Movies: Dunkirk: Christopher Nolan next movie release date July 2017

[Burner Account]

I watched this for the first time last weekend, and I think it's a very powerful war film.

Almost every World War II film ever made has been about heroic sacrifice - a guy sacrifices his own live to complete an important mission, or so his comrades can live. Everyone is selfless. The Dawson and Farrier storylines fall under this category.

But Tommy's story is about selfishness and survival instinct. He will do anything to survive, and the same goes for everyone around him. He doesn't care about the greater good, and the closest he comes to caring is while carrying a wounded soldier on a stretcher solely to increase his chances of boarding a ship and escaping Dunkirk. I think this storyline is an important take on war. It doesn't glorify it. It shows the brutal reality.

 

[Jumptheshark]

a few days ago I was up in Gloucester doing some sight seeing and went on a river tour--the boat was nothing out of the ordinary till it was pointed out it was one of the boats that was used in the Dunkirk evac.

 

[bambamcam4ever]

I watched this for the first time last weekend, and I think it's a very powerful war film.

Almost every World War II film ever made has been about heroic sacrifice - a guy sacrifices his own live to complete an important mission, or so his comrades can live. Everyone is selfless. The Dawson and Farrier storylines fall under this category.

But Tommy's story is about selfishness and survival instinct. He will do anything to survive, and the same goes for everyone around him. He doesn't care about the greater good, and the closest he comes to caring is while carrying a wounded soldier on a stretcher solely to increase his chances of boarding a ship and escaping Dunkirk. I think this storyline is an important take on war. It doesn't glorify it. It shows the brutal reality.

What stood out to me was how it captured how it feels to be in war (the fear/anxiety) vs. just what it looks like

 

[Blender]

What stood out to me was how it captured how it feels to be in war (the fear/anxiety) vs. just what it looks like

The film really portrays a sense of fear/anxiety and helplessness in a masterful way.

 

[montreal]

just watched it the other day, bit of a war movie buff so I've seen most of them. Maybe because it was on tv and not in the theater but didn't care for it too much, was ok but don't think I would watch it again.

 

[Surrounded By Ahos]

The film really portrays a sense of fear/anxiety and helplessness in a masterful way.

Absolutely. Dunkirk wasn’t a war movie, it was a horror movie, and the best one I’ve seen in years.

 

[Mr Fahrenheit]

One thing I didnt like about the movie was it didnt really convey the impending threat from the advancing German army. The only real threat we felt was from the air and sea so it felt more like it was just about surviving the trip to England as opposed to getting on a damn boat before Dunkirk was over run

 

[Blender]

One thing I didnt like about the movie was it didnt really convey the impending threat from the advancing German army. The only real threat we felt was from the air and sea so it felt more like it was just about surviving the trip to England as opposed to getting on a damn boat before Dunkirk was over run

That's because in real life the panzer divisions were ordered to halt, and by the time they started advancing again the evacuation was underway and a defense had been set up to delay them.

 

[Osprey]

One thing I didnt like about the movie was it didnt really convey the impending threat from the advancing German army. The only real threat we felt was from the air and sea so it felt more like it was just about surviving the trip to England as opposed to getting on a damn boat before Dunkirk was over run

I felt the same way. It seems to me like a big missed opportunity--a failure, even--to take an event like Dunkirk and not sufficiently convey the threat or the stakes. Those were somewhat established in the opening text and scene (with the drop pamphlets), but we really didn't hear much of anything about the Germans after that. I expected more of an edge-of-your-seat affair, where you really felt the stakes and the odds, but it was surprisingly reserved for a war film. I admire Nolan's attempt at making a more artistic war film in which dialogue is at a minimum, and maybe he was trying to portray the British character of never panicking ("Keep Calm and Carry On"), which I would also admire, but it didn't make for as compelling of a film as I, personally, expected, given the event.

 

[Mr Fahrenheit]

That's because in real life the panzer divisions were ordered to halt, and by the time they started advancing again the evacuation was underway and a defense had been set up to delay them.

Yes, they mention the tanks were stopped but the movie felt like the navy vessels could make as many trips as it wanted as long as they didnt sink

 

[RobBrown4PM]

It's a better artistic movie. As a war movie it's meh.

Das Boot
A Bridge to far
Stalingrad
The Longest Day

Are the epitome of war/anti-war movies

Dunkirk falls into the same category as Come and see, graphic, dark, mysterious, artsy and deeply psychological.

 

[Siamese Dream]

One thing I didnt like about the movie was it didnt really convey the impending threat from the advancing German army. The only real threat we felt was from the air and sea so it felt more like it was just about surviving the trip to England as opposed to getting on a damn boat before Dunkirk was over run

This is exactly how I felt when I saw it.

