Oppenheimer Proves We Need To Bring Back Owning Movies

But what’s most impressive about Oppenheimer is how its 4K Blu-ray edition, that was just released for home viewing on November 21, has sold out faster than you can say “Trinity blast.”

As of this writing, Universal is scrambling to produce more 4K Blu-ray copies of Oppenheimer to get back on retail shelves and online markets. But if you’re willing to settle for standard Blu-ray or DVD copies of the film, there are still copies available for purchase.

It’s no mystery by now that filmmakers like Christopher Nolan and James Cameron are staunch advocates for the movie going experience.

And this is to be expected, considering how strong of an emphasis they both place on using Imax photography in their films.

So it’s only natural for Nolan to want Oppenheimer to be experienced in its purest form in home theaters rather than on streaming.

The Oppenheimer director has also stated that owning physical media is necessary these days.

The reason he’s so passionate about cinephiles outright owning copies of their favorite movies is that streaming services have proven themselves to be unreliable when it comes to preserving media.

Disney+, Paramount+, and Max have all proven to us as consumers that they’ll remove content from their platforms at the drop of a hat if they feel that if a movie isn’t a financially viable intellectual property.

Though it seems like the days of going to Best Buy to purchase a DVD or Blu-Ray are behind us, Oppenheimer’s ability to move a staggering amount of units in such a short amount of time proves that there is still a hunger for watching movies the old way.

Though consumers have mostly shifted to streaming and VOD purchases, there’s something to be said about owning high-quality video.

In Oppenheimer’s case, we’re also reminded that the feature film is just a part of the whole movie viewing experience.

Oppenheimer’s physical release has demonstrated that there’s still a viable market for supplementary archival footage, behind-the-scenes footage, commentary tracks, and cast-and-crew interviews that streaming platforms simply do not offer.

In other words, Oppenheimer may kick off the physical media renaissance that we’ve been waiting for.

As prices continue to climb for streaming services, and sudden content purges wipe out the movies and series that we signed up for in the first place, owning a DVD or Blu-ray seems like the move to make.

There’s nothing worse than throwing your money down to watch a movie only to discover that it’s no longer offered on the platform.

It may have seemed like a bold move for Christopher Nolan to end his relationship with Warner Bros. ahead of Oppenheimer’s production, but the director clearly knows what his audience wants.

Oppenheimer earned nearly $1 billion globally upon its theatrical release, and we can’t say for certain that it would have generated such an intimidating amount of box office revenue if Warner Bros. used the day-and-date business model that so many distributors have gravitated toward.

That being said, Oppenheimer is available on digital streaming platforms as of November 21. But if you want to be fully immersed in the world that Christopher Nolan created, you might want to purchase a physical copy and watch it as the director intended.