Dunkirk

Discussions on WW2 and pre-WW2 related movies, games, military art and other fiction.
antwony
Member
Posts: 226
Joined: 30 Jun 2016, 10:14
Location: Not at that place

Re: Dunkirk

#31

Post by antwony » 25 Jul 2017, 10:13

Am just about to watch the film. Is anyone a Wiki-editor? Read the wikipage and noticed it had a historical "accuracy" section. Unsurprisingly for wiki, it's not that accurate.

____________________________________

Historical accuracy
Correctly depicted was the Royal Air Force dogfighting the Luftwaffe above the beaches of Dunkirk, Calais and Ostend. However, none of the British aircraft were reported to have been seen in the skies. It is true that destroyers and fighter planes were withdrawn from battle, as the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force would have been the sole defence of Britain in case of an invasion. Airborne leaflet propaganda demanding that the British surrender had in fact been produced, yet did not share the design used in the film. British officers refusing to evacuate French soldiers occurred as well, with conflict arising from both sides.[138] In one scene, an officer grants a salute without wearing his military beret, which was pointed out by a Dunkirk veteran to Nolan as inaccurate protocol.[139]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunkirk_( ... l_accuracy

_____________________________________________

In the first sentence the editor admits the RAF were there. Then in the next sentence there's a reference to RAF reportedly not being seen. I'm sure there were many accounts of evacuees who didn't see any British planes, doesn't change the fact the RAF (and Fleet Air Arm???) were there. As for the next sentence about destroyers and RAF being withdrawn, OK. But, there should be an eventually in that sentence. The big problem with that sentence is "sole defence of Britain"... just no. Then the last sentence about saluting, OK. But, did the British army have berets in 1940? Should be forage cap (maybe???) or just hat would do.

Oh and the leaflet stuff is anal, and the French thing, OK but it could mention over 100,000 French were evacuated

Michael Dorosh
Member
Posts: 255
Joined: 11 Mar 2002, 02:04
Location: Calgary, Alberta
Contact:

Re: Dunkirk

#32

Post by Michael Dorosh » 25 Jul 2017, 20:46

TV Tropes is a better wiki to use for reading about films. Even has a whole 'trivia' section which you can expound on historical accuracy.

But either way, you don't need an account to edit Wikipedia, which is kind of the whole point of Wikipedia. If you see stuff wrong, just change it.


User avatar
colt45
Member
Posts: 485
Joined: 02 Jun 2007, 17:44
Location: battleship, N J.

Re: Dunkirk

#33

Post by colt45 » 29 Jul 2017, 13:57

no tanks, spitfires were good, Henkles were slower bombers?

Biber
Member
Posts: 616
Joined: 31 Jan 2007, 23:56
Location: Cleveland, Ohio

Re: Dunkirk

#34

Post by Biber » 30 Jul 2017, 02:06

Saw the movie this morning and wasn't all that impressed, kinda disappointed really given the hype I had heard about it. Pretty quiet for a war movie and the lack of dialog didn't help tell the story any. Maybe the director was trying to go fore some artsy effect with it. If so it certainly was lost on me. Watching the same ship sink over and over again from different angles certainly didn't convince me that they were different ships going down. That glide sequence was just ridiculous. It was also a bit confusing to follow in spots with all the flash back sequences. A spitfire crashes in the sea then ten minutes later you see the same event from the pilots point of view. Then of course you know that all is finally well when the Elgar music starts playing. How trite can you get! It was kind of sad to see Branagh in his role, mainly because of the lines he had to deliver. Usually I quite like what he does, in fact I was interested to see the trailer for his Murder on the Orient Express due out in November. Should be fun considering all the others in it. Though there have been some pretty iconic versions of Poirot in the past.

In all, it was only $5 and I got a decent cup of coffee. The reclining seat was nice too!

