CoolwhipSpecial wrote:WB had Nolan come out to say things everyone knew, and to show footage they'd already seen.

Money well spent.

natalie wrote:

Jacob Tiranno (@JacobTiranno) on Twitter:

Nolan is introducing a small glimpse of (he called a short film) #Dunkirk NOW. #WarnerBros #WB #Cinemacon #CinemaCon2017

DHOPW42 wrote:I am becoming pretty sure that the "prologue" isn't the first scene of the film... as in, no one is mentioning that aspect of it, whereas with TDK and TDKR prologues it was obviously pointed out.

Christopher Nolan presented a shortened version of the Dunkirk IMAX sequence. Still intense. #cinemacon

LAS VEGAS — Christopher Nolan showed off stunning portions of his epic war drama Dunkirk during CinemaCon on Wednesday night, earning a rousing ovation from theater owners during their national convention.

Nolan showed more than five minutes of footage from Dunkirk, which tells of the massive water evacuation of British and Allied troops pinned down by the German army in a seemingly hopeless World War II battle. Nolan called the Battle of Dunkirk "one of the greatest stories in human history."

The footage expands on what has already been seen in the trailer for the film released July 21. Dunkirk features a thespian-filled cast which includes Mark Rylance, Kenneth Branagh, Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy and newcomer Fionn Whitehead (who plays a young soldier).

With the camera and story moving from various, unnamed participants in the seemingly dire situation, one of the most compelling sequences follows Hardy as a Spitfire ace in a dogfight. The final scene features Hardy's shot-up plane just starting to go into a perilous stall.

As the lights came up, the theater owners gave one of the loudest ovations heard during the four-day festival.

The London-born Nolan told USA TODAY that he has been fascinated with the story of Dunkirk his whole life.

"British people grow up with this story, it's part of our DNA," said Nolan. "They talk about the Dunkirk experience."

The Inception and Dark Knight director said he finally feels able to tell the story which has never been portrayed in "modern cinema." Nolan said he made a trip across the English Channel "years ago" with his producer wife Emma — the same journey the soldiers in Dunkirk, northwestern France, had to make in a make-shift flotilla of boats to escape the German army.

"For us, it was a very intense experience, and that's without people dropping bombs on us," said Nolan.

Since then he's wanted to make the film, but needed to gain the experience to do it right, shooting the action on IMAX cameras.

"For me, I feel I know how to do this now," said Nolan. "There's a huge technical component, large scale elements you have to put together for this film. I didn't think I was ready to make this film until I had done a lot of large-scale action films."

The footage brings the viewers directly into the battle.

"I always felt to do justice to the history of Dunkirk, and the way I tried to approach this film, was to make a really experiential film," said Nolan. "I want to put people on that beach or in the cockpit or in the boat, to experience it with the people at that time in that situation."

dormouse7 wrote:I read descriptions of what they were shown at Cinemacon and it was described as a shortened version of the prologue. One person said what it included and it seemed to be the same 3 main action scenes (ground, air and sea) as the prologue. Based on tweets though, I got the impression many at Cinemacon had never seen the prologue.