Fans think they spotted a mistake with the prop from an old scene (Picture: AP)
Oppenheimer viewers have already called out what they deemed to be a historical error in the true-story flick sweeping the box office since its release on Friday.
The epic feature film directed by Christopher Nolan brings the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer to the silver screen however eagle-eyed fans have noticed a slight error in the re-telling of the atomic bomb creator’s story.
Played by Cillian Murphy, the scene in question saw the actor take the audience back in time to 1945 and showed the titular character walking through a crowd waving hand-held American flags.
Fans were quick to spot the mistake and asked the director to take a closer look at his chosen ensemble of flags that were front and centre throughout the cinematic moment.
Held in its current version, the symbols in the shot featured 50 stars representing the now 50 states of the country.
History buffs pointed out that in 1945, America was in fact made up of only 48 states – excluding Alaska and Hawaii – and therefore a flag featuring just 48 stars was the USA’s emblem used until 1959, more than ten years after that particular scene was supposedly carried out.
They claimed the director used the wrong flags (Credits: AP)
Audience members took to Twitter to point out the potential on-screen error with one writing: ‘It was good and all, but I’ll be that guy and complain they used 50-star flags in a scene set in 1945 [sic].’
Another made a case for the wrong flag’s involvement and said: ‘Personally I think it was done intentionally, because coloured scenes were from Oppenheimer’s perspective which is his present day’s memory. That was after the 50-star flag was established [sic].’
The film told the story of the atomic bomb creator (Picture: AP)
‘They had to or modern audiences wouldn’t be able to tell what country it was. Sacrifice of accuracy for understanding [sic],’ a social media user argued for the inclusion of the modern prop.
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The film – that also stars Florence Pugh and Emily Blunt – is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J Robert Oppenheimer, written by Kai Bird and Martin J Sherwin.
Oppenheimer is available to watch in UK cinemas now.
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