Movie Dunkirk - Anyone else think its one of the best?

Discussions on WW2 and pre-WW2 related movies, games, military art and other fiction.
gebhk
Member
Posts: 2623
Joined: 25 Feb 2013, 21:23

Re: Movie Dunkirk - Anyone else think its one of the best?

#16

Post by gebhk » 24 May 2021, 09:04

Hi Larso

I agree it comes well together, but what is the 'it' is what I find perplexing.....

On balance I think your comment about stomach churning suspense is on the money - I believe Nolan was at pains to point out that he was not making a war movie - rather a disaster movie, and this it does very well. But it brings me back to my earlier point - why call it Dunkirk and set it in a historical context which it does not do well, when any ship under attack would have done, even an entirely fictitious one? Bums on seats? Or am I getting very cynical in my old age?

Completely agree that there has been a bunch of good war movies recently, but alas almost entirely made outside of the English-speaking world (some ruddy-awful ones too, but that is the norm!).
Last edited by gebhk on 24 May 2021, 21:06, edited 1 time in total.

rcocean
Member
Posts: 686
Joined: 30 Mar 2008, 01:48

Re: Movie Dunkirk - Anyone else think its one of the best?

#17

Post by rcocean » 24 May 2021, 16:06

Hello gebhk. Thanks for the heads up on the 1958 Dunkirk version. I enjoyed it quite a bit. As you state it takes the same narrow focused approach as the 2017 movie. We do see masses on troops on the beach, and for 1958, some well done Stuka attacks special effects and ship sinking's. But for the most part the movie focuses in on a small group of British Soldiers (with the excellent John mills) and a factory owner Richard Attenborough who rescues some troops in small boat. The 1958 version does a good job of capturing the complacency and boredom of the "phony war" period.


gebhk
Member
Posts: 2623
Joined: 25 Feb 2013, 21:23

Re: Movie Dunkirk - Anyone else think its one of the best?

#18

Post by gebhk » 24 May 2021, 21:18

PCOcean

Just as an aside, it's probably worth saying that the 1958 film had many veterans of the actual Dunkirk evacuation playing minor parts in the movie, which probably helped to 'keep it honest'.

rcocean
Member
Posts: 686
Joined: 30 Mar 2008, 01:48

Re: Movie Dunkirk - Anyone else think its one of the best?

#19

Post by rcocean » 25 May 2021, 01:15

I'd agree that (special effects/combat scenes aside) it had a more realistic feel then the 2017 version. More low-key and the characters seem less "Dramatic" and more real. But the 2017 version is very good.

Larso
Member
Posts: 1974
Joined: 27 Apr 2003, 03:18
Location: Brisbane, Australia

Re: Movie Dunkirk - Anyone else think its one of the best?

#20

Post by Larso » 25 May 2021, 11:41

"why call it Dunkirk"

I've always been annoyed by this practice of naming films by the battles they depict. The plots can only be focused on a handful of individuals, so the 'full' story of the battle is never told. I do appreciate that something more accurate or suitable is not always going to get the attention of movie goers. Maybe it's a question of scale? I accepted happily enough The Alamo, which featured a modest number of defenders and even the Battle of Britain didn't jolt too much. The Battle of the Bulge however was way too much of a stretch.

OpanaPointer
Financial supporter
Posts: 5644
Joined: 16 May 2010, 15:12
Location: United States of America

Re: Movie Dunkirk - Anyone else think its one of the best?

#21

Post by OpanaPointer » 25 May 2021, 12:36

Which "Alamo"? The John Wayne one or the newer one?
Come visit our sites:
hyperwarHyperwar
World War II Resources

Bellum se ipsum alet, mostly Doritos.

User avatar
Hans1906
Banned
Posts: 4560
Joined: 07 Jan 2020, 00:13
Location: Deutschland

Re: Movie Dunkirk - Anyone else think its one of the best?

#22

Post by Hans1906 » 25 May 2021, 12:58

I remember the 1964 F/I movie "Dünkirchen, 2. Juni 1940" ("Week-end à Zuydcoote") starring Jean-Paul Belmondo as "Julien Maillat".

Multi-language Wiki: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dünkirchen,_2._Juni_1940

I have seen the movie many times, and I never liked it, sorry. :|


Hans
The paradise of the successful lends itself perfectly to a hell for the unsuccessful. (Bertold Brecht on Hollywood)

Larso
Member
Posts: 1974
Joined: 27 Apr 2003, 03:18
Location: Brisbane, Australia

Re: Movie Dunkirk - Anyone else think its one of the best?

#23

Post by Larso » 25 May 2021, 14:21

'Which "Alamo"? The John Wayne one or the newer one?'

I guess I meant the John Wayne one but I actually preferred the Disney version with Fess Parker - this was part of a series though and I don't think was named The Alamo.

There was an Australian film called Kokoda. The battle involved thousands but because it was set in the jungle, it often broke up into many small unit fights. The focus on one such group worked well and again, I didn't quibble about it using the name, even though the battle went for several months.

OpanaPointer
Financial supporter
Posts: 5644
Joined: 16 May 2010, 15:12
Location: United States of America

Re: Movie Dunkirk - Anyone else think its one of the best?

#24

Post by OpanaPointer » 25 May 2021, 17:09

Come visit our sites:
hyperwarHyperwar
World War II Resources

Bellum se ipsum alet, mostly Doritos.

DetCord
Member
Posts: 4
Joined: 01 Jul 2020, 21:11
Location: United States

Re: Movie Dunkirk - Anyone else think its one of the best?

