Dunkirk

Steve Williams

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rather than putting up the trailers to this film I thought I would post this commentary from the CBC in Canada

Dunkirk is unlike any war movie you've ever seen


I must admit that I have been waiting 6 months to see this film as I felt it would be amongst the best released this year.

Receiving a 92% on Rotten Tomatoes and 88% on MRQE I felt it would be one for the ages

Dunkirk (2017) Movie Reviews

Cast: Tom Hardy, Kenneth Branagh, James D'Arcy, Mark Rylance, Cillian Murphy, Fionn Whitehead, Harry Styles, Aneurin Barnard, James D’Arcy, Jack Lowden, Barry Keoghan, Tom Glynn-Carney
Director: Christopher Nolan
Writer: Christopher Nolan
Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 107 min.
Synopsis:
In May 1940, Germany advanced into France, trapping Allied troops on the beaches of Dunkirk. Under air and ground cover from British and French forces, troops were slowly and methodically evacuated from the beach using every serviceable naval and civilian vessel that could be found. At the end of this heroic mission, 330,000 French, British, Belgian and Dutch soldiers were safely evacuated

Suffice it to say the movie was fabulous yet when all was said and done I left the theater wanting more or feeling something was missing


This is really not a war movie although war is all around but rather a movie about the evacuation of 330,000 troops.

The movie was all action with hardly any dialogue. As a result IMO there are no deserving actors here for academy award possibilities. The story was about these troops with but a handful interspersed through the movie for the sake of carrying the story forward. Many prominent British actors in the film but as stated they were there to carry the story

Essentially this is 3 stories brought together in the film and they are all extremely well told

I feel for sure the film will be nominated and quite possibly will win Oscars for Sound Mixing and Sound Creation as the walls and chairs of the movie theater literally shook with the explosions and gun shots

Even though this was war and the brutalities seen there is no blood and gore and as a result is far form that seen in Saving Private Ryan which IMO is the ultimate war movie. This one comes a very close second

In short this is a film not to be missed as it is that good. Yet having said that until other contenders are released later this year I cannot proclaim Dunkirk as Best Movie of the year
 

treitz3

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I'm definitely looking forward to this one Steve!

Tom
 

Folsom

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At the very least Im looking forward to being battered with less previews on it. One movie had about 10 split up Dunkirk pieces between other previews...
 

NorthStar

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Some Nolan quotes:

What makes Dunkirk different from your previous films?

I would say Dunkirk is my most experimental structure since Memento. I tried to give the audience an experience that will wash over them. They’ll sit back and—I won’t say enjoy the ride, because this is a very intense ride—but experience the film. I never want the audience to watch the film in an overly cerebral way. It’s not meant to be a puzzle. It’s meant to be an experience.

This is the shortest movie you’ve made since your 1998 feature debut, Following. Why did Dunkirk demand less time to tell?

I wanted to tell the story primarily in visual terms and not through the usual theatrical devices of people discussing backstory. I wanted to throw the audience straight into this very intense, snowballing series of events that in my films you normally only find in the third act. I felt the intensity of the experience would be such that there would be a saturation point where people couldn’t sit through anymore. For that reason it felt important that it be as short as possible.

_____

http://time.com/4864051/dunkirk-review/
 

still-one

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We plan on seeing it tomorrow in 70mm.
 

Steve Williams

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We plan on seeing it tomorrow in 70mm.

That will be an experience

We saw it on regular screen and the walls shook as did my seat. The camera work literally puts you in the front line with these troops and aviators. Its quite a ride.
 

still-one

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That will be an experience

We saw it on regular screen and the walls shook as did my seat. The camera work literally puts you in the front line with these troops and aviators. Its quite a ride.

Thanks Steve, we have been looking forward to this one for some time now.
 

BMCG

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Nolan excelled himself in depicting a viscerally immersive recreation of hope and terror on the Dunkirk beach....simply superb.
 

jazdoc

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My first take away was how brilliantly restrained the story telling was...It would have been so tempting to fill the movie with effects at the expense of plot. Movie of the year.
 

Steve Williams

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My first take away was how brilliantly restrained the story telling was...It would have been so tempting to fill the movie with effects at the expense of plot. Movie of the year.

You might be right. Certainly the best I've seen so far this year. Let's just say Movie of the Year-so far
 

KeithR

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That will be an experience

We saw it on regular screen and the walls shook as did my seat. The camera work literally puts you in the front line with these troops and aviators. Its quite a ride.

Irvine Spectrum has 1.43 Imax 70mm - you're lucky to be that close to one and its how Nolan intends it to be viewed.

I am going to see in regular 70mm widescreen this weekend, just not up for the drive.
 

Steve Williams

Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
Irvine Spectrum has 1.43 Imax 70mm - you're lucky to be that close to one and its how Nolan intends it to be viewed.

I am going to see in regular 70mm widescreen this weekend, just not up for the drive.

I might check it out Keith. Thanks
 

marty

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IMAX 70 is good, but supposedly laser projection IMAX to is better. Availability of regular IMX and laser projection IMAX theaters can be found here. (Sadly none in NY or NJ)

http://ew.com/movies/2017/07/19/dunkirk-imax-70-mm-where-to-see/

"Some theaters are also showing the movie in IMAX with laser projection. This means a laser light force is used instead of a standard lamp, which broadens the color palette (blacks look darker, for instance), amplifies contrast for highlights and shadows, and brightens the image."

(Steve, only place in CA is Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood where I saw Star Wars in 1977 two weeks after it opened and literally fell out of my seat with the opening scene.. I'll never ever forget it.)
 

Steve Williams

Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
Sounds like a great movie. Given we now live in a small town, the local theaters are mediocre ...... at best. So I will wait until it comes out on BR.

You wont appreciate it as much on Bluray. Best seen on the big screen
 

jfrech

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IMAX 70 is good, but supposedly laser projection IMAX to is better. Availability of regular IMX and laser projection IMAX theaters can be found here. (Sadly none in NY or NJ)

http://ew.com/movies/2017/07/19/dunkirk-imax-70-mm-where-to-see/

"Some theaters are also showing the movie in IMAX with laser projection. This means a laser light force is used instead of a standard lamp, which broadens the color palette (blacks look darker, for instance), amplifies contrast for highlights and shadows, and brightens the image."

(Steve, only place in CA is Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood where I saw Star Wars in 1977 two weeks after it opened and literally fell out of my seat with the opening scene.. I'll never ever forget it.)

Thanks for positing...I had no idea Austin has the laser Imax format...will definitely check this out...
 

still-one

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Just returned from seeing Dunkirk. As others have stated very restrained and well done. It took awhile to understand the timing differences in the three stories that ultimately come together. The 70mm version I saw was impressive. Since my wife decided at the last minute to skip today's showing I might go with her and see it again in IMAX format to see which I prefer. Not one of the great war films but still one of the better films of this weak year for Oscar contenders.
 

still-one

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Steve Williams

Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
Te war was all around the evacuation but the tragedies and atrocities seen were in no way graphic. In fact the only blood ever seen is on the faces of the injured who are being carried on stretchers. This is not blood and guts or graphic realism as depicted in Saving Private Ryan
 

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