A World War II expert reviews the Oppenheimer movie

Plus: Inside the lab Oppenheimer built |

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By Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer We’ve got you covered if you want to read more about the history that inspired Christopher Nolan’s summer blockbuster Oppenheimer, about J. Robert Oppenheimer, the mastermind behind the creation of the atomic bomb. My colleague Megan McCluskey details everything you need to know about Oppenheimer’s early life and his rise to fame. She also talked to the physicist’s grandson about his reaction to the movie and what it was like to grow up with the famous—and controversial—grandparent. I spoke to former TIME editor Evan Thomas, author of the book Road to Surrender, about what the film gets right and wrong about the decision to drop the bomb. And I went into the archives to find the real TIME covers depicted in the movie.

HISTORY ON TIME.COM Oppenheimer's Grandson on What the Movie Gets Right and the Scene He Would Have Changed By Megan McCluskey TIME spoke with Charles Oppenheimer about what the movie gets right about his grandfather, and the one scene he would have done differently Read More » An Atomic Bomb History Expert on the 'Terrible Moral Dilemma' in Oppenheimer By Olivia B. Waxman Author Evan Thomas on whether the U.S. could have won the war without dropping them and what he thought of the movie. Read More » Here’s How Faithfully Oppenheimer Captures Its Subject’s Real Life By Megan McCluskey What to know about how the true story of Oppenheimer's life compares to writer-director Christopher Nolan's new movie. Read More » The Real TIME Magazine Covers Featured in Oppenheimer By Olivia B. Waxman Two TIME magazine covers show up in the summer blockbuster. Here are the real stories. Read More » In the Lab Oppenheimer Built, the U.S. Is Building Nuclear Bomb Cores Again By W.J. Hennigan/Los Alamos, N.M. What to know about the effort to restart America's nuclear-weapons manufacturing program. Read More » Column: The Navajo Suffered From Nuclear Testing. Oppenheimer Doesn't Tell Our Story By Buu V. Nygren We must all recognize the continued suffering and sacrifice of the Navajo that built the atomic era, writes Buu V. Nygren. Read More » Review: Oppenheimer Dazzles With Its Epic Story of a Complicated Patriot By Stephanie Zacharek Either despite its intense craft or because of it, Christopher Nolan's 3-hour movie about the architect of the atomic bomb works. Read More » Column: Oppenheimer's Nuclear Fears Are Just as Relevant Today By Mary Robinson Christopher Nolan's new film offers a chance to reinvigorate public debate about the decades-old threat of nuclear catastrophe. Read More » The 10 Best Movies Based on a True Story By TIME Staff As chosen by TIME staff and a select group of historians Read More »

FROM THE TIME VAULT This week in 1969: Astronaut Neil Armstrong TIME The July 25, 1969, cover of TIME “Although the Apollo 11 astronauts planted an American flag on the moon, their feat was far more than a national triumph.* It was a stunning scientific and intellectual accomplishment for a creature who, in the space of a few million years—an instant in evolutionary chronology—emerged from primeval forests to hurl himself at the stars. Its eventual effect on human civilization is a matter of conjecture. But it was in any event a shining reaffirmation of the optimistic premise that whatever man imagines he can bring to pass.” Read More » This week in 1984: Vice Presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro Diana Walker The July 23, 1984, cover of TIME “Mondale's choice had broken the mold of American politics. It transformed what had been as a dull campaign grinding to a predestined conclusion into a less predictable venture already assured a place in history, whatever its outcome…The main hope of Democrats is that Ferraro will draw to the polls many women who do not ordinarily vote, convert to the Democratic cause some Republican women who doubt that their party takes them seriously and bring to Mondale's banner legions of zealous female campaign workers. Women already are a majority of the electorate; they cast 6 million more votes than men did in 1980.” Read More » This week in 1994: The Internet JAMES PORTO The July 25, 1994, cover of TIME “The Internet, for those who are still a little fuzzy about these things, is the world's largest computer network and the nearest thing to a working prototype of the information superhighway. It's actually a global network of networks that links together the large commercial computer-communications services (like CompuServe, Prodigy and America Online) as well as tens of thousands of smaller university, government and corporate networks. And it is growing faster than O.J. Simpson's legal bills.” Read More »

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