The creation of nuclear weapons was (for better or for worse) one of the greatest advances into the unknown in the entire history of technology. This film, made just 2 short years after the first atomic bomb was detonated, tries to dramatize the events that led up to the weapon's conception and eventual deployment at the end of World War 2. Because the movie's storyline mostly consists of real life historical events, I won't explain everything, but it's worth pointing out the film alters some events and causes some inaccuracies. The movie starts off by saying that the film itself is to be placed in a time capsule destined to be opened 500 years from now, in the year 2446. It's hoped that the people of the future can learn from the film that while atomic energy can do a lot of good and be used as a near limitless source of power, it can also destroy the entire planet. Shortly before world war 2 is over, J Robert Oppenheimer (Hume Cronyn), the main architect of the Manhattan Project (code name for the atom bomb's creation program) tells his fellow scientists, Italian physicist Enrico Fermi (Joseph Calleia) and Matt (Tom Drake) that America is now firmly on track to winning the war. Up until this point, it was widely feared that German scientists, who are among the best in the world, would build a nuclear weapon for Hitler. Using Professor Einstein's theory of relativity, Oppenheimer tells others about how an atomic weapon would set off a cataclysmic chain reaction of Uranium isotopes and cause an explosion large enough to wipe out a city in one shot. A second element being researched for the bomb is Plutonium, which is one of the most dangerous elements known. It's kind of ironic how atoms, the foundations of the universe that form the basis for everything to ever exist, are capable of such huge destruction. After america gets involved in ww2 after Pearl Harbor, FDR is told about the potential ability of this weapon to end the war in favor of america, and allocates billions of dollars to fund its development. FDR also knows that Hitler is most likely trying to do the exact same thing. In Chicago, Fermi demonstrates his crowning achievement, the Chicago Pile 1. It is the world's first nuclear reactor, and the test is a success. If it failed, the entire city of chicago could have been erased. In Spring 1945, President Roosevelt dies of a stroke, and is replaced by his VP, Harry Truman. Truman is sent top secret images and information regarding the Trinity test that was carried out in the New Mexico desert. This was an event in which Oppenheimer and the other leading scientists successfully exploded the world's first nuclear weapon. With Japan never seeming to give up, Truman orders its use against them as soon as the military is ready. The first bomb, code named Little Boy, is shipped to the tropical island of Tinian in the Marianas. While trying to arm the bomb, Matt's hand accidentally touches hazardous material and he dies the next day. At 3:45 AM, Colonel Paul Tibbets lifts his B-29 bomber, Enola Gay (after his mother) off the runway. The flight to their target, the important japanese manufacturing city of Hiroshima, goes without a hitch until black puffs of anti-aircraft fire fill the sky. The nuke is released from the plane at a little past 8:15. Most of Hiroshima (along with thousands of people) are immediately vaporized. After the plane arrives back on Tinian, one of the officers involved in the mission flies back to america in order to inform Matt's wife (Beverly Taylor) about his death. He says he may have died, but he prevented an explosion that would have killed 40 thousand americans on Tinian by disarming the bomb after it was accidentally armed too early. I've heard many people say that this movie isn't that good, but I only agree with this halfway. Because I've always liked ww2 related things, I was able to instantly get right into the story of this film, which may or may not be a good thing. On one hand it allowed me to know what's going on more easily, but it also made the story kind of mundane because I've seen this all before. The love story is kind of dumb and didn't really belong in a film like this, but it seems like it was slapped in because the average person wouldn't care otherwise. I thought some of the scientists casually referring to Oppenheimer as "Oppie" was pretty ridiculous, but a more glaring mistake is shown towards the end of the film when the Enola Gay is closing in on Hiroshima. It clearly shows the plane is being shot at, when in reality, the bomber (and the second plane sent to record footage) weren't intercepted whatsoever. Surprisingly, Oppenheimer himself didn't really like the characters in this movie, which I think is understandable. They're flat and don't change much, and even if they did, their importance is outmatched by the urgency of developing a nuke. However, a number of actors on the Enola Gay itself were actual world war 2 vets. During the scene that has Oppenheimer detonate the Trinity bomb, the explosive device (Gadget as it was called) looks absolutely nothing like the way it did in real life. The one in the film just looks like a generic bomb, when the real version was round. I guess they couldn't make an exact replica of it for movies yet because this was still confidential information. Overall, this movie might have a lot of mistakes in regards to history, but it serves as an important reminder about how dreadful nukes are and how we should hope to never see another war where they are used.
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