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[CoffeeExpress]

Saw this last Monday in Melbourne IMAX in the 1570 film format, was great. The sound was just crazy. Not just really loud, but really punchy as well. Very good sound design. I feel as a film this isn't Nolan's strongest.. it's just 'war' the movie and 'getting into a boat and then it sinks' the movie.

It kind of reminded me of Gravity, very well technically designed - but has more in common with a disaster movie than a thought provoking war drama. Bad things happen, hero runs away, are we safe ?, nope bad thing happens again, run away, are we safe ? lol nope etc..

Obviously it's not a disaster movie, I like to think of it more a documentary. Which I guess it is.

 

[Sec0nd]

I was expecting a lot more commentary on the entire situation. More overview, more exposition, more explaining. But the film wasn't that at all. It was an intense and thrilling film focused on a couple of individuals living through the event. I get a lot of the criticism the film gets, but I don't necessarily agree with it. It was incredibly thrilling to watch.

One point of critism I really agree with though. The film would've greatly benifited from some more CGI. Wow, that is something I would've never think I'd say. The amount of boats coming to the rescue wasn't at all convincing. From seeing the film it looks like there are some 20-30 boats coming? How the hell are they going to save some 300.000 people with so few boats? I saw someone post here that in reality there were 900 boats. Why couldn't they VFX a whole bunch of them in?

 

[ShadowKingpin]

I was expecting a lot more commentary on the entire situation. More overview, more exposition, more explaining. But the film wasn't that at all. It was an intense and thrilling film focused on a couple of individuals living through the event. I get a lot of the criticism the film gets, but I don't necessarily agree with it. It was incredibly thrilling to watch.

One point of critism I really agree with though. The film would've greatly benifited from some more CGI. Wow, that is something I would've never think I'd say. The amount of boats coming to the rescue wasn't at all convincing. From seeing the film it looks like there are some 20-30 boats coming? How the hell are they going to save some 300.000 people with so few boats? I saw someone post here that in reality there were 900 boats. Why couldn't they VFX a whole bunch of them in?

I don't know if Nolan wanted to keep all of it practical and not resort to special that much, or what. He did most of the film that way (The dogfights especially) and was probably ok with that.

 

[Fancy Clown]

I just assumed that not all the civilian boats arrived at the same time, and that not all 300,000 troops were waiting on the beach itself all at once.

 

[LegendofDragoonLives]

I don't know if Nolan wanted to keep all of it practical and not resort to special that much, or what. He did most of the film that way (The dogfights especially) and was probably ok with that.

Nolan seems to think CGI give him cooties if he uses it for some reason. I think adding a few extra boats and people on the beach would have been better for sure.

 

[JB1981]

Yeah, only theater showing it, drove all the way from East Haddam

How was the IMAX there ?

 

[LegendofDragoonLives]

The Prestige is one of those films you just have to watch again to catch all the little clues you missed the firs time around.

"We should've told Fallon!"

lmao I started rewatching it last night and it's hilarious how many clues he throws straight in our face. Legit makes me feel like a bit of a dumbass now that I know the twist. Also forgot how much he twists and messes with time.

 

[Lkr]

This is a fantastic film and is exactly what I expected it to be based on following the production. I've seen it three times in 70mm now, each viewing reveals more small details I missed the previous time

 

[BassForever]

I liked the film well enough, my issue is I dunno who I recommend this to. For people who enjoy war movies I feel like the non linear story telling and pg13 rating would hurt their enjoyment. For a general movie goer it might be too intense even without the gore. The effects and the film making were top notch, acting was strong enough for what the film needed.

I feel like the nonlinear story telling really didn't help the movie and was unnecessary. I'm not someone who hates it as a concept so lower your pitchforks, I just think dunkirk would have been better served by showing the events chronologically as best they could.

 

[ogbg]

I liked the film well enough, my issue is I dunno who I recommend this to. For people who enjoy war movies I feel like the non linear story telling and pg13 rating would hurt their enjoyment. For a general movie goer it might be too intense even without the gore. The effects and the film making were top notch, acting was strong enough for what the film needed.

I feel like the nonlinear story telling really didn't help the movie and was unnecessary. I'm not someone who hates it as a concept so lower your pitchforks, I just think dunkirk would have been better served by showing the events chronologically as best they could.

Why are you trying to second guess what others might think of the film? Are you personally responsible for your town's movie-going choices or something?

 

[Inferno313]

I thought Dunkirk was a bit dry. Not for the lack of blood or guts. I can't put my finger on it. It didn't have intensity IMO.

Man, opinions are subjective and all that, but I really really can't understand folks that felt this way.

This was one of the most intense theatrical experiences I've ever had. I was anxious as hell through the whole film.

 

[Shubh_C63]

Huh, I came out quite opposite after seeing Dunkirk. Felt like different suspense scenes from different sectors all jumbled together. But it did emphasized to me that the real main character of the movie was not a person but the conflict - which I respect.

Seeing Nolan previous work (and being a drooling fan) I sincerely thought we were gonna see some crack on the theory that Commanders of German Army wasted crucial time in taking the decision to bomb them or capture them, or people suspect that command from Hitler was delayed or was even ordered to actually let the British army escape somehow. Because I hold that Germany never really wanted to wage war on Britian right away (and being focused more on the East) and gambled that this would show up as an "live and let live" attitude towards Britian, but ofcourse this backfired as Churchil was quite the adamant opponent Hitler didn't thought he would be.

Just my crazy theory.
Overall, Sadly wasn't impressed much by Dunkirk

 

[Bruce Springsteen]

Dat score

Saw it while heavily stoned at the 70mm IMAX, amazing experience

 

[DoctorFling]

After two pretty lame films Nolan has bounced right back for me. Really great experience that played to his strengths.

 

[Vault Dweller 111]

Dat score

Saw it while heavily stoned at the 70mm IMAX, amazing experience

That's the right way to do it.

 

[WriterGK]

No. The Germans didn't take Dunkirk because of the halt order which lasted for three days. This gave the British and some French enough time to evacuate.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Dunkirk

I keep thinking about this. I get that there were running low on fuels, food and ammo. But why on earth would they do that give the enemy time to evacuate. And even if they did how can still 335.000 people out of 400.000 die?

 

[mrklaw]

People can argue they don't like the film. But I doubt anyone argue this is not an unique warmovie.

Preface : I haven’t seen this yet and am only going on what I’ve read and heard about it in impressions and reviews.

It sounds like the Gravity of war movies. Isn’t hat everyone is talking about it as a 'cinematic experience' more than for th plot or story.

Which is fine, I loved gravity and it absolutely was best experienced in a large cinema.

 

[WriterGK]

Preface : I haven't seen this yet and am only going on what I've read and heard about it in impressions and reviews.

It sounds like the Gravity of war movies. Isn't hat everyone is talking about it as a 'cinematic experience' more than for th plot or story.

Which is fine, I loved gravity and it absolutely was best experienced in a large cinema.

Yeah. But I wouldn't exactly call Gravity a war movie xD
But yes it kinda is. But my point was in the genre of war movies I think its one of a kind

 

[mrklaw]

I keep thinking about this. I get that there were running low on fuels, food and ammo. But why on earth would they do that give the enemy time to evacuate. And even if they did how can still 335.000 people out of 400.000 die?

They probably didn’t anticipate the possibility of an evacuation on that immense scale being possible in such a short amount of time. Also if the British were considering a surrender to avoid so many troops being literally slaughtered on the beaches, maybe the Germans thought it was a good move to take a pause?

Are there any stories of back channel discussions with the Germans which may have encouraged them to hold off?

 

[Raiden]

Went to see it not knowing what to expect. Had not read anything about it, just saw a teaser a year ago or so.


Took me a while till i figured the flashbacks out. I liked it alot from a technical point of view. But i feel like half the time i was figuring out what whas going on with whom.

I dont know maybe im too dumb, think ill appreciate it more with a 2nd viewing.

 

[Melon Husk]

The soundtrack was borderline experimental. LOUD NOISES add to immersion if used sparingly, but the droning and ticking kept going and going that it took me out of the movie. Much like Admiral Reaction Shot. That one last time they showed his face when luftwaffe was one too many. Tom Hardy was great though, that Nolan sure loves him. I don't mind, those dogfights were the best bits of the movie.