I'm not very old but I grew up watching all the old classics from long before I was born, and I couldn't help feeling that if this movie had been made in the same era as The Longest Day/A Bridge Too Far it would've been a 3 hour classic with an ensemble cast, showing things from the POV of both the Germans and the Allies, from the big name Generals down to the everyday relatable grunts. The only classic BBC actor in it was Kenneth Branagh and he wasn't really utilised very well.

There was really no sense of scale at all, it just seemed like a few blokes trying to get off a beach and Tom Hardy shooting down some planes

 

[Blender]

This is exactly how I felt when I saw it.

I'm not very old but I grew up watching all the old classics from long before I was born, and I couldn't help feeling that if this movie had been made in the same era as The Longest Day/A Bridge Too Far it would've been a 3 hour classic with an ensemble cast, showing things from the POV of both the Germans and the Allies, from the big name Generals down to the everyday relatable grunts. The only classic BBC actor in it was Kenneth Branagh and he wasn't really utilised very well.

There was really no sense of scale at all, it just seemed like a few blokes trying to get off a beach and Tom Hardy shooting down some planes

That's literally the scale he was going for, not an epic war move like you described (which are great as well, but a different type of movie). It was supposed to be a tight focus and representation of your average soldier just trying to survive and get off the beach, your average RAF pilot trying to defend the evacuation from the Luftwaffe, and your average civilian risking their life to help rescue the soldiers.

 

[Arizonan God]

Still my second favourite Nolan film. Just so masterfully directed.

 

[Osprey]

That's literally the scale he was going for, not an epic war move like you described (which are great as well, but a different type of movie). It was supposed to be a tight focus and representation of your average soldier just trying to survive and get off the beach, your average RAF pilot trying to defend the evacuation from the Luftwaffe, and your average civilian risking their life to help rescue the soldiers.

Saving Private Ryan was tightly focused and lacked a sense of scale. Completely the opposite of The Longest Day, it was not an epic war film--it was more of a personal one, like Nolan was going for--yet was still intense and conveyed the odds. It's possible to be personal and gripping at the same time. Another classic example is All Quiet on the Western Front.

 

[offkilter]

I can't remember if I ever posted this here or not, but to me Dunkirk is the epic 2 hour long story of one soldiers desperate search for a safe place to take a dump.

 

[Mr Fahrenheit]

I can't remember if I ever posted this here or not, but to me Dunkirk is the epic 2 hour long story of one soldiers desperate search for a safe place to take a dump.

This is just stupid and inaccurate

it was a hour and 40 minutes

Tops

 

[ArGarBarGar]

It's a better artistic movie. As a war movie it's meh.

Das Boot
A Bridge to far
Stalingrad
The Longest Day

Are the epitome of war/anti-war movies

Dunkirk falls into the same category as Come and see, graphic, dark, mysterious, artsy and deeply psychological.

Am I the only one who thought The Longest Day was terribly corny and had some brutal acting?

When it comes to ensemble movies A Bridge Too Far was miles better.

 

[izzy]

woulda been nice to know what happened to farrier

but i guess thats the point

 

[Blender]

woulda been nice to know what happened to farrier

but i guess thats the point

He was captured by the Germans at the end.

 

[kihei]

Am I the only one who thought The Longest Day was terribly corny and had some brutal acting?

Agree completely. There are some entertaining scenes, but otherwise the schmaltz and all the stars ostentatiously doing bit parts drew attention away from what should have been a riveting story. The Longest Day seemed to be exactly what it was: war, Hollywood style.

 

[Lights1912]

Does Life is Beautiful count as a non-American war movie? Cried my eyes out at the end of that.

I second Das Boot and Letters From Iwo Jima (check out username )

I absolutely LOVE Das Boot! The first time I saw it, the ending scenes blew me away. Here they go through all that danger at sea, then return home to their sub pen where they should have been reasonably safe, only to be killed.

 

[Lights1912]

I love this particular trailer. "When 400,000 men couldn't get HOME, HOME came for them." I got to see this in IMAX when it first came out--just an incredible film.

 

[Lights1912]

I saw this in IMAX when it came out and it was mind-blowing. My favorite scene is where Kenneth Branagh's character is looking out on the Channel through binoculars and an officer ask him what he sees. He says just one word: "Home". Then you see the Little Ships coming into view. And when you see the various crews, it's like they're saying, "Hold on, kids. We're coming to take you home". I know it didn't happen that way, but it's nice to see the "Little Ships" get their moment in the sun. I can't even imagine the courage that the civilian crews had to have to sail into that hell. There was a real risk of death--at least one hundred Little Ships out of the original 700 were sunk in the evacuation, so those few owners who sailed their own boats really were taking their lives into their own hands.