“The scene where the bomb dropped was crazy. Seeing the special effects for it was insane, even haunting honesty,” WCU student Andrew Perez said after seeing the Oppenheimer at the UC Theater. Perez was one of 50 students that attended the second screening of the movie on Dec. 2.
The newest Christopher Nolan film Oppenheimer was a box-office hit among the students and the community. Over a 100 people attended the three shows.
Starring Cillian Murphy as the titular character, J. Robert Oppenheimer, this epic biopic tells the story of how Oppenheimer became the “father of the atomic bomb” for his role in the Manhattan Project, a covert World War II operation that produced the first nuclear weapons.
The film premiered in the Summer among both critical and commercial success, receiving a 93% based on 481 Critics on Rotten Tomatoes and grossing a total of $952.6 million worldwide, making it the third-highest-grossing film of 2023 behind The Super Mario Bros. Movie and Barbie.
WCU Last Minute Productions, a student-lead programming team in the Department of Campus Activities, purchases the rights to show and organize the Movie Night. Coleman Leopard, Associate Director for Campus Programs, talks about how they got Oppenheimer to WCU and why they chose the film.
“Oppenheimer was originally supposed to be shown early in the semester, when the film was still at its height, but due to some licensing issues, the film distributor pushed back the release date. So, we had to delay the release to Dec. 1.” Leopard said. “We chose Oppenheimer because we ran some polls and it was a continued theme and selection amongst our students, along with the popularity of Barbie and the memes they both generated. We thought it resonated with our students”
WCU Students were allowed free admission with their cat card and local residents were able to purchase a $6 ticket. Attendees also received free concessions like popcorn, chocolates and soft-drinks.
After each showing, the film left an impression on many students who vocally expressed their praise as they left the theater. A few attendees spoke about how they felt about the film overall.
“I thought that the movie was amazing,” said Perez. “The cinematography was awesome. The acting was really good. I really loved the special effects, the score was brilliant and haunting, and overall, it was a 10/10 experience.”
Other students like Jacob Scruggs and Natalie Perks liked the movie but did not appreciate the length of the movie.
“I thought it was good. It was pretty long but very cinematic,” Parks said.
For information regarding upcoming Movie Nights, visit WCU Engage.
