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Starring: Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., Florence Pugh, Rami Malek, Benny Safdie, Josh Hartnett, Dane DeHaan, Jack Quaid, Matthew Modine, Alden Ehrenreich, Kenneth Branagh, David Dastmalchian, Jason Clark, Gary Oldman, Olivia Thirlby
Story:
Historical bio-drama written and directed by Christopher Nolan. Oppenheimer (2023) centers on theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy), who contributed to the Manhattan Project, the quest to build a nuclear bomb during World War II, and his contributions that led to the creation of the atomic bomb.
We’ll add the best quotes once the movie is released and we’ve had a chance to watch it, but for now, here’s a small selection.
Quotes:
Lewis Strauss: Thanks for convening at short notice. I can’t believe it. Well, here we are.
J. Robert Oppenheimer: An atomic test.
Lewis Strauss: The Russians have a bomb. We’re supposed to be years ahead of them. But what were you guys doing in Los Alamos? And how many people were in these open discussions?
Kenneth Nichols: Too many. Compartmentalization was supposed to be the protocol.
J. Robert Oppenheimer: We were in a race against the Nazis.
Lewis Strauss: So now the race is against the Soviets.
J. Robert Oppenheimer: Not unless we start it.
Lewis Strauss: Robert, they just fired the starting gun.
Lewis Strauss: What’s the nature of the device they detonated?
J. Robert Oppenheimer: Data indicates it may have been a plutonium implosion device.
Lewis Strauss: Like the one you built at Los Alamos.
Kitty Oppenheimer: The world is changing, reforming. This is your moment.
J. Robert Oppenheimer: This is a national emergency.
J. Robert Oppenheimer: We’re in a race against the Nazis, and I know what it means if the Nazis have a bomb.
Leslie Groves Jr.: They have a twelve month head start.
J. Robert Oppenheimer: Eighteen.
Leslie Groves Jr.: How could you possibly know that?
J. Robert Oppenheimer: We’ve got one hope. All America’s industrial might and scientific innovation connected here, a secret laboratory, in the middle of nowhere. Keep everyone there until it’s done.
Leslie Groves: Why?
Leslie Groves: Build them a town.
J. Robert Oppenheimer: Build a town, build it fast. If we don’t let scientists bring their families we’ll never get the best.
Leslie Groves Jr.: Let’s go recruit some scientists.
Scientist: Why would I leave my family?
J. Robert Oppenheimer: I told you. You can bring your family.
Scientist: Why would we go to the middle of nowhere for who knows how long?
J. Robert Oppenheimer: For a year, or two, or three.
Leslie Groves Jr.: Why? Why? How about because this is the most important f***ing thing to ever happen in the history of the world!
'Now I am become Death. The Destroyer of Worlds.' - J. Robert Oppenheimer Click To Tweet
Kenneth Bainbridge: I’m not a soldier.
J. Robert Oppenheimer: [referring to Groves] Soldier? Ge’s a general. I’ve got all the soldier I need.
J. Robert Oppenheimer: What can I tell them?
Leslie Groves: As much as you like. Until you feel my boot on your balls.
J. Robert Oppenheimer: You know Isotopes. And you know explosives.
Donald Hornig: But you can’t tell us what you’re doing?
J. Robert Oppenheimer: It’s about unleashing a strong force, before the Nazi do.
Kenneth Bainbridge: Oh, my God.
Enrico Fermi: Hear you you got a little town.
J. Robert Oppenheimer: Yes. Come and see.
Leo Szilard: Who could think straight in a place like that, huh? Everybody will go crazy.
J. Robert Oppenheimer: Thank you for the vote of confidence, Szilard. Do we really need that in the notes?
Albert Einstein: What do you think it means?
J. Robert Oppenheimer: Neutrons smash into nucleus, releasing neutrons to smash into other nuclei. Criticality, a point of no return, massive explosive force. But this time the chain reaction doesn’t stop.
Albert Einstein: It would ignite the atmosphere.
J. Robert Oppenheimer: When we detonate an atomic device, we might start a chain reaction that destroys the world.
Albert Einstein: So here we are, hmm? Lost in your quantum world of probabilities, and needing certainty.
J. Robert Oppenheimer: Can you run the calculations yourself?
Isidor Isaac Rabi: [to Oppenheimer] You’re the great improviser but this, you can’t do in your head.
Edward Teller: They won’t let me leave!
J. Robert Oppenheimer: I won’t let you leave.
Leo Szilard: [to Oppenheimer] You can convince anyone with anything. Even yourself.
J. Robert Oppenheimer: Hitler’s dead. But the Japanese fight hard.
'Amateurs seek the sun. Get eaten. Power stays in the shadows.' - Lewis Strauss (Oppenheimer) Click To Tweet
Edward Teller: [to Oppenheimer] Nobody knows what you believe. Do you?
Lewis Strauss: There were rumors of Espionage at Los Alamos.
J. Robert Oppenheimer: Unsubstantiated. There is no proof there was a spy at Los Alomos.
J. Robert Oppenheimer: No one is leaving Los Alomos.
Roger Robb: [to Oppenheimer]You felt your judgment was sound on who on the team could be trusted?
Ernest Lawrence: [to Oppenheimer] What are you doing?
Leslie Groves Jr.: Are we saying there’s a chance that when we push that button, we destroy the world?
J. Robert Oppenheimer: Chances are near zero.
Leslie Groves Jr.: Near zero?
J. Robert Oppenheimer: What do you want from theory alone?
Leslie Groves Jr.: Zero would be nice.
J. Robert Oppenheimer: Theory will take you only so far.
J. Robert Oppenheimer: This is a matter of life and death. I can perform this miracle.
Gen George C Marshall: World War II would be over. Our boys would come home.
Kitty Oppenheimer: It’s happening, isn’t it?
J. Robert Oppenheimer: I don’t know if we can be trusted with such a weapon. But I know the Naziz can’t. We have no choice.
J. Robert Oppenheimer: The world will remember this day.
J. Robert Oppenheimer: Our work here will ensure a peace mankind has never seen.
Edward Teller: Until somebody builds a bigger bomb.
J. Robert Oppenheimer: Is anyone ever going to tell the truth about what’s happening here?
Edward Teller: [to Oppenheimer] Would the Japanese surrender if the new what was coming?
Niels Bohr: How can this man, who saw so much, be so blind?
Niels Bohr: You are the man who gave them the power to destroy themselves, and the world is not prepared.
J. Robert Oppenheimer: We imagine a future, and our imaginings horrify us. They won’t fear it until they understand it. And they won’t understand it until they’ve used it.
Lewis Strauss: The force from which the sun draws its power has been loosed.
Lewis Strauss: Truman needs to know what’s next.
J. Robert Oppenheimer: What’s next?
Lewis Strauss: It made him the most important man who ever lived.
Lewis Strauss: The man who moved the Earth.
Lewis Strauss: This is just how the game is played.
Senate Aide: Well, forgive my naivete.
Lewis Strauss: Amateurs seek the sun. Get eaten. Power stays in the shadows.
Albert Einstein: Now it’s your turn to deal with consequences of your achievement. And one day, when they punished you enough, they’ll serve you salmon and potato salad. Make speeches. Give you a medal. Pat you on the back, tell you all is forgiven. Just remember, it won’t be for you. It will be for them.
J. Robert Oppenheimer: Albert, when I came to you with those calculations, we thought we might start a chain reaction that would destroy the entire world.
Albert Einstein: I remember it well. What of it?
J. Robert Oppenheimer: I believe we did.
Trailer: