J. Robert Oppenheimer

J. Robert Oppenheimer

Born: April 22, 1904
Died: February 18, 1967
in New York City, New York, USA
J. Robert Oppenheimer was an American theoretical physicist. A professor of physics at the University of California, Berkeley, Oppenheimer was the wartime head of the Los Alamos Laboratory and is often credited as the "father of the atomic bomb" for his role in the Manhattan Project – the World War II undertaking that developed the first nuclear weapons. Oppenheimer was among those who observed the Trinity test in New Mexico, where the first atomic bomb was successfully detonated on July 16, 1945.

Movies for J. Robert Oppenheimer...

Nuclear Armageddon: How Close Are We?
Title: Nuclear Armageddon: How Close Are We?
Character: Self, Archival Footage
Released: January 18, 2024
Type: Movie
With the Doomsday Clock the closest it's ever been to midnight, Jane Corbin investigates the proliferation of nuclear weapons across the globe. She visits Los Alamos, home to the United States’ nuclear weapons development facility and the historic home of Oppenheimer’s Manhattan Project. In Scotland, she reveals the strategy behind Britain’s nuclear deterrent, and speaks to campaigners in Suffolk fighting against US weapons they fear will be based on UK soil. Jane also discovers how many of the global agreements and safeguards that have constrained the spread of nuclear weapons since the 1970s are breaking down. This is a story told by the scientists, investigators and diplomats who set the clock and have fought to ensure that the ultimate deterrent has not been used in over 70 years.
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Oppenheimer: The Real Story
Title: Oppenheimer: The Real Story
Character: Self (archive footage)
Released: July 17, 2023
Type: Movie
J. Robert Oppenheimer, a physics professor known for creating the atomic bomb during WWII. He witnessed the first atomic bomb detonation in New Mexico in 1945. This film examines Oppenheimer's life, from his early years to his involvement with nuclear physics and his later advocacy for nuclear weapons controls, with interviews and insights from those who knew him and impacted by his legacy.
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To End All War: Oppenheimer & the Atomic Bomb
Title: To End All War: Oppenheimer & the Atomic Bomb
Character: Self (archive footage)
Released: July 9, 2023
Type: Movie
Explore how one man's relentless drive and invention of the atomic bomb changed the nature of war forever, led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people and unleashed mass hysteria.
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Oppenheimer After Trinity
Title: Oppenheimer After Trinity
Character: Self (archive footage)
Released: April 22, 2023
Type: Movie
This captivating documentary on J. Robert Oppenheimer, the architect of the atomic bomb, explores his journey before the historic test and reveals the burden he carried after. De-classified documents, rare film footage and exclusive interviews, including Oppenheimer's grandson, show an intimate exploration of the burden Oppenheimer carried and the profound global impact still being debated today.
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A Compassionate Spy
Title: A Compassionate Spy
Character: Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Released: August 31, 2022
Type: Movie
Physicist Ted Hall is recruited to join the Manhattan Project as a teenager and goes to Los Alamos with no idea what he'll be working on. When he learns the true nature of the weapon being designed, he fears the post-war risk of a nuclear holocaust and begins to pass significant information to the Soviet Union.
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Bellum - The Daemon of War
Title: Bellum - The Daemon of War
Character: Self (archive footage)
Released: March 12, 2021
Type: Movie
In Bellum, modern warfare and the development of AI are connecting three seemingly disparate locations and lives; a scientist in Sweden, a private military contractor in the Nevada desert in the USA and a world renowned war photographer in Afghanistan. Through their actions and decisions, the film delves into the jargons and logics that pushes warfare forward. It’s often said that war is inhumane. But in this film, this assumption is turned upside down. Because in fact it seems there is nothing more human than war. Humanity has always been at war, often over abstract ideas such as nationality, borders, religion, money or freedom and this is something that in fact distinguishes us from all other animals on this planet. Perhaps the Greco-Roman world was right that war was a demon; Bellum. And, that the war actually feeds itself: “Bellum se ipsum alet”.
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Breakpoint: A Counter History of Progress
Title: Breakpoint: A Counter History of Progress
Character: Self (archive footage)
Released: July 14, 2019
Type: Movie
An account of the last two centuries of the Anthropocene, the Age of Man. How human beings have progressed so much in such a short time through war and the selfish interests of a few, belligerent politicians and captains of industry, damaging the welfare of the majority of mankind, impoverishing the weakest, greedily devouring the limited resources of the Earth.
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Cold War Secrets: Stealing the Atomic Bomb
Title: Cold War Secrets: Stealing the Atomic Bomb
Character: Self (archive footage)
