Support NeoGAF

[SCULLIBUNDO]

except for 2 moments in Interstellar what else is there?

I think it's becoming a meme.

Not at all. It actually all started with Inception's Polyester Carpet scene where nobody knew what the fuck Watanabe was saying because of the mix.

Then came TDKR where the initial Preview events of the plane scene had nobody able to understand a fucking thing Tom Hardy said - which resulted in Nolan incorporating some of the worst ADR / sound mixing ever by "fixing" it in a way where Hardy's dialogue sounded completely disconnected from the environment he was in. Theatres had to post notices outside the cinemas explaining that there was nothing wrong with their audio, that it was the film's sound mix.

Then Interstellar had Zimmer's (admittedly incredible) score drown out dialogue so many times that theatres ended up having to do the exact same thing to the point that all the trades started reporting on it in preview screenings. You couldn't hear a damn thing My Cocaine was saying as he died because the mix was so poor - favouring Zimmer's booming soundtrack.

And now you have quite a bit of the same in Dunkirk. If it's a meme, it's one that Nolan keeps perpetuating himself.

 

[thoseAREmySHOES]

Just got back from my standard IMAX showing. Fantastic overall. Soundtrack was GLORIOUS.

Two things though, I'll spoiler tag them both separately, the first is very minor, the second is big though.

Spoiler

1) The only scene that looked visually bad was a brief one when Tom Hardy's propeller stopped working and he opens the cockpit and then closed it. The shot of his whole plane with the mainland in the background looked obviously CGI. Seemed weird that they included it.

Spoiler

2) I don't understand Tom Hardy's character's ending. Was it just for dramatic effect that he didn't just land within the perimeter and chose to land in German occupied territory?

 

[MonkeyKing]

Why would you take your children to watch this, dude?

....because I like taking my kids to see awesome films? AFAIK, the movie isn't hyper violent, sexual or profane. It appears to be very loud and tense. But if there is something in the film that you think would be inappropriate for children, please say so.

 

[MagicWithEarvin]

IMAX 70MM.

Audio and cinematography are splendid - wouldn't be surprised if Dunkirk is able to grab those Oscars.

Aside from that, I think this is a bottom-tier Nolan film. I'll echo some of the sentiments here, the movie would've benefited from an R-rating. Some of the scenes just took me out of the moment, whereas some blood and gore could've elevated the aftermath of certain scenes playing out.

 

[Choabac]

Then Interstellar had Zimmer's (admittedly incredible) score drown out dialogue so many times that theatres ended up having to do the exact same thing to the point that all the trades started reporting on it in preview screenings. You couldn't hear a damn thing My Cocaine was saying as he died because the mix was so poor - favouring Zimmer's booming soundtrack.

Cocaine is a hell of a drug.

Spoiler

I don't understand Tom Hardy's character's ending. Was it just for dramatic effect that he didn't just land within the perimeter and chose to land in German occupied territory?

Spoiler

Yeah I didn't get why he didn't bail out on the beach. I guess he had limited control of his aircraft and had to glide it down towards the German frontline. We had a shot of him considering bailing but he thought better of it. Ejecting may of had a low chance of survival back then?

....because I like taking my kids to see awesome films? AFAIK, the movie isn't hyper violent, sexual or profane. It appears to be very loud and tense. But if there is something in the film that you think would be inappropriate for children, please say so.

It's not hyper violent, no blood or gore but the deaths are still disturbing. Your imagination fills in the gaps. Your kids might be disturbed by it.

 

[MiamiWesker]

Saw it in real IMAX, I felt I was back in VR it's so big. Visually amazing, will probably win lots of technical awards. But this was just an interesting experience.

I feel like it's a movie built on the exciting third act without any of the character building the start of a movie is supposed to have. Tension is great but it's better when you are invested in characters.

Also not rated R was an issue. I can't feel the horrors of war when an explosion goes off and there is no blood. Dead people on the ground looked like extras sleeping.

 

[duckroll]

I think Dunkirk is a great film to take kids to as long as they are old enough to appreciate the experience and they don't have issues with intense audio cues and overall anxiety over a long and intense movie. It's a brisk 100 minutes or so, there is no gore, there's a single vulgarity, and there are lots of educational narrative points hammered home by an old guy who exists as Nolan's thematic and historical factoid mouthpiece. In fact, it might be even more enjoyable for children from 10-18 who are interested in WW2 stuff than it is for adults imo!

 

[Dahbomb]

When the first gun shot is heard in the movie, I was legit shook.

The difference between that gun shot and the millions of gun shots in every other movie I have seen since probably Heat in the 90s... is staggering.

 

[FeD.nL]

Was that Michael Caine voicing the squadron leader?