As is tradition with Nolan, the movie left no wiggle room for the audience's emotions. If you're not constantly terrified there's not much to the movie. I noticed this when I let my ears rest for a moment: I could appreciate the picture more when I wasn't overwhelmed by audio. Made me think that it'd be quite dull without a soundtrack. As is, I don't think I'll see it again. For a nation reeling in bregret, a patriotic war film is perfect timing, but this is not Nolan's boldest work.

7/10 at least Interstellar had cool robots

Spoiler

I don't know why, but everyone on the fishing boat looked like characters from a live-action Tintin film.

 

[Helensmith]

Film didn't grab me, felt too unstructured and clinical.

 

[Manny Calavera]

I just assumed that not all the civilian boats arrived at the same time, and that not all 300,000 troops were waiting on the beach itself all at once.

Kinda obvious actually. In my opinion the level of authenticity with the practical effects and the amount of soldiers reminded me of Lawrence of Arabia, the scale was very impressive.

 

[Manny Calavera]

This was one of the most intense theatrical experiences I've ever had. I was anxious as hell through the whole film.

I'm definitely with you there and for my surprise my wife completely agreed with me, she's a Nolan fan but doesn't usually watch war films. Still it's nice to see Dunkirk as the most highly regarded Nolan film along with The Dark Knight and Memento.

 

[4Tran]

I keep thinking about this. I get that there were running low on fuels, food and ammo. But why on earth would they do that give the enemy time to evacuate. And even if they did how can still 335.000 people out of 400.000 die?

They didn't die there. Some 340,000 soldiers were evacuated at Dunkirk. That casualty figure is for the entire Battle of France.

And the Germans didn't give the Allies time to evacuate. They were attacking from three directions, and the only one that was given a halt order was the southern force. That southern force had pushed full speed through all of Northern France, and was composed almost solely of tanks. Their artillery and supplies had to be moved by horse and their infantry had to march that entire distance, they were left behind.

The other two forces pushed towards Dunkirk the whole time without pausing. And when the Germans encountered defenders, both sides fought extremely hard. The reason why the soldiers managed to mistake wasn't some sort of miracle; it was because their allies had fought so hard to buy the time to get away. Wasn't this in the film?

They probably didn't anticipate the possibility of an evacuation on that immense scale being possible in such a short amount of time. Also if the British were considering a surrender to avoid so many troops being literally slaughtered on the beaches, maybe the Germans thought it was a good move to take a pause?

Are there any stories of back channel discussions with the Germans which may have encouraged them to hold off?

No. That never happened because it doesn't make any sense. The surest way to force an enemy surrender is to destroy their field armies.

 

[TheBowen]

Just got back from watching it.

I liked the soundtrack, acting, the different points of view and some of the tense moments but I really don't know how I feel about the film

the constant time shifts and repeating of events got slightly confusing or stale after a while, plus generally, in war films, I like to be able to know the characters so that I feel for them when they go through the struggle. The ending was top notch though

I also dont know whether i could watch it again if i tried.

 

[Gaius]

Really thought it'll be something extraordinary. Christopher Nolan, critic praise, high score on RT and IMDB - a checkbox after a checkbox, but ultimately very much of a let down.

The praise the movie's getting looks almost surreal, sort of riding of the waves of being "destined" for success. I thought it was very slow, very stale, uninspired husk of movie with a horrible soundtrack that looks like it was slapped on top after the fact of it being a movie and not a music video was forgotten.

This was the first time in my life that i saw people leaving the cinema. Certainly read about these things happening, but now actually witnessed.

Worst Nolan film by far. I would suggest buying a popcorn for home and watching Band of Brothers on Netflix. Nothing better to clench the thirst for war-fix content!

 

[Giganteus]

Finally saw it today and was not disappointed. The aerial combat scenes alone kind of made it worth seeing for me; it was the best I had ever seen in a movie and stuck with me after the movie ended.

 

[DMczaf]

Podcast interview with Nolan

http://www.mtv.com/news/podcasts/happy-sad-confused/christopher-nolan/

It’s difficult to avoid superlatives when discussing this week’s guest on “Happy Sad Confused”. Let’s just say Christopher Nolan is certainly one of, if not the most revered and successful directors working today.

