Dunkirk Nolan Fans Member Reviews (NFometer)

The 2017 World War II thriller about the evacuation of British and Allied troops from Dunkirk beach.
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If I was part of the Dunkirk evac,
I'd be that one soldier who feel asleep, missed the whole thing and then had to be escorted home by high ranking officers. for free

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Law
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Really a fantastic film. I'm not big on reviewing shit but I mean, it's Nolan's best movie from a directing stand point. The sound editing was absolutely insane from helmets hitting the concrete, to dive bombers screaming onto the screen. I can only compare that to the sound of the planes used in Star Wars. This is also Zimmer's best score for a Nolan film, it really added to the chaos unfolding before your eyes. I'd give it a 10/10 but the lead (Fionn Whitehead) didn't do it for me. Too many times I was wondering why he's showing literally no reaction. Anyway, my favorite after The Prestige.

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Oku
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Lord Shade wrote:
poplar wrote:
Lord Shade wrote:
If I was French, I would probably ban Nolan forever for how he "handled" French army in his film.
Could you tell me more?
There were three times when French appeared, and one time they got mentioned. The first time at the very beginning, when they were defending the beach. The second when they shamefully got pushed back by the English soldier when they tried to resque themselves from this hell on one of their (English) ships. The third time the French character was a traitor. And the mentioning was at the very end, when Bolton says that he stays in Dunkirk to help French people.
Ok, I understand that perfectly that this movie is Angle-centric. But why ignoring French so much? This was a damn shame.

Leave the overall exaltation of all English, including Spitfires, which were treated and spoken about like a machines made by real Gods in the flesh.
You're one of those people who think that the French defense actually played a decisive role in the evacuation, huh?

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Warning - this is pretty long. So spoiler tags so it takes up less space. Less a review, more thoughts on seeing it again in a different format.

ROUND 2 - IMAX 70mm

Even better a second time. Have a lot of thoughts on this one - the benefit of watching it a second time is that knowing the story, you can pay more attention to the technicals. And the key thing really is - what's the difference between seeing it on a regular screen and then on full height 1.43:1 IMAX?

The IMAX
- obviously it goes without saying, for me it was the superior experience. But truth is, if anything they are *different* experiences. With IMAX you get what's essentially the 'missing piece' which is the viscerality of it all. Every shot, every shelling, every tick, every wave crash, every explosion - you feel it here. Dialogue is harder to hear - obviously intentional, given the regular 70mm DTS mix has it clearer and more pronounced - but that's in service to the viscerality.

Which then brings me to - what do you then lose, exactly in a regular theatre presentation (be it 70mm, 35mm or DCP)? Truth is, you don't lose anything at all. It's impressive looking back how the 2.20 crop was achieved on IMAX footage that uses way more of the actual height of the frame than Nolan's previous films, yet in the crop you don't lose vital info. The only thing you lose is that viscerality I mentioned. Whether or not this is vital to your experience of the film is down to you. For people who didn't connect with the story structure/lack of fleshed out characters, this may be the missing piece because it puts *you* into it. To expand on Nolan's VR analogy - IMAX 70mm is essentially wearing the headset, the 2.20 version is that YouTube 360 video you watch on your browser. You're watching the events through a window in 2.20, in 1.43 on a giant IMAX you're all but physically there. Now, and I should emphasize this, it's still a fantastic film when viewed in non IMAX formats. I connected to everything Nolan was trying to attempt. The structure, the story, comes under more scrutiny without that visceral factor and not everyone in the general audience will connect to it as some reactions I see suggest. But more nuances viewers likely won't need the IMAX to enjoy and be blown away by this.
The score
- I'm now even more curious how the album will handle it. I listened to Supermarine a fair number of times after last week, so I had it fairly fresh in mind...but the sound editors don't present anything as you hear on the album. Take Supermarine - that 8 minute track is sped up, slowed down, chopped and pasted all throughout the entire runtime. Listening to it on its own is probably like - an an analogy - watching The Air sections of the film as one without intercutting to The Mole and The Sea. I'd imagine the rest of the score is similar in this way in terms of how the album will present it. All in all, @Yourfavoratemusic is gonna have a hell of a job putting together a 'film version' mix when the time comes!
The projection
there's a reason those IMAX GT 70mm projectors are the best. On a beautifully fresh print, the *stability*, the colours, the detail. It's like watching digital if digital was 18K - zero qualms with the presentation. Regular 70mm offers a bit of unpredictability - the colours are a tad different, there's a bit more judder....it's more romantic, if that makes sense. I sensed it when seeing Interstellar in the format (and The Lost City Of Z in 35mm) and was kinda blown away by how 'imperfect' it was, and those imperfections have a charm. But IMAX 70mm - Solid. As. A. Rock. It's film projection at its absolute finest.
Now, bring on round 3 (again in IMAX 70mm) on Friday morning, where I just sit back and take it all in as is...

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Regular digital (I know). 9.5/10 from me.

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I'm a bit let down by the movie. The lack of strong characters really hurts the film in my opinion. There was nobody I could have attached myself to emotionaly. I understand it was the intention and in an experimental way it might work in certain scenes that are still quite thrilling without the character connection but I never cared for the ultimate fate of the people on screen in the final minutes of the film. It was more like a chronicle of the historical event that tried to put you inside the carnage. But after half an hour I was looking at my watch. This being Nolan's shortest studio film still felt like the longest to me.

I must respect the technical brilliance of the film, the cinematography and the practical effects are amazing. That's why my score will still be positive or rather mixed-to-positive. Zimmer's score is also great... at times, and sometimes I felt like they were overdoing it with the amping up the tension when it wasn't really necessary (or maybe there was a tense scene but since I stopped caring I didn't even notice).

Funnily enough, I don't think the lack of dialogue was an issue at all. I quite enjoyed it in this film. I just thought it could have used stronger characters, a real lead perhaps or at least a standout supporting character. I guess Farrier is the closest being the film's "heroic figure" but due to the edits and switches in time, at first it was difficult to grasp who's he saving and what his role will be, and later when it's clear I guess I missed any sort of personal motivation.

However, for the people who have seen the film...
I'm pretty sure, Nolan's "lucky charm", Michael Caine is actually in this movie. The person Farrier and his partner are talking to on the radio must be Caine, right? Have I missed the annoucement that he's in it?
Overall, I'd give it a 6/10 (mark me down as mixed to positive). The good stuff that it does is great (I have to mention the sound mixing and editing - THE MVP of the film) but overall it didn't really connect with me. Maybe a second viewing at home will be better in terms of story.

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Dunkirk - The Waterboarding Experience

I feel confident enough to declare this his best film.

The Thin Red Line meets Fury Road meets Titanic.

10/10.

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@Lelek
yeah, that's Caine. Nolan confirmed in an interview. Listening back to the prologue bootleg, surprised no one picked up on it there either!

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okungnyo wrote: You're one of those people who think that the French defense actually played a decisive role in the evacuation, huh?
I dunno. I'm one of those people which finds this Angle-centration a bit... overwhelming. Which makes Dunkirk a considerably less universal experience than Nolan's previous efforts. Of course it's not only that, but it plays a part.

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The Best Nolan film, the best war movie, the best movie all time. My mind is DESTROYED!!.

Metacritic and RT say true:

Dunkirk is fucking MASTERPIECE!!.

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