 

[frogger]

I saw it in Imax , a bit disappointed, was hoping for saving private Ryan or enemy at gate type of movie. It is not bad, but this is depicting the boring part of war. Lack of blood is rather lame for war movie. Leapfrog timeline is confusing and unnecessary.

 

[More_Badass]

I saw it in Imax , a bit disappointed, was hoping for saving private Ryan or enemy at gate type of movie. It is not bad, but this is depicting the boring part of war. Lack of blood is rather lame for war movie. Leapfrog timeline is confusing and unnecessary.

Why would you expect that from a movie about Dunkirk?

 

[Shalashaska]

Was that Michael Caine voicing the squadron leader?

Yep

 

[Guerrillas in the Mist]

Kinda surprised by the negative reactions - this was every bit as good as I hoped it would be.

This is the first film that I feel "needs" to be seen in a cinema since Master and Commander. I am a big fan of "show, don't tell" filmmaking though.

Spoiler

The scene where Tom Hardy swings round to take out the bomber, despite it meaning he won't make it back home - is a great example of this. You get that entirely from his eyes.

 

[Shalashaska]

Quite the swing of emotions on this one for me.

When I initially heard the concept I wasn't really feeling it, I wanted an Inception/Interstellar type of movie, though I can understand Nolan doing something completely different.

Then with the positive review buzz I got really excited.

Now having seen it, while it wasn't by any means a bad movie, I think I appreciated the spectacle and that's about it. There's not much to the plot and again it was really hard to understand a bunch of the dialogue. Saw it in 70mm IMAX which was fantastic but I have virtually no desire to see it again, especially if I'm not seeing it on a big screen. That's a first for me for one of Nolan's movies since Insomnia (which again, isn't a bad movie but seeing that one once is good for me).

I can't wait for the soundtrack though.

 

[sarcastor]

$150 million budget. Did Nolan build ships for the movie? or does 70mm film cost a lot?

I mean there were no expensive actors or an abundance of CGI

p.s. that clock ticking sound was fucking amazing. Made me nervous for no reason.

 

[Guerrillas in the Mist]

$150 million budget. Did Nolan build ships for the movie? or does 70mm film cost a lot?

I mean there were no expensive actors or an abundance of CGI

p.s. that clock ticking sound was fucking amazing. Made me nervous for no reason.

I think I read somewhere that anything to do with water always ups the budget substantially.

You also need to factor in the £20 million directors fee. Nolan got paid

Spoiler

and deservedly so.

 

[TAJ]

I've heard the words "no characters" used to describe this by too many people. Some of them liked it but to me that's just death. Maybe I'll catch it on Netflix.

 

[Vault Dweller 111]

Surprised Gaf doesn't like it more. I wonder if people had something different in mind than what they got, or if they just weren't jiving with what the movie was.

 

[WriterGK]

I think I read somewhere that anything to do with water always ups the budget substantially.

You also need to factor in the £20 million directors fee. Nolan got paid

Spoiler

and deservedly so.

Yeah indeed mate. And he is getting 20% of the profit

 

[Neith]

IMAX 70MM.

Audio and cinematography are splendid - wouldn't be surprised if Dunkirk is able to grab those Oscars.

Aside from that, I think this is a bottom-tier Nolan film. I'll echo some of the sentiments here, the movie would've benefited from an R-rating. Some of the scenes just took me out of the moment, whereas some blood and gore could've elevated the aftermath of certain scenes playing out.

Wait, there is no blood and gore at all?

So if I had the choice to see Hacksaw at home or this on 70mm what should I do?

 

[Vault Dweller 111]

Wait, there is no blood and gore at all?

So if I had the choice to see Hacksaw at home or this on 70mm what should I do?

This movie is way better. And I really like Hacksaw

 

[Guerrillas in the Mist]

Wait, there is no blood and gore at all?

So if I had the choice to see Hacksaw at home or this on 70mm what should I do?

This is much, much better than Hacksaw. And if you can see this in 70mm...

 

[ffejeromdiks]

I've heard the words "no characters" used to describe this by too many people. Some of them liked it but to me that's just death. Maybe I'll catch it on Netflix.

The movie is almost completely without dialogue, you learn enough about the characters through their actions. It's refreshing to not just have a character regurgitate who they are and what they believe in like most modern movies, it's unnecessary in a film like this.

I mean if you wanna skip it, you do you, but this is one of those "You have to see this in a movie theater" type flicks easily. I would be pretty goddamn bummed if I ended up watching this for the first time on a television.

 

[TAJ]

The movie is almost completely without dialogue, you learn enough about the characters through their actions. It's refreshing to not just have a character regurgitate who they are and what they believe in like most modern movies, it's unnecessary in a film like this.

