Oppenheimer Trailer
Transcript
This is a national emergency.
Detonator’s charged.
We’re in a race against the Nazis, and I know what it means if the Nazis have a bomb.
They have a 12-month head start.
18.
How could you possibly know that?
We’ve got one hope.
All America’s industrial might and scientific innovation connected here, a secret laboratory.
Keep everyone there until it’s done.
Let’s go recruit some scientists.
Build a town, build it fast.
If we don’t let scientists bring their families we’ll never get the best.
Why would we go to the middle of nowhere for who knows how long?
Why? Why? How about because this is the most important thing to ever happen in the history of the world.
You’re the great improviser but this…
You can’t do in your head.
Are we saying there’s a chance that when we push that button, we destroy the world?
Chances are near zero.
Near zero?
What do you want from theory alone?
Zero would be nice.
This is a matter of life and death.
I can perform this miracle.
World War II would be over.
Our boys would come home.
It’s happening, isn’t it?
The world will remember this day.
Our work here will ensure a peace mankind has never seen.
Until somebody builds a bigger bomb.
You are the man who gave them the power to destroy themselves, and the world is not prepared.
Eight… Seven… Six… Five… Four… Three…
Truman needs to know what’s next.
Two…
What’s next?
One.
Vocabulary List
detonator
(noun) a device that explodes to set off another explosion
charge
(verb) to put electricity into an electrical device
head start
(noun) an advantage that someone has over others in something such as a competition or race
possibly
(adverb) in a way that is possible but not certain
might
(noun) power or strength
scientific
(adjective) relating to or based on science
improviser
(noun) someone who improvises (to invent or make something without having planned it)
matter
(noun) a situation or subject that is being dealt with or considered
ensure
(verb) to make certain that something happens
mankind
(noun) all human beings collectively
Grammar Point
1. Passive voice
The passive voice is used to emphasize the object or the receiver of an action rather than the doer of the action. It is commonly used when the doer of the action is unknown, unimportant, or when the speaker wants to focus on the recipient of the action.
In this movie trailer, there are 3 passive sentences:
Detonator’s charged.
Who charges the detonator is not emphasized or important.
Keep everyone there until it’s done.
Who does the process is not emphasized or important.
You are the man who gave them the power to destroy themselves, and the world is not prepared.
Who prepares the world is not emphasized or important.
2. Numbers as adjectives
A number and a measurement unit can form an adjective to describe a noun.
In the phrase “a 12-month head start,” “12-month” describes the noun “head start.”
Remember these rules:
– Combine the number and measurement unit using a hyphen (-)
– Use the singular form of the measurement unit
12-month head start
12-months head start (wrong)
7-day course
7-days course (wrong)
8-hour shifts
8-hours shifts (wrong)
3. Word family
All America’s industrial might and scientific innovation connected here, a secret laboratory.
(noun) science
the systematic study of the structure and behavior of the physical and natural world
(noun) scientist
someone who works or is trained in science
(adjective) scientific
about or relating to science, or using its methods
(adjective) unscientific
not based on facts or the usual scientific methods of doing something
(adverb) scientifically
in a way that relates to science, or uses the methods of science
in a careful way and using a system or method
4. Verb pattern
Let’s go recruit some scientists.
In spoken English, “go” can be used with “and” plus another verb to show purpose or to tell someone what to do.
I’ll go and answer the phone.
Go and get me a drink.
In American English, the “and” is sometimes left out.
Go get me a drink.
Go wash your hands.
This pattern is not used in past tenses.
5. Would in imagined situations
“Would” can be used as the past form of “will”, but can also be used in other contexts, including imagined situations.
In this movie trailer, 4 sentences use “would” in imagined situations.
Why would we go to the middle of nowhere for who knows how long?
The action of going to the middle of nowhere is an imagined situation, not something that already happened in the past.
Zero would be nice.
Zero chance of destroying the world is an imagined situation, not something that already happened in the past.
World War II would be over.
This is an imagined situation, not something that already happened in the past.
Our boys would come home.
This is an imagined situation, not something that already happened in the past.