History buffs point out error in Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer

Eagle-eyed history buffs point out error in Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer blockbuster that’s commonly made in WWII movies… can YOU spot it?

• The film, directed by Christopher Nolan, has been praised by viewers and critics
• But eagle-eyed viewers spotted mistake in scenes set after WWII victory in 1945 

New film Oppenheimer has been highly praised by critics and viewers alike for its depiction of the race to produce the atom bomb. 

The production focuses on scientist Robert J Oppenheimer as he led the Manhattan Project, which ultimately built the deadly weapons that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. 

But, whilst Cillian Murphy’s star turn as the troubled physicist has been hailed, movie buffs and experts have criticised how the wrong American flag was used in the film.

Scenes depicting the celebrations after Japan’s surrender and the US victory in the Second World War show Oppenheimer being applauded by an audience wielding the flag. 

But eagle-eyed viewers pointed out the flags have 50 stars rather than 48, even though Hawaii and Alaska did not become US states until 1959.

New film Oppenheimer has been highly praised by critics and viewers alike for its depiction of the race to produce the atom bomb. But eagle-eyed viewers have criticised the production for using the current US flag – with 50 stars – in scenes set in 1945, when there were 48 states

Taking to Twitter, the popular Fake History Hunter account, which is run by historian Jo Hedwig Teeuwisse, posted a photo of the scene and said: ‘Oh dear. Spot the mistake in ‘Oppenheimer’. How sloppy’

Taking to Twitter, the popular Fake History Hunter account, which is run by historian Jo Hedwig Teeuwisse, posted a photo of the scene and said: ‘Oh dear. Spot the mistake in ‘Oppenheimer’. How sloppy.’

She added: ‘Just in case you’re not sure. The US flag changed many times, the one in the film is not the one they had during the 1940s.’

Ms Teeuwisse also pointed out how the same mistake had been made in 2019 film Jojo Rabbit, and 1977 epic A Bridge Too Far. 

TV film Restless, which stars Rufus Sewell and was released in 2012, also featured the common error. 

Other social media users also pointed out the mistake. One wrote: ‘Blooper in “Oppenheimer”. This scene, set in 1945 had 50-star flags, but Alaska and Hawaii hadn’t yet become states.’ 

Another said: ‘I’ll be that guy and complain they used 50-star flags in a scene set in 1945.’  

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt makes an address above the US flag – then featuring 49 stars – after his 1945 election victory 

The current 50-star US flag was adopted in July 1960, 11 months after Hawaii was admitted to the Union. Above: President John F Kennedy delivers a State of the Union address in front of the flag in January 1963

Other social media users also pointed out the mistake. One wrote: ‘Blooper in “Oppenheimer”. This scene, set in 1945 had 50-star flags, but Alaska and Hawaii hadn’t yet become states.’

The current 50-star US flag was adopted in July 1960, 11 months after Hawaii was admitted to the Union. 

Hawaii’s absorption into the US came seven months after Alaska became a state. 

The flag with 48 stars had been in use since 1912, after New Mexico and Arizona had become states.

After Alaska was admitted, a 49th star was added to the flag, but this was only in use for a year. 

Alaska became a state nearly a century after being bought from Russia. The US paid $7.2million for the territory in 1867.

In 1912, it became an incorporated US territory and during the Second World War the Alaskan Aleutian Islands were occupied by Japanese troops. 

Its path to statehood took decades due to opposition both in Alaska and the US Congress.  

Hawaii, which lies off the west coast of the mainland US, was annexed under President William McKinley in 1898. 

It was granted self-governance in 1900 but efforts to make it a state were frustrated for six decades before their eventual success.  

Oppenheimer is directed by Christopher Nolan and was released in cinemas last week. 

Robert J Oppenheimer, who is depicted by Cillian Murphy in Christopher Nolan’s new film, was the man who led the project that developed the atomic bomb. Above: At the test ground for the atomic bomb near Almagordo, New Mexico; Murphy as the scientist

The world’s first atomic bomb (above) was detonated in New Mexico in July 1945. In the second afterwards, Oppenheimer said: ‘I am become death, destroyer of worlds,’ as he quoted from the Hindu scriptures

A photograph of Hiroshima shortly after the bomb, Little Boy, was dropped on August 6, 1945

Rave reviews: Oppenheimer features an all-star cast and is led by Cillian Murphy

Starring alongside Murphy are Emily Blunt, Robert Downey Junior and Matt Damon. 

The world’s first atomic bomb was detonated at the now-famous Los Alamos test site in New Mexico in July 1945. 

Less than a month later, the pioneering, devastating technology was used twice in Japan, acts which ended the Second World War but took as many as 170,000 lives in the process.

Oppenheimer, who had come a long way from troubled younger days which saw him try to kill his own lecturer with a poisoned apple, felt soon afterwards that he had ‘blood on my hands’.

And he would ultimately suffer a devastating career downfall when he was wrongly claimed to have been a Communist sympathiser who passed secrets to the Soviet Union.

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