#25

Post by DetCord » 05 Oct 2021, 07:16

Late to the topic and all but I'll interject.

Minus the performances from the likes of Branagh and Hardy the movie felt entirely lazy, as is Nolan's norm. It was medicorely shot, ploddlingly paced, and featured the worst decision making processes when it comes to film making. If you haven't seen Tenet, compare and contrast with his previous work. That movie was awful.

• This guy (Nolan) shot this film using modern day footage of Dunkirk, modern buildings, road signs, streets, etc etc. The city of Dunkirk was essentially flattened during the operation and yet here it's perfectly intact.

• French troops suffered heavy causalities and near annihilation in defending the city-center and yet they're not even mentioned.

• In Nolan's Dunkirk, Commonwealth troops more or less wait in nice, tidy, orderly lines. This was anything but factual. It was chaotic at best and orderly madness at worse. British troops engaged in mass looting, drunkenness, and even rape, none of which is even hinted upon. Whilst waiting for evac they raced horses around a signet track on the Mauvias, drank expensive wines stolen from cellars and restaurants, committed suicide, blew the vaults on banks and a variety of other never mentioned, yet numerous incidents.

The fact that a non-war film got it right while Nolan sanitized the entire event only detracts from the history of Dunkirk and indeed makes a mockery of the sacrifices these men made. Nolan's Dunkirk is not only lazy but revisionist history.

This one put Nolan's Dunkirk to absolute shame. And it isn't even a war movie.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QijbOCvunfU

OpanaPointer
Financial supporter
Posts: 5644
Joined: 16 May 2010, 15:12
Location: United States of America

Re: Movie Dunkirk - Anyone else think its one of the best?

#26

Post by OpanaPointer » 05 Oct 2021, 13:18

DetCord wrote:
05 Oct 2021, 07:16

• This guy (Nolan) shot this film using modern day footage of Dunkirk, modern buildings, road signs, streets, etc etc. The city of Dunkirk was essentially flattened during the operation and yet here it's perfectly intact.
When Our Hero was going through Dunkirk the Germans had not arrived, so the damage had not yet begun. And I doubt the residents would want to relive that time by having the area trashed for a movie.
Come visit our sites:
hyperwarHyperwar
World War II Resources

Bellum se ipsum alet, mostly Doritos.

gebhk
Member
Posts: 2623
Joined: 25 Feb 2013, 21:23

Re: Movie Dunkirk - Anyone else think its one of the best?

#27

Post by gebhk » 05 Oct 2021, 20:42

Given that the docks had been made unusable before Operaton Dynamo even commenced, suggests the Germans had already 'arrived' before 'our hero' got there. Something like 90% of Dunkirk was detroyed during the battle.

sandeepmukherjee196
Member
Posts: 1524
Joined: 07 Aug 2014, 06:34

Re: Movie Dunkirk - Anyone else think its one of the best?

#28

Post by sandeepmukherjee196 » 05 Oct 2021, 21:49

A Dunkirk movie without the actual dogged resistance at the perimeters .. which made the evacuation possible is not really a Dunkirk movie..
No depiction of how the German armour was so close, halted and then thwarted.
Folks learning about Dunkirk in this generation, would get an incomplete picture.

Cheers
Sandeep

OpanaPointer
Financial supporter
Posts: 5644
Joined: 16 May 2010, 15:12
Location: United States of America

Re: Movie Dunkirk - Anyone else think its one of the best?

#29

Post by OpanaPointer » 05 Oct 2021, 22:21

gebhk wrote:
05 Oct 2021, 20:42
Given that the docks had been made unusable before Operaton Dynamo even commenced, suggests the Germans had already 'arrived' before 'our hero' got there. Something like 90% of Dunkirk was detroyed during the battle.
Yes, "during" the battle. Our Hero went past several lines of French troops that were not yet engaged, i.e. prior to the start of the urban warfare phase.
Come visit our sites:
hyperwarHyperwar
World War II Resources

Bellum se ipsum alet, mostly Doritos.

DetCord
Member
Posts: 4
Joined: 01 Jul 2020, 21:11
Location: United States

Re: Movie Dunkirk - Anyone else think its one of the best?

#30

Post by DetCord » 07 Oct 2021, 14:45

OpanaPointer wrote:
05 Oct 2021, 13:18
DetCord wrote:
05 Oct 2021, 07:16

• This guy (Nolan) shot this film using modern day footage of Dunkirk, modern buildings, road signs, streets, etc etc. The city of Dunkirk was essentially flattened during the operation and yet here it's perfectly intact.
When Our Hero was going through Dunkirk the Germans had not arrived, so the damage had not yet begun. And I doubt the residents would want to relive that time by having the area trashed for a movie.
Wrong. The film takes place from May 26th into the first week June, which was the timeline for the battle, and is in the official film synopses by Nolan. Dunkirk was more or less obliterated by artillery during said timeline, including prior German preparatory and bracketing bombardments.

And It's called a set. Atonement's Dunkirk was filmed at Redcar on set. Saving Private Ryan and Band of Brothers were all filmed on sets in the UK and Ireland, the same goes for a huge variety of war films in general. Most of which are filmed on sets or hybrids set locales.

Trashing the real locale for a film... What an asinine and obvious strawman comment in an attempt to deflect from lazy filmmaking.

Set.
Image

Set.
Image

Set.
Image

Set.
Image

Post Reply

Return to “Movies, games & other fiction”