In this rare conversation (this may in fact be Nolan’s first podcast), the “Inception” and “Memento” helmer talks about his early influences, from George Lucas to Ridley Scott, and what he’d have wanted to talk to Stanley Kubrick about had the two ever met.

Of course, Nolan’s new film, “Dunkirk” is discussed at length, plus talk of how the Dark Knight trilogy evolved, Nolan’s dreams of a James Bond flick, and whether he’ll ever dust off that Howard Hughes script.

Notes:

- Nolan and Hardy do the Bane voice to each other to this day (24:30 for Nolan's Bane)

- WB execs questioned if he was sure he wanted to do a "sequel-baity" Joker card reveal in Begins

- While writing the script, he got confidence from seeing Mad Max Fury Road and how it handled sustained tension and throwing the audience into a situation.

 

[Subpar Spatula]

I liked it.

My problem is I lost track of who was who when it came to the generic white soldiers.

 

[Souldriver]

It was quite the experience. Kind of like an intense amusement park ride. And for that, the movie succeeded.

But in terms of story telling, especially through the dialogue, I often groaned. What little dialogue there was, was all "perfect for trailers" cliche'd.

Spoiler

From the top of my head, pretty much all of what Mr Dawson said. All of it. It was the archetype of a composed ,conscientious, all-knowing Britishman. Every time they mentioned "home". The (handicapped ?) kid's little speech before dying. The scene where the son writes an article in the paper about the kid. The train scene with "hey, where are we?", "Hey, give me that news paper!", the blind guy handing out stuff for the survivors and the commentary that "he didn't even look at us", the beers given through the train window, the news article being read out loud, ...

Also, some of the emotional moments did not work for me.

Spoiler

The big pay-off with the little private boats arriving in Dunkirk and the music swells and everyone cheers wasn't presented in a way that I liked. Again, too sentimental, especially since that is the only (?) time where the music tries to play up the emotions instead of emersing you in the experience. The soldier committing suicide by walking into the sea is another one. And the scene where the fighter plane seemingly can glide through the sky indefinitely without fuel over the coast of France made me chuckle. It's probably because of the way that part was shown (in multiple scenes, with other scenes in between), but I think the third time they came back to the plane still floating, I was like "lol, he's still in the air".

I don't want to shit on the movie as a whole, i quite liked it. Especially the part that focus only on the young soldier(s) trying to survive are very well done and super intense. I just think that Nolan stumbles with the emotional scenes, which is a bizarre given how "documentary" like this film is presented.

Spoiler

My favorite scenes are the boys getting attacked in the village, them trying to get on board the ship with the stretcher, and them trying to get the stranded ship at sea to escape.

 

[dmshaposv]

Podcast interview with Nolan

http://www.mtv.com/news/podcasts/happy-sad-confused/christopher-nolan/



Notes:

- Nolan and Hardy do the Bane voice to each other to this day (24:30 for Nolan's Bane)

- WB execs questioned if he was sure he wanted to do a "sequel-baity" Joker card reveal in Begins

- While writing the script, he got confidence from seeing Mad Max Fury Road and how it handled sustained tension and throwing the audience into a situation.

'BEHIND YOUUU'. XD

I want a solo Bane film Nolan.

Baneposting for lyfe.

 

[Alpende]

Gonna watch it in IMAX again this Sunday with my dad. This will be the first time I'll see a movie twice in theaters. Cannot wait.

 

[mickcenary]

Really liked it. Very entertaining. Had very little exposure to any promotional/preview material; also had no prior knowledge about the Dunkirk evacuation.

What I loved:

- The unorthodox structure. It basically dropped you into what would be the final act of any other war movie.

- The sound design. Pretty fantastic all round.

- The score. Incredibly intense and suited to the movie. Dare I say it's more than half the reason why it's an enjoyable watch.

Not so much:

- I feel like it lost a lot of impact due to being very tame in the violence department. Coupled with minimal character development, it's hard to feel attached to the inherent hardship of what's going on and how dire things are.

- Similar to the above, I felt like there was a disconnect between how hopeless Nolan wanted the situation to appear, and what actually transpired. I mean, you totally forget that troops are advancing on them from the mainland. The threat boils down to the occasional bombing run, and the score feels as if it's always preempting that one HUGE attack you feel the movie's working towards, but it doesn't happen.

- The scene with the boats arriving was terribly cheesy and unrealistic considering the scale of the operation.

- Hardy's martyrdom was a bit silly and unnecessary - unless I'm missing something.

 

[Fancy Clown]

- Hardy's martyrdom was a bit silly and unnecessary - unless I'm missing something.

He wanted to patrol the beach until he was forced to land in order to protect the troops against another last minute attack and not demoralize them further since they didn't have air cover until he arrived. It also allowed him to destroy his plane and not allow it to fall into enemy hands.

 

[JB1981]

- Hardy's martyrdom was a bit silly and unnecessary - unless I'm missing something.

What do you think he should have done instead?

 

[sw26]

Saw it, enjoyed it, now I have to pencil in another rewatch of Band of Brothers.

8/10.

 

[JB1981]

Saw it, enjoyed it, now I have to pencil in another rewatch of Band of Brothers.

8/10.

Just started a rewatch of The Pacific. The series is much better than I remembered it.

 

[gatti-man]

The soundtrack was borderline experimental. LOUD NOISES add to immersion if used sparingly, but the droning and ticking kept going and going that it took me out of the movie. Much like Admiral Reaction Shot. That one last time they showed his face when luftwaffe was one too many. Tom Hardy was great though, that Nolan sure loves him. I don't mind, those dogfights were the best bits of the movie.

As is tradition with Nolan, the movie left no wiggle room for the audience's emotions. If you're not constantly terrified there's not much to the movie. I noticed this when I let my ears rest for a moment: I could appreciate the picture more when I wasn't overwhelmed by audio. Made me think that it'd be quite dull without a soundtrack. As is, I don't think I'll see it again. For a nation reeling in bregret, a patriotic war film is perfect timing, but this is not Nolan's boldest work.

7/10 at least Interstellar had cool robots

Spoiler

I don't know why, but everyone on the fishing boat looked like characters from a live-action Tintin film.

Wow, I think Dunkirk lords over Interstellar by a wide wide margin. The soundtrack was intended to bring out the building tension throughout the entire film. None of these characters had a respite from the constant pressure of death. That's the whole point of the film.

 

[TheChewyWaffles]

What a great movie. I take back everything bad I've ever said about Nolan. So many great moments in this film, and Zimmer's score is much better than expected.

 

[Khalifa Jayy]

The wife and I saw this last night in IMAX. It was properly incredible. Yeah, there were quite a few cliche moments, but the movie as a whole made for it. Can't wait to watch it again and catch those little Nolan Details.

 

[TheChewyWaffles]

Ah. Thanks.

----

Anybody got a favorite shot?

Spoiler

the plane gliding against the backdrop of the town

was pretty glorious in IMAX. That's like a North by Northwest plane chase "this is what film can do" type of shot.

----

I don't see how anyone could have trouble with the time of the sea / the air, but the mole I can absolutely see. Where are those seven days? From when Tommy gets to the beach to when he gets to England it seems like at most two and a half days pass? Was Kenneth Branagh really standing on the pier for seven days?

You favorite shot is mine. Stunning moment of great filmmaking.

 

[theepicoftyler]

I like it more reflecting back on it vs. being in the moment on it.

I might be face blind, but

Spoiler

I spent the first like 30 mins of the movie thinking that the young British soldier, his french imposter soldier friend, and the young boy who dies on the boat were all the same person at different moments in time. I swear they all looked mostly identical to me for the first bit of the movie. It had me trying to place together a weird narrative that the movie was not trying to present at all. When I look back at it outside of the bizarre lens I put over it, I like it a lot more.

 

[Imp the Dimp]

Saw this in 70MM IMAX yesterday and... I really have no idea what everyone is raving about.

For starters, it's far too clean to properly represent the realities and chaos of war. They say they're evacuating 400,000 men but everything seems so incredibly small scale you don't get a sense of that. The flotilla that comes you could be mistake for thinking there was just 20 boats. Because that's pretty much all you see on screen. A few hundred men and a few handles of boats.

Did the IMAX showing add anything extra? Not really. There wasn't any extra detail to be captured in the vast expanses of empty ocean or fairly empty beach. The soundtrack did it's best to be needlessly bombastic and tension building but the pace of the film is so slow the tension of small scenes gets dragged out for faaaaaar too long.

Quite honestly I was bored in a lot of moments, overwhelmed by the obnoxiously loud soundtrack (although they worked well for the gunfire and explosions at the start, towards the middle and the end it was just getting pointlessly loud for no reason).

The dogfights were all drawn out in my opinion, considering the lack of variety presented in them. Be forgiven for thinking they just repeated the same shots for all the variety they had.

Honestly it wasn't really what I was expecting from the trailers - and chaotic war film of evacuation. Instead it's a slower, much smaller scale film with far less action than one would assume with a lot more tension building - and a feel like if Nolan had headed more down a route of action he could have achieved something more special.

Plus, too many water shots that looked like obvious clean water tank shots, and the explosions on the beach at the start? No blood, no beach craters or scorching afterwards. Just some bodies randomly flying in the air (where no bombs actually were? unless I missed something. It made it look like landmines or something rather than stuff dropping from the sky).

It's not a bad film by any accounts, but I can't get on board with the critical acclaim it's getting. And I don't think it does the Dunkirk operations the greatest justice it could have. It was a very clean, Hollywood-ised interpretation to me.

Completely agree with his.

 

[RedRum]

This movie was a masterpiece. Coupled with the score, it's a double masterpiece. I was on the edge of my seat throughout the entire thing. I will be seeing this again tonight.

 

[HariKari]

Some issues:
- Score started to grate in some areas, rather than build tension or be good.
- Nolan isn't great at explosions or filming action, especially gunplay. That aspect wasn't good. I think I counted one instance of someone using a mounted weapon to shoot back at the enemy aircraft. Things should have been way more chaotic.
- The lack of gore seemed weird. How is a teenager going to really understand the importance of what happened anyways? Should have gone for the R rating.
- The French were nearly omitted completely despite their absolutely vital role
- The scale felt small for what actually happened
- Soldiers were very hard to single out, especially when dirty
- Audio mix was shit in parts for my IMAX theater, seems to be a recurring thing with Nolan films

Good movie overall and great concept execution with the different timelines, but I don't see how it's a masterpiece.

 

[Bumhead]

Podcast interview with Nolan

http://www.mtv.com/news/podcasts/happy-sad-confused/christopher-nolan/

Early influenced by Ridley Scott..

Nolan, come save the Alien franchise!

- The lack of gore seemed weird. How is a teenager going to really understand the importance of what happened anyways? Should have gone for the R rating.

How would a teenager not understand the importance of the event? Is this stuff no longer taught in schools? I remember learning about WW2 from before my early teens (and even before that from listening to my grandma's stories). Gore should not be the thing that makes a teenager understand this.

 

[DrBo42]

Some issues:
- The lack of gore seemed weird. How is a teenager going to really understand the importance of what happened anyways? Should have gone for the R rating.
- Soldiers were very hard to single out, especially when dirty

Lack of gore was a little odd, I agree but ultimately that's a style choice. Soldiers being hard to single out was the point IMO...

 

[True Savior]

Early influenced by Ridley Scott..

Nolan, come save the Alien franchise!

.

Teen Nolan already connecting Alien and Blade Runner. Ridley will love him.

 

[Beaniedude]

I watched it a few hours ago.

Spoiler

I feel like this movie is very well made. It's shot wonderfully, the sound design is incredible, and the editing and pacing are all great. But for me there was no real message and maybe it doesn't need one but for me there were no real themes to tie it altogether.

Maybe Nolan just wanted to tell the story of Dunkirk but I would have preferred it if it was a little more than, these are the things that happened.

That's what it was for me. There was lots of external conflict but no real internal conflict. The characters didn't really change so even though it's put together wonderfully I left feeling a bit meh on the whole thing.

What I will say was that I loved the sound design. The ticking clock being present throughout the whole movie building a sense of dread and tension was great. And then when they took it away at the end when they boarded the train highlighted that they had finally made it through the whole ordeal.
I also enjoyed the last few seconds where it cuts back from black to show the kid's face for a few seconds before ending.

Overall a well put together movie but lacking the character journey that would have elevated it for me.