Author Topic: Dunkirk  (Read 3340 times)

Offline macsporran

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Dunkirk
« on: July 31, 2017, 10:21:15 PM »
Went to see Christopher Nolan`s epic movie last week.
Holy sh*t, what a film! From the first, frighteningly loud, gunshots to the closing frames I was absolutely gripped. Best film I have seen for years, if not ever!
OK you could gripe that Tom Hardy's Spitfire glides for far too long, and you could wish they had used a little CGI to make the Buchons` noses look more like Bf109Es, but these are tiny blips in a cinematic masterpiece that happens to include some magnificent flying sequences.
See it on IMAX, it is a shattering experience.

Some of our transatlantic or European members might not know of the significance of the events portrayed. Trust me, go see for yourself.
Ten stars out of five!!!
Sandy

Offline Bluesfan

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Re: Dunkirk
« Reply #1 on: August 01, 2017, 12:14:16 AM »
Same! Terrific piece of cinema, and yes absolutely, see it in IMAX if you possibly can.

The film may compromise on certain things - the main one I would say is to do with the sheer numbers we know were actually involved - but you don't worry about them because the film is so immersive. It really does make a difference, when you know that those are real planes doing the flying. The acting performances are praiseworthy too.

Most of all it's the score which does the business - as you say, it's a shattering experience, relentless to the end.

Mark

Offline eclarson

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Re: Dunkirk
« Reply #2 on: August 01, 2017, 12:42:44 AM »
...
OK you could gripe that Tom Hardy's Spitfire glides for far too long ...
...
Sandy

Yup, that was ridiculous.  Also, did you notice when the Spitfire was burning on the beach that the propeller was hanging off of a long pole rather than a roasting Rolls Merlin?  :)   But I agree, overall it was a unique and excellent movie.

Eric

Offline Gisbod

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Re: Dunkirk
« Reply #3 on: August 01, 2017, 03:24:53 AM »
Yep, great film,

But we're cursed having a little knowledge.. the modern destroyer, the prop on a pole, the long glide (he also looked like he was doing Mach 2). Surprised they focused so much on the RAF and just a few odd shots of the volunteer boats as a fleet...

But despite that - excellent and certainly some of the best flying sequences on film - can't bear the hollywood version of war flying  ::)

Guy
“Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth -
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.”

P.O. John Gillespie Magee 1941

Offline cduckworth

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Re: Dunkirk
« Reply #4 on: August 01, 2017, 07:17:05 AM »
Saw Dunkirk yesterday just wished they'd turned down the sound a little so I could enjoy the film.  They must think all us baby boomers are hard of hearing.

Like the rest of the comments it was a great movie.   Like Sandy commented I wish the 109's didn't have the Spanish nose but too many years of watching Chaffees and Shermans with black crosses painted on them.  Great shots of the early Spitfires including the white/black undersides.  I'm not a ship expert so the modern destroyer didn't phase me.

 I was wondering where did they get all those period private boats are their than many still around? 
"Look alive. Here comes a buzzard."  Pogo

Offline GrahamB

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Re: Dunkirk
« Reply #5 on: August 01, 2017, 08:25:03 AM »
I'm rather puzzled by the praise of this film, but each to their own. This is what I posted on a couple of other sites a few days ago:

"Just got back from seeing 'Dunkirk' and I'm speechless. Well, almost - I'm definitely with you MichaelB.
I thought it was risible, ham-acted, context-free, soul-less (apart from the relentless music score), dis-articulated, with ridiculous set-pieces, pointless/nonsensical imagery (e.g. why in the first few minutes were there neat queues of smartly-dressed soldiers waiting at the edge of an empty sea?), and soupy (at the end). It is not worth mentioning the hideous inaccuracies but even as a film for someone trying to be uncritical (my grandfather was artillery, at Dunkirk) it was very unsatisfying - I was itching to get out the cinema within about 15 minutes.  Some will like it though."

The Bayeux Tapestry has more action, subtlety, meaning and symbolism than this dross. "

Cheers, GrahamB

Offline Thumbs up

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Re: Dunkirk
« Reply #6 on: August 01, 2017, 08:46:48 AM »
 Curious how two people can watch the same film and come away with such a difference of opinion.

Offline Jim

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Re: Dunkirk
« Reply #7 on: August 01, 2017, 09:08:05 AM »
...The Bayeux Tapestry has more action, subtlety, meaning and symbolism than this dross. "

Cheers, GrahamB

I've only seen the Bayeux Tapestry in the opening credits of Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves...probably not the most historically accurate film either!  I remember I still liked it though, even if it was hammy :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AxVTvrD3HY

I'll reserve my opinion on Dunkirk until I've seen it.
Woof!

