History NightmareFuel / Oppenheimer

* One recurring theme is whether the atomic bomb was the last shot of World War II, or the first shot of the Cold War. One thing that the movie does not mention, albeit somewhat justifiably because the work at Los Alamos had been done already, was that the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet%E2%80%93Japanese_War Soviets declared war on Japan]] just a week before the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. They attacked from the north and were able to take Sakhalin Island and control of other parts of the Kuril Islands. Being as the vast majority of Japanese defenses were to the south it's reasonable to say that the Soviets would've captured a lot of northern Japan. Had the war continued it's very reasonable to say that Japan would've been divided up the way [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inner_German_border Germany]] was, and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_Demilitarized_Zone Korea]] still is.

* '''''THE ENDING.''''' ''Dear God, the ending.'' We hear, from Oppenheimer's subjective point of view, the conversation that he and Einstein had at the pond, where they agree that they "set off a chain reaction that could destroy the world". As Einstein leaves, Oppenheimer then ponders what those events could be. Cue a row of [=ICBMs=], now carrying warheads exponentially more destructive than Fat Man and Little Boy, ready to be launched. Cue a shot of trails from missile launches rising up into the clouds. Cue his flashback where he imagines being in the passenger seat of a B-29 bomber like the one that struck Hiroshima, swarms of [=ICBMs=] ascending past him. Cue a vision of nuclear fire slowly but surely ''spreading over the entire world''. And Oppenheimer's face in the final shot sums up this burden of being responsible for this future, both real and theoretical, ''depressingly'' well. He has created UsefulNotes/TheColdWar. He has created MutuallyAssuredDestruction. Humanity has been given the means to destroy itself and everything else on Earth. And he knows it, and will continue to know and live with it for the rest of his life, knowing he is most certainly going to eternally suffer in [[Main/IronicHell the darkest, most special place in Hell for him]] because of it. He shuts his eyes, almost as if to unsuccessfully attempt to wake up from the horrible nightmare of the reality he's just unleashed. SmashToBlack.

''Film/{{Oppenheimer}}'' is a film about [[UsefulNotes/JRobertOppenheimer the eponymous scientist]] behind a weapon that isn't just ''[[NightmareFuel more]]'' than deadly, but world-defining. By the time the film is done, you'd be sharing his colossal feeling of "MyGodWhatHaveIDone".

* '''''THE ENDING.''''' ''Dear God, the ending.'' We hear, from Oppenheimer's subjective point of view, the conversation that he and Einstein had at the pond, where they agree that they "set off a chain reaction that could destroy the world". As Einstein leaves, Oppenheimer then ponders what those events could be. Cue a row of [=ICBMs=], now carrying warheads exponentially more destructive than Fat Man and Little Boy, ready to be launched. Cue a shot of trails from missile launches rising up into the clouds. Cue his flashback where he imagines being in the passenger seat of a B-29 bomber like the one that struck Hiroshima, swarms of [=ICBMs=] ascending past him. Cue a vision of nuclear fire slowly but surely ''spreading over the entire world''. And Oppenheimer's face in the final shot sums up this burden of being responsible for this future, both real and theoretical, ''depressingly'' well. He has created UsefulNotes/TheColdWar. He has created MutuallyAssuredDestruction. Humanity has been given the means to destroy itself and everything else on Earth. And he knows it, and will continue to know and live with it for the rest of his life, knowing he is most certainly going to suffer in [[Main/IronicHell the darkest, most special place in Hell for him]] because of it. He shuts his eyes, almost as if to unsuccessfully attempt to wake up from the horrible nightmare of the reality he's just unleashed. SmashToBlack.

** And the worst part? This film isn't just a fictional piece like everything else Nolan has done. This DID happen in Real Life. Oppenheimer and Einstein DID exist. The bomb WAS made. We HAD the Cuban Missile Crisis, 1983 and many other near misses throughout the 20th century and 2000s and 2010s. The nukes are still here on Earth, and though they have been severely decreased over the years, there is still the [[ParanoiaFuel raw knowledge that they can destroy us if they are used]]. While Oppenheimer's vision thankfully never was a reality back then, ''it could still be a possibility to this very day.''

* '''''THE ENDING.''''' ''Dear God, the ending.'' We hear, from Oppenheimer's subjective point of view, the conversation that he and Einstein had at the pond, where they agree that they "set off a chain reaction that could destroy the world". As Einstein leaves, Oppenheimer then ponders what those events could be. Cue a row of [=ICBMs=], now carrying warheads exponentially more destructive than Fat Man and Little Boy, ready to be launched. Cue a shot of trails from missile launches rising up into the clouds. Cue his flashback where he imagines being in the passenger seat of a B-29 bomber like the one that struck Hiroshima, swarms of [=ICBMs=] ascending past him. Cue a vision of nuclear fire slowly but surely ''spreading over the entire world''. And Oppenheimer's face in the final shot sums up this burden of being responsible for this future, both real and theoretical, ''depressingly'' well. He has created UsefulNotes/TheColdWar. He has created MutuallyAssuredDestruction. Humanity has been given the means to destroy itself and everything else on Earth. And he knows it, and will continue to know and live with it for the rest of his life, knowing he is most certainly going to an Main/IronicHell for it. He shuts his eyes. SmashToBlack.

** Remember when the scientists were discussing the theory about atmospheric ignition back when they were building the bomb? That is exactly what is happening here in the vision. So many nukes were blown up at once that the atmosphere couldn't handle the heat and wound up combusting on itself, exposing Earth to the complete wrath of the sun. In other words, [[ApocalypseHow/Class6 Earth is becoming as]] [[Film/DrStrangelove dead as the moon,]] [[ApocalypseHow/Class6 Mars and the rest of the Solar System without a second chance to rebuild itself ever again.]] All this because of [[Main/HumansAreBastards a bunch of humans.]] It makes one consider if [[HistoryRepeats the Martians had a similar instance and killed off their planet as well]]. You could also consider this Main/HellOnEarth where, if the firestorm means anything, [[TheBadGuyWins the Devil successfully lured humanity into opening the gates of Hell for him]] and is ''now reaping all life on Earth''.

** Remember when the scientists were discussing the theory about atmospheric ignition back when they were building the bomb? That is exactly what is happening here in the vision. So many nukes were blown up at once that the atmosphere couldn't handle the heat and wound up combusting on itself, exposing Earth to the complete wrath of the sun. In other words, [[ApocalypseHow/Class6 Earth is becoming as]] [[Film/DrStrangelove dead as the moon,]] [[ApocalypseHow/Class6 Mars and the rest of the Solar System without a second chance to rebuild itself ever again.]] All this because of [[Main/HumansAreBastards a bunch of humans.]] It makes one consider if [[HistoryRepeats the Martians had a similar instance and killed off their planet as well]]. You could also consider this Main/HellOnEarth where, if the firestorm means anything, [[TheBadGuyWins the Devil successfully drove all of humanity to suicide]] and is ''now reaping all life on Earth for eternal torment''.