User avatar
MarkF617
Member
Posts: 582
Joined: 16 Jun 2014, 22:11
Location: United Kingdom

Re: Dunkirk

#35

Post by MarkF617 » 03 Aug 2017, 15:03

I found this an incredibly average film. The story line is okay and kept me entertained for the duration, however there was that something missing. Quite simply this is CGI. Much has been made of how they would only use real aeroplanes or large scale models but this left the sky empty of aircraft. The Luftwaffe in the film constantly sent over single He111s which would be attacked by one or two spitfires, as far as I know these aircraft flew in much larger strength than this. The troops on the beach complained of near constant air attack but here they are barely troubled.
I also do not recall any anti aircraft fire directed at the Luftwaffe during their infrequent attacks. You see guns on the beach, you see a ship point it's gun at a Heinkel but I do not recall it firing leaving the bomber to be attacked by the lone spitfire with unlimited ammunition. CGI could also of been used to add more ships. One destroyer at a time at the mole and they would never have evacuated the BEF. More ships could also have been showed waiting their turn at the mole. These could have been firing at added Luftwaffe bombers.
Lastly the beaches. I have seen many photographs of the Dunkirk beaches and they looked a lot more crowded than depicted on the film. I also imagine they would have been very noisy compared to the film where men stood single file in absolute silence waiting for a boat. I have heard that some men sang to keep spirits up, I would at least expect the men to talk amongst themselves. I would also expect screaming casualties all over the place with medics running about. The casualties you see are all lying on stretchers perfectly still and quiet. Some abandoned vehicles on the beach would also have been nice.
As I stated at the start of my post this is a very average film that with a bit of CGI magic could have been spectacular.

Mark.
You know you're British when you drive your German car to an Irish pub for a pint of Belgian beer before having an Indian meal. When you get home you sit on your Sweedish sofa and watch American programs on your Japanese TV.

Alanmccoubrey
Member
Posts: 3370
Joined: 19 Sep 2008, 14:44

Re: Dunkirk

#36

Post by Alanmccoubrey » 03 Aug 2017, 18:44

Mark, how can it be "incredibly average" ? If it was average then there was nothing incredible about it being so surely ? :D
Alan

Daniel Steres
New member
Posts: 1
Joined: 15 Aug 2017, 09:46
Location: UK

Re: Dunkirk

#37

Post by Daniel Steres » 15 Aug 2017, 09:57

It's not a story telling movie, it's all about the experience. Everything seems as realistic as possible. The cinematography was amazing.
We live in a time of great opportunities. Now everyone out there have a chance to hit the jackpot. The chances at columbus-deluxe-777.com are sky high. I'm gonna give it a try.

Net_Skater
Member
Posts: 73
Joined: 01 Jun 2004, 00:00
Location: Cranston RI, USA and Warsaw, Poland

Re: Dunkirk

#38

Post by Net_Skater » 15 Aug 2017, 10:42

There was a rather short sequence of Dunkirk situation in the movie named Atonement. Very sad movie. Impression of soldiers waiting on the beach for evacuation vere much more realistic than in "Dunkirk". The scene French soldiers shooting their horses was a pure horror.

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

Re: Dunkirk

#39

Post by OpanaPointer » 15 Aug 2017, 12:57

Alanmccoubrey wrote:Mark, how can it be "incredibly average" ? If it was average then there was nothing incredible about it being so surely ? :D
That would be the essence of average. Picture next to the definition in the dictionary.

As for the lack of CGI, people would have been complaining that it made the movie "too cluttered" or "over the top with all those Zeros!" The story of the men was the point here, not how many Tie fighters we could see.
Come visit our sites:
hyperwarHyperwar
World War II Resources

Bellum se ipsum alet, mostly Doritos.

User avatar
B Hellqvist
Member
Posts: 1073
Joined: 29 Apr 2004, 01:45
Location: Sweden
Contact:

Re: Dunkirk

#40

Post by B Hellqvist » 26 Aug 2017, 23:44

So I finally got around to watch "Dunkirk". It's a good movie, with some great aerial scenes, and there are some powerful scenes. The special effects are seamless, and the great Hans Zimmer score free is from the usual WW2 bombast.

What makes this a war movie that won't make "classic" status is the convoluted, non-linear story. This is a movie that punishes inattentive viewers, as scenes from one person's perspective are shown from that of one to three others at different times. Also, the movie has a sparse feel, the clutter on the beaches as seen in period photos hardly there. German aircraft appear at most three at a time, and the German soldiers themselves are only seen very briefly in the final scene.

I felt a bit sorry for the younger members of the audience, who probably had a hard time placing the events in history. The viewer is thrown into the action in an effective way, but there's next to no exposition, not even which year it is, and the viewer is even left to guess who "the enemy" are.

As war movies go, I haven't seen one quite like this since "The Thin Red Line", and that one was easier to follow. I'm happy I watched "Dunkirk" in the theater, but I doubt I'll get it on DVD/Bluray.