Released: August 6, 2015
Type: Movie
On the 29th of August 1949, the USSR set off their first atomic bomb, just four years after the Americans. The speed with which they achieved this surprised the world. What nobody knew was that it was the result of espionage. At the centre of the operation was a very unusual female spy, Elizabeth Zaroubin, in a story worthy of the best spy novels ever written.
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Awake: The Life of Yogananda
Title: Awake: The Life of Yogananda
Character: Self (archive footage)
Released: October 10, 2014
Type: Movie
An unconventional biography by Oscar nominee Paola di Florio and Sundance winner Lisa Leeman about Hindu mystic Paramahansa Yogananda who brought yoga and meditation to the West in 1920 and authored the spiritual classic "Autobiography of a Yogi," which became the go-to book for seekers from George Harrison to Steve Jobs.
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The Trials of J. Robert Oppenheimer
Title: The Trials of J. Robert Oppenheimer
Character: Self (archive footage/photos)
Released: March 24, 2008
Type: Movie
J. Robert Oppenheimer was a national hero, the brilliant scientist who during WWII led the scientific team that created the atomic bomb. But after the bomb brought the war to an end, in spite of his renown and his enormous achievement, America turned on him - humiliated and cast him aside. The question the film asks is, "Why?"
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The Moment in Time: The Manhattan Project
Title: The Moment in Time: The Manhattan Project
Character: Archival footage
Released: June 5, 2000
Type: Movie
The Moment in Time documents the uncertain days of the beginning of World War II when it was feared the Nazis were developing the atomic bomb. The history of the bomb's development is traced through recollections of those who worked on what was known as "the gadget."
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Trinity and Beyond: The Atomic Bomb Movie
Title: Trinity and Beyond: The Atomic Bomb Movie
Character: Self (archive footage)
Released: September 29, 1995
Type: Movie
"Trinity and Beyond" is an unsettling yet visually fascinating documentary presenting the history of nuclear weapons development and testing between 1945-1963. Narrated by William Shatner and featuring an original score performed by the Moscow Symphony Orchestra, this award-winning documentary reveals previously unreleased and classified government footage from several countries.
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The Atomic Cafe
Title: The Atomic Cafe
Character: archival footage
Released: March 17, 1982
Type: Movie
A disturbing collection of 1940s and 1950s United States government-issued propaganda films designed to reassure Americans that the atomic bomb was not a threat to their safety.
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Los Alamos: The Beginning
Title: Los Alamos: The Beginning
Character: Self (archive footage)
Released: January 1, 1982
Type: Movie
A documentary composed of historical footage and contemporary interviews from the men and women of Los Alamos, recalling their experiences of the community and the creation of the atomic bomb from the inception of the program in 1943.
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The Day After Trinity
Title: The Day After Trinity
Character: Self (archive footage)
Released: January 20, 1981
Type: Movie
This essential, Academy Award–nominated documentary offers an urgent warning from history about the dangers of nuclear warfare via the story of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the enigmatic physicist and all-around Renaissance man who led the Manhattan Project to develop the atomic bomb that America unleashed on Japan in the final days of World War II. Through extensive interviews and archival footage, THE DAY AFTER TRINITY traces Oppenheimer’s evolution, from architect of one of the most consequential endeavors of the twentieth century to an outspoken opponent of nuclear proliferation who came to deeply regret his role in ushering in the perils of the atomic age.
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The Decision to Drop the Bomb
Title: The Decision to Drop the Bomb
Character: Self
Released: January 5, 1965
Type: Movie
J. Robert Oppenheimer and other key figures involved in the decision to drop the first atomic bomb discuss their motivations in this NBC News documentary. Originally produced and televised in 1965, two decades after the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it was re-released in 2023 with an epilogue by Michael Beschloss, NBC News Presidential Historian.
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Title: Crusade in Europe
Character: Self (archive footage)
Released: May 5, 1949
Type: TV
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Hugh Bradner Films (Los Alamos)
Title: Hugh Bradner Films (Los Alamos)
Character: self
Released: January 1, 1945
Type: Movie
Physicist Hugh Bradner took these remarkable color home movies at Los Alamos during the Manhattan Project with informal permission from the U.S. Army. The films include images from inside the top-secret laboratory, and depict scientists leaving for the Trinity test. Bradner's movies also capture recreational activities scientists enjoyed during the Manhattan Project, including hiking, skiing, swimming, and horseback riding, as well as Bradner's wedding at the home of Dorothy McKibbin in Santa Fe.