Offline Edo

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Re: Dunkirk
« Reply #8 on: August 01, 2017, 03:01:18 PM »
here in italy, dunkirk will primere in september.... so last week end i opted for uss indianaplis.
well, don't!
some scenes are so badly rendered that they dishonur the sacrifice of so much young men.
the whole story is so much superficially told that the wikipedia page is so much more intriguing and full of suspance that I had to stop there instead of spending 10 bucks of such a b-movie bull****
it is such a pity, that a great story has been completely spoiled

hope dunkirk is better...

Offline macsporran

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Re: Dunkirk
« Reply #9 on: August 01, 2017, 06:53:10 PM »
......... ridiculous set-pieces, pointless/nonsensical imagery (e.g. why in the first few minutes were there neat queues of smartly-dressed soldiers waiting at the edge of an empty sea?).......................

Sorry you didn't like the film Graham - but, each to his own.

Regarding the set pieces, many of these were based (granted loosely) on well-researched historical fact - the Rylance character encompasses much of the story of a chap called Lightoller (who had survived the Titanic) who refused to let the Admiralty take his boat, Sundowner, but, with his son and a cadet, picked up survivors of a sinking vessel mid-Channel and took them back to the Dunkirk beach to collect an astonishing 50-odd souls and carry them back to safety. (His other son had indeed died in the first weeks of the war in an RAF bomber.)

The orderly queues were an iconic image of the beaches and are burned into the British psyche. I disagree they were smartly-dressed. They were lined up waiting to embark on the small Navy launches and cutters that ferried them out to the destroyers unable to get nearer the beach because of their deeper draughts. See pictures below.

The Hardy character is loosely based on Al Deere who attacked several Luftwaffe aircraft before crash landing on a beach. In fact Deere escaped but only after punching an RN Officer in the face who tried to stop him getting onto one of the rescue boats.

In NZ you would not of course have Dunkirk in your DNA, but trust one who does, with many relatives who were there - this film is remarkably good at representing what actually happened.

One of the main stumbling blocks for those that don't like the movie is the deliberate avoidance of fleshing out main characters to identify with. There is little dialogue, Nolan tries to put you in the middle of the action purely as an observer. I think he succeeds magnificently as do pretty well all of the reviewers I have since encountered. And Hans Zimmer's thundering ticking clock musical score will surely earn him his 3rd Oscar! 
Sorry you missed out on this.
S

Offline GrahamB

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Re: Dunkirk
« Reply #10 on: August 01, 2017, 07:30:07 PM »
Hi S,

I think you underestimate my intelligence or knowledge of the Dunkirk operation, the events leading up to it, and the horrific aftermath for the surviving British troops who were treated abominably by the Germans on their marches toward captivity. I am also English  by the way (sorry to be an annoyance to a smug Scotsman) and my grandfather was a survivor (and victim) of the fighting withdrawal (not some arbitrary cowardly turn-up at the beach and go) and Dunkirk "experience". Of course I know what the lines of men was supposed to represent but it was nonsensical in the film as portrayed, with smartly and uniformly dressed men waiting against a backdrop of an empty sea and it didn't convey the magnitude or chaos of the event throughout in any case. Most of the men were taken off by destroyers and the small boats only came in at the end when the mole was destroyed. The aerial scenes were completely inaccurate in scale, formations, heights etc etc etc. Where were the older experienced men - the BEF was largely made of regular army plus territorials? Mark Rylance's performance was wooden, the other characters flimsy and unconvincing - more like Downton Abbey Goes to War. I could go on.
Cheers
GrahamB

Offline macsporran

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Re: Dunkirk
« Reply #11 on: August 01, 2017, 07:54:42 PM »
.............. sorry to be an annoyance to a smug Scotsman..................

Oh dear!
Always a winning formula to throw insults about on the internet.
S

PS Went to see the movie a second time last night - even better!
« Last Edit: August 08, 2017, 07:19:50 PM by macsporran »

Offline Livsey

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Re: Dunkirk
« Reply #12 on: October 09, 2017, 05:54:30 PM »
Curious how two people can enjoy these supplements for building muscle and watch the same film and come away such a difference of opinion.

I liked Dunkirk for what it was. Going in, I've heard mixed reactions and that actually helped becuase I toned down my expectations and in the end I left satisfied.
« Last Edit: August 26, 2021, 11:04:12 PM by Livsey »