J. Duncan
Member
Posts: 3768
Joined: 02 Aug 2008, 11:22

Re: Dunkirk

#41

Post by J. Duncan » 27 Aug 2017, 15:20

Despite not wanting to see it (I'm just not interested in going to movies these days) my wife picked this as a means to get us out and away from the kids for a night out. She was bored with the film and had no idea what was going on. If you don't know the history behind this film you would be totally lost. She complained she also did not understand the dialogue in places because of the British accents of some of the characters. I wouldn't say I was bored, but the film was rather dull - like "Tora, Tora, Tora" dull. The best part of the movie was that the director did a great job blending the music with what was happening on the screen. I felt my blood pressure rise with the musical build-up into some of the action sequences. I was impressed with the special effects too as they did not appear to be too much computer generated (they may have been, but it was not noticeable). The lack of plot, character development, or forming a bond or attachment with any of the characters from a viewer's standpoint left you feeling rather devoid of any emotion.

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

Re: Dunkirk

#42

Post by OpanaPointer » 27 Aug 2017, 15:28

B Hellqvist wrote:So I finally got around to watch "Dunkirk". It's a good movie, with some great aerial scenes, and there are some powerful scenes. The special effects are seamless, and the great Hans Zimmer score free is from the usual WW2 bombast.

What makes this a war movie that won't make "classic" status is the convoluted, non-linear story. This is a movie that punishes inattentive viewers, as scenes from one person's perspective are shown from that of one to three others at different times. Also, the movie has a sparse feel, the clutter on the beaches as seen in period photos hardly there. German aircraft appear at most three at a time, and the German soldiers themselves are only seen very briefly in the final scene.

I felt a bit sorry for the younger members of the audience, who probably had a hard time placing the events in history. The viewer is thrown into the action in an effective way, but there's next to no exposition, not even which year it is, and the viewer is even left to guess who "the enemy" are.

As war movies go, I haven't seen one quite like this since "The Thin Red Line", and that one was easier to follow. I'm happy I watched "Dunkirk" in the theater, but I doubt I'll get it on DVD/Bluray.
The movie follows three timelines, each at a different pace than the others. Soldiers on the beach, a boat crossing the channel, and an aerial battle. You can't tell them chronologically.
Come visit our sites:
hyperwarHyperwar
World War II Resources

Bellum se ipsum alet, mostly Doritos.

User avatar
B Hellqvist
Member
Posts: 1073
Joined: 29 Apr 2004, 01:45
Location: Sweden
Contact:

Re: Dunkirk

#43

Post by B Hellqvist » 27 Aug 2017, 23:12

OpanaPointer wrote:The movie follows three timelines, each at a different pace than the others. Soldiers on the beach, a boat crossing the channel, and an aerial battle. You can't tell them chronologically.
It is implied in the beginning of the movie, but I'm not sure all viewers catch the implications of that. The men on the beach are covered during a week, the crew of the boat crossing the channel a day, and the Spitfire pilots an hour. Their storylines intersect a few times, but otherwise the non-chronological editing is another example of Christopher Nolan being a little too clever for his own good.

User avatar
B Hellqvist
Member
Posts: 1073
Joined: 29 Apr 2004, 01:45
Location: Sweden
Contact:

Re: Dunkirk

#44

Post by B Hellqvist » 27 Aug 2017, 23:13

J. Duncan wrote:The best part of the movie was that the director did a great job blending the music with what was happening on the screen. I felt my blood pressure rise with the musical build-up into some of the action sequences.
I'm listening to the soundtrack right now. It's pretty excellent, more energetic than Zimmer's soundtrack for "The Thin Red Line", but just as atmospheric.

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

Re: Dunkirk

#45

Post by OpanaPointer » 28 Aug 2017, 02:58

B Hellqvist wrote:
OpanaPointer wrote:The movie follows three timelines, each at a different pace than the others. Soldiers on the beach, a boat crossing the channel, and an aerial battle. You can't tell them chronologically.
It is implied in the beginning of the movie, but I'm not sure all viewers catch the implications of that. The men on the beach are covered during a week, the crew of the boat crossing the channel a day, and the Spitfire pilots an hour. Their storylines intersect a few times, but otherwise the non-chronological editing is another example of Christopher Nolan being a little too clever for his own good.
It's not as bad as "Cloud Atlas".
Come visit our sites:
hyperwarHyperwar
World War II Resources

Bellum se ipsum alet, mostly Doritos.

Post Reply

Return to “Movies, games & other fiction”