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Dunkirk

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SteveFTM said:
For the umpteenth time, yes obviously the visuals and audio are going to be fantastic on a big screen, but that won't alter the actual script or storyline to the movie. Watch the old B&W version of Dunkirk with John Mills etc, there's no multi million dollar visual effects or state of the art audio but it does convey the importance of the evacuation of Dunkirk. The evacuation was every bit as important as the Battle of Britain. Had Britain lost those 350,000 troops on the beaches we would have almost certainly have lost the war. Those men could not have been replaced and a defeat like that would have ended everything, the outcome doesn't bear thinking about. In this movie you get to see the colossal challenges that both Army and Navy experienced as well as the courage and fortitude of those civilians who plied their way into dangerous waters to help rescue the troops stranded on the beach, these civilians risked life and limb to come to the rescue. Many of these old war movies that were made shortly after the war have a gritty depth and realism, probably because most of the actors actually took part in the war itself, they could salute, march and handle weapons because many had done it for real.

As one film critic said about the Dunkirk 2017 movie,

I should love this film. Historical drama? WWII setting? My favourite director Christopher Nolan? Amazing cinematography? Superb performances from an ensemble cast? All of these elements made me sure I would love this going in. But, Dunkirk's lack of emotional connection severely detracts from the awe-inspiring scope and technical prowess displayed.

If I reviewed based on visuals alone, this is a slam-dunk, walk-off home run of a 5-star film. While a focus on grandeur and situation over character depth and emotion may work for some (it obviously worked for 98% of critics on Rotten Tomatoes), it did not work for this critic.

This is without a doubt a cinematic achievement, but without an emotional core, it's impossible for this film not to feel cold and empty. Despite being a technical masterpiece, this is Christopher Nolan's most disappointing film yet.

I'm with @hank williams on this one, much prefer the original version.
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IRO the bit i bolded - hardly

every man rescued at Dunkirk was a bonus to be sure, but there was always a sizeable number of troops in England in the summer of 1940 that had never set foot on the continent

if anything the rescue of such a sizeable number of troops had a detrimental effect on the british war machine. because they left all their kit behind they all needed to be rearmed and re-equipped and because of this all the new kit and equipment developments were postponed in favour of continuing with existing systems (which were subpar in 1940, and only got worse relative to the opposition in 41)

oh, and btw - English Channel made us immune from the unmentionable Sea Mammal - if it was so easy to get hundreds of thousands of troops across the channel then the Dunkirk evac would have been a cakewalk
 
Dunkirk 6/10 - Really disappointed

+ good opening scene until he reaches beach
+ Spitfire scenes (apart from ridiculous ending scene)
+ cinematography

- scale downplayed massively
- no character development / attachment to characters
- incredibly dull first hour
- bloodless / disney like war scenes on the beach
- over reliance on hans zimmer score / facial expressions
- dialogue extremely poor uncharacteristically for Nolan
 
philontour said:
Dunkirk 6/10 - Really disappointed

+ good opening scene until he reaches beach
+ Spitfire scenes (apart from ridiculous ending scene)
+ cinematography

- scale downplayed massively
- no character development / attachment to characters
- incredibly dull first hour
- bloodless / disney like war scenes on the beach
- over reliance on hans zimmer score / facial expressions
- dialogue extremely poor uncharacteristically for Nolan
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Agreed with all of this, apart from I gave it a generous 7.5/10 due to it looking and sounding mint.
 
Finally got to the iMax to see it. Not much dialogue, not much blood and gore, no one shouting 'go go go'. I loved it.

The Spitfires flying, Mark Rylance and Tom Hardy the handsome bastard were the highlights. The music/score whatever you want to call it was fantastic. The Jerusalem/Chariots of Fire-ish thing at the end when the Spitfire landed had me all of a goosebump
 
foggy said:
Finally got to the iMax to see it. Not much dialogue, not much blood and gore, no one shouting 'go go go'. I loved it.

The Spitfires flying, Mark Rylance and Tom Hardy the handsome bastard were the highlights. The music/score whatever you want to call it was fantastic. The Jerusalem/Chariots of Fire-ish thing at the end when the Spitfire landed had me all of a goosebump
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yeah, saw it again last night and focused on the score. I'll admit that I missed the pocket watch tick-tick bit first time round but it REALLY adds to the aural occasion. Loved it, I reckon Zimmer will get an Oscar, like.
 
TIMMY said:
A review from someone that really knows, a true hero

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Humbling interview, I think my generation just can't comprehend the idea of war and loss on that scale. One day you're with your pals, the next half of them are gone forever.

I've been listening to Anthony Beevor's "The Second World War", which by the way is excellent and I'd heartily recommend to anyone with an interest in WW2, and the extent of casualties is just insane. The Soviets, for example, suffered almost 500,000 killed or missing just taking back Stalingrad. Half a million men in one battle.
 
Mr Granda was a Stoker First Class on convoy escorts in the Atlantic.

He used to laugh at us if we mentioned we'd seen a scary film or TV show.

He reckoned the scariest thing in the world was hearing the return 'ping' from the Sonar which meant they'd located a U-boat, but also that the U-boat knew they'd been located. If it decided to fight back rather than run and hide, he and his mates in the Engine room knew they had little or no chance of getting out in time if a torpedo hit them.
 
its funny, that quote for the review is interesting...

SteveFTM said:
But, Dunkirk's lack of emotional connection severely detracts from the awe-inspiring scope and technical prowess displayed.
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i said something similar when i left the pictures, although its didnt severely detract from the movie as a whole for me... it was the bit...

where the boy dies on the little boat, i was like meh - i wasnt emotionally moved when they said he died or at the end where he gets the hero's mention in the paper...

i put it down to the fact that the films timeline & various strands meant the camera's gaze didnt rest on anyone long enough for you to get attached to them.
 
I was a little disappointed. It wasn't the Epic it was billed as.

It failed to portray the scale, the horror and the tenseness of being surrounded on three sides and waiting to be picked off by Heinkels and Messerschmitts. Were ze German ground forces even there?

Could have been so much better. 6/10.
 
errant said:
its funny, that quote for the review is interesting...



i said something similar when i left the pictures, although its didnt severely detract from the movie as a whole for me... it was the bit...

where the boy dies on the little boat, i was like meh - i wasnt emotionally moved when they said he died or at the end where he gets the hero's mention in the paper...

i put it down to the fact that the films timeline & various strands meant the camera's gaze didnt rest on anyone long enough for you to get attached to them.
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Felt exactly the same at that bit.
 
Bob Fleming said:
I was a little disappointed. It wasn't the Epic it was billed as.

It failed to portray the scale, the horror and the tenseness of being surrounded on three sides and waiting to be picked off by Heinkels and Messerschmitts. Were ze German ground forces even there?

Could have been so much better. 6/10.
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thats cos the film focused on the evac off the beach, not the actual defence of the town itself

saying that, although you dont really see them who do you think was doing the shooting at the start??
 
Scotty said:
thats cos the film focused on the evac off the beach, not the actual defence of the town itself

saying that, although you dont really see them who do you think was doing the shooting at the start??
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Oh I dunno? Dads army?

After that though and then the grounded boat there was no sense of the impending capitulation if they didn't get off the beach.
 
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