I mean if you wanna skip it, you do you, but this is one of those "You have to see this in a movie theater" type flicks easily. I would be pretty goddamn bummed if I ended up watching this for the first time on a television.

So scratch the Netflix part. Got it.

 

[Vault Dweller 111]

The movie is almost completely without dialogue, you learn enough about the characters through their actions. It's refreshing to not just have a character regurgitate who they are and what they believe in like most modern movies, it's unnecessary in a film like this.

I mean if you wanna skip it, you do you, but this is one of those "You have to see this in a movie theater" type flicks easily. I would be pretty goddamn bummed if I ended up watching this for the first time on a television.

LTTP threads after home release when people watch on a 25 inch monitor are going to be rough.

If anyone has any interest whatsoever then they owe it to themselves to get to the best theater possible to watch this.

 

[AdventureRacing]

I've heard the words "no characters" used to describe this by too many people. Some of them liked it but to me that's just death. Maybe I'll catch it on Netflix.

Maybe it's just because I go to the cinema so often but this type of post doesn't really resonate with me. Going to the movies is pretty cheap and not all that time consuming. I'm not so limited in how often I go to the movies that I would avoid one based on a handful of reviews. Why not see it yourself and give it a try?

For a movie that is widely described as a must see on the big screen it seems pointless waiting for Netflix. If you're not interested in seeing this on he big screen I'm not sure why you'd be interested in seeing it on the small screen.

 

[TAD]

Wait, there is no blood and gore at all?

So if I had the choice to see Hacksaw at home or this on 70mm what should I do?

There's probably 4 or 5 scenes in Dunkirk where people actually get shot or blown up and almost all of the scenes serve a different dramatic purpose than just showing "the horror of war!" but there's plenty of scenes that DO give you that feeling, any scene involving a sinking ship for example, and I don't see how blood and gore would enhance that.

 

[Herne]

Saw it in IMAX and it was great. The audio was magnitudes better than the visuals. I was surprised to see so many kids coming out of the film with their parents when I was in the queue but yeah, there's no real gore or anything.

It's a hell of an experience. Btw, does anyone know what happened to the

Spoiler

French guy? I didn't see him after that scene in the boat. He was probably in the water and may have been picked up but I honestly didn't see him after.

 

[DecoReturns]

Saw it in IMAX and it was great. The audio was magnitudes better than the visuals. I was surprised to see so many kids coming out of the film with their parents when I was in the queue but yeah, there's no real gore or anything.

It's a hell of an experience. Btw, does anyone know what happened to the

Spoiler

French guy? I didn't see him after that scene in the boat. He was probably in the water and may have been picked up but I honestly didn't see him after.

Spoiler

drowned

 

[DirtRiver]

Saw it in IMAX and it was great. The audio was magnitudes better than the visuals. I was surprised to see so many kids coming out of the film with their parents when I was in the queue but yeah, there's no real gore or anything.

It's a hell of an experience. Btw, does anyone know what happened to the

Spoiler

French guy? I didn't see him after that scene in the boat. He was probably in the water and may have been picked up but I honestly didn't see him after.

Spoiler

He died when the boat was taking on water, there's a shot of him attempting to reach the later but never being able to. It ends with just us being able to see his hand and arm go limp, if that refreshes your memory.

 

[Kain-Nosgoth]

LTTP threads after home release when people watch on a 25 inch monitor are going to be rough.

If anyone has any interest whatsoever then they owe it to themselves to get to the best theater possible to watch this.

watched it on a normal theater, loved it.... i won't make a 2 hours trip just to see it in 70mm

EDIT : okay, the IMAX i have at two hours can't even show 70mm movies... so yeah, even if i wanted i couldn't watch it...

there's only 125 theater in the world who can show it in 70mm, that's crazy

 

[Vault Dweller 111]

watched it on a normal theater, loved it.... i won't make a 2 hours trip just to see it in 70mm

Within reason of course. Not telling everyone to make a cross country trip.

Glad you liked it!

 

[lastplayed]

I saw it on a normal screen, although it's the biggest in the city! Still loved it, and I've never really been a Nolan fan.

 

[Herne]

Spoiler

drowned

Spoiler

He died when the boat was taking on water, there's a shot of him attempting to reach the later but never being able to. It ends with just us being able to see his hand and arm go limp, if that refreshes your memory.

Ah yes, I vividly remember that part, I didn't know that was him, though. Kinda hard to see.

Speaking of the French, this film really ignored them to a large extent (as I knew it would).

Spoiler

Those five soldiers at the start by the sandbags are all that kept the Germans from getting onto the beach easily through that spot? Bullshit. There's nothing of the thousands of outnumbered French troops desperately fighting to try and hold the Germans off for as long as possible with outdated equipment to get the British out, just a quick mention of how they were barely holding them a few miles away. This was an extremely British film, probably because it's easier to have an audience identify and sympathise with people they share a language with.

