmmaking at its finest, Oppenheimer requires you to have your brain fully activated or you’ll surely miss something. Given its large cast and 180-minute runtime, director Christopher Nolan has given audiences a lot to digest. A major success at the box office, bringing in $949 million worldwide against a budget of $100 million the success of Oppenheimer surprised virtually everyone, helped at least in part by the “Barbenheimer” (a meme surrounding simultaneous releases of Barbie and Oppenheimer) phenomena.

Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy) demonstrates brilliance as a physicist early in his career. This offers him a series of   professional opportunities, culminating in his participation on the Manhattan Project, the World War II-era American venture to develop an atom bomb.

The story unfolds on two separate tracks. Black-and-white sections detail the efforts of Lewis Strauss (Robert Downey, Jr.) to be confirmed as Secretary of Commerce. He is being grilled about his previous support of Oppenheimer who is a controversial figure in 1959. If he doesn’t satisfy the committee, he could be the first person denied a nomination in decades.

The color sections show us the significant events in Oppenheimer’s personal life. Most notably is his affair with Communist Party USA member Jean Tatlock (Florence Pugh) and his occasionally rocky marriage to wife Kitty (Emily Blunt). The focus is his work to develop the atomic bomb. Collaborations and clashes with Manhattan Project director Leslie Groves (Matt Damon) are shown. So is the building of a town in Los Alamos, New Mexico, a place he deems appropriate for their work. All of these issues are in flashback, as Oppenheimer fights to maintain his security clearance.

To his credit, Nolan makes all these shifts in time run smoothly. For a three-hour movie, Oppenheimer is tight and logical. An excellent cast helps, but if there’s something to nitpick about, it’s Nolan leaning on his all star cast a bit much, using big names in small roles. That said, Cillian Murphy is excellent in the title role. Murphy hand the “many faces” of Oppenheimer well, making him believable and complex.

In complementary but significant roles, Emily Blunt, Robert Downey Jr., Florence Pugh, Matt Damon and others elevate the material. Oppenheimer is a cinematic achievement for Christopher Nolan, and he deserves all the plaudits he receives.

Presented in mixed aspect ratios of 2.20:1 and 1.78:1, Nolan’s films always look great and Oppenheimer is no exception. The use of 65mm IMAX looks very good. It helps that the 2.20:1 material also featured 65mm film, so Oppenheimer doesn’t suffer from any degradation when it shifted between ratios. Sharpness is solid throughout. The image lacks any edge enhancement or print flaws. The colors lean toward amber/orange offering a nice level of clarity. Blacks are dark and inky, offering nice clarity and smoothness.

The DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio track works well for this dialogue heavy film. Unsurprisingly, scenes related to nuclear physics and atomic bomb testing become the most involving. The rest of the film creates an accurate sense of time and place. Music appeared full and rich. Dialogue is clean, clear and concise throughout.

English, Spanish and French subtitles are included.

The following extras are available on a separate Blu-ray:

  • The Story of Our Time: The Making of Oppenheimer (HD, 112:55)
  • Innovations in Film (HD, 8:21)
  • Meet the Press Q&A Panel (HD, 34:46)
  • To End All War (HD, 127:18)
  • Five Trailers (HD) – one teaser, two theatricals, an “IMAX Exclusive” and “Opening Look” that provides a montage of film scenes.