However, on the other hand, the focus is very tight on only the three stories it wants to tell, in the narrow focus they've chosen, and isn't about the war or even battle as a whole, so you could argue there's not much point to doing so. Still, while it's showing the British guys being brave in the face of danger it's a bit shit to ignore the soldiers fighting so close by to ensure their allies managed to make it home.

 

[Arttemis]

There's not a single IMAX 70mm film projector in Florida. The closest is in northern GA!!

I still have to drive 2 hours just to get to either an IMAX digital or a non-IMAX 70mm film theater. I'm pulling toward film because of it being what the director wants, but if I kinda want that giant view.

 

[Cooter]

I've heard the words "no characters" used to describe this by too many people. Some of them liked it but to me that's just death. Maybe I'll catch it on Netflix.

There are characters but they barely speak and you know little about them but their basic intentions. I wasn't invested in any character whatsoever. I'm shocked at how little I enjoyed this film. I went in with so much excitement but about 30 minutes in I was bored. The movie is beautiful and well made but provided me little entertainment.

 

[Angel_DvA]

Why would you expect that from a movie about Dunkirk?

Lack of education + Call of Duty war is always cool, fuck Nolan for not putting blue skin on British weapons...

 

[Protome]

Saw this last night, it was a really good, really well made and really pretty war movie that didn't really do anything new but it did it well.

Spoiler

Yeah I didn't get why he didn't bail out on the beach. I guess he had limited control of his aircraft and had to glide it down towards the German frontline. We had a shot of him considering bailing but he thought better of it. Ejecting may of had a low chance of survival back then?

My impression was

Spoiler

he didn't want to or couldn't parachute for whatever reason and couldn't land on the beach because everyone was evacuating on it. Couldn't ditch in the water because again it was full of boats evacuating.

 

[Bad_Boy]

Should i see this in 4d or nah?

 

[Lima]

Should i see this in 4d or nah?

Yes travel back in time and be on that beach.
I think that's the only way to get a more intense experience than watching this in 70mm IMAX.

 

[Bad_Boy]

Yes travel back in time and be on that beach.
I think that's the only way to get a more intense experience than watching this in 70mm IMAX.

Well.. 4DX i mean lol.

Im in south korea but im pretty sure they have them in america now.

 

[Lima]

Well.. 4DX i mean lol.

Im in south korea but im pretty sure they have them in america now.

If they have someone throw sand in your face, I'd say go for it.

Then again I read an article that they recently opened the biggest IMAX screen in Seoul so I'd probably go for that.

 

[Paz]

What a film.

Blew away any expectations I had, one of the few instances where think less of folks when I read people being down on it for lacking typical hollywood war movie action.

Most intense 100 minutes I can remember at the Cinema and maybe Hans Zimmer's best work with regards to audio being a huge part of the emotional connection with the film.

 

[Bad_Boy]

If they have someone throw sand in your face, I'd say go for it.

Then again I read an article that they recently opened the biggest IMAX screen in Seoul so I'd probably go for that.

Oooh I'll have to look that up.

Edit: found it. Definitely gonna watch it thursday. 31 meters high!

 

[Jarmel]

Thought this was great. I don't understand the complaints about lack of characterization, this isn't that sort of movie and not every movie needs to be.

The torpedo scene was insane in how it was shot. One of Nolan's best sequences from a direction standpoint.

 

[Mr. PlayStation]

Just didn't feel the film. It's got incredible cinematography and audio design, but the soundtrack lacked the classic Zimmer Orchestral score, lacked the emotional punch from it's characters(there really wasn't a character I could root for), lacked the classic Nolan Twist, editing felt weird. Nolan is a gifted visionary film maker, who can somehow take complex concepts and sell the story to a wider audience(Prestige, Inception, Interstellar), yet I somehow just didn't get this movie. The practical effects showing the horrors of war were harrowing to watch, but it just didn't leave me satisfied when I got off after watching it. Not my favorite Nolan movie!

 

[Sane_Man]

This was the most intense film I've ever seen. I had barely any hype going into it because I generally dislike war movies, particularly all the cheesy and melodramatic tropes they usually have. This was pretty much the antithesis of what I dislike about war movies though. Zimmer's score is incredible as expected.

 

[Zousi]

Relive the tension! Zimmer's score is now on Spotify.

 

[Vault Dweller 111]

Relive the tension! Zimmer's score is now on Spotify.

Thanks! I was looking for it yesterday.

 

[Haribi]

Holy shit I hope my eardrums aren't damaged for good.
Guy next to me was holding his ears the entire Movie lol.