King & Country
1st Lieutenant
- Joined
- May 23, 2005
- Messages
- 4,995
It was ok but nothing out of the box in my opinion. It's definitely not one I will see again. I wish he had used CGI as it would have been a lot better but as I have read from the posts on here, that's not the movie he was conveying.
Tom
Hi Guys,
As I may have said before...I had been following this movie ever since I heard about it going into production...With our own 'Fields of Battle' series focusing on The Fall of France and the evacuation of Dunkirk, I have more than a passing interest.
Thanks to the Internet I was also able to see lots of 'production' shots, both official and mostly unofficial of the filming process in and around Dunkirk itself ...and even some filming that was being done in California!!!
With the release date getting nearer and nearer my own anticipation got stronger and stronger...Finally, when I was recently down in Bangkok with my family the first reviews came in and they were 'stellar'...'Best War Movie Ever!'...'Up there with Saving Pvt. Ryan!'...etc., etc.,
My cup overflowed in excitement, and so, we booked to see it in the IMAX Theatre in Bangkok on its opening night.
Obviously, I blame myself for 'over-anticipation' in this case...The movie was good but certainly not great...For me what was sorely missing was...'The Spectacle'...
Where were the hundreds of thousands of men standing patiently on the beaches, sheltering among the nearby sand dunes or even wandering about the bomb and artillery blasted town..?
Where were the many thousands of military vehicles, artillery, armour destroyed or simply abandoned on the beaches, on the roads and again among those dunes..?
Where were the piles of discarded military stores, supplies and even ammunition scattered all over the beaches and elsewhere..?
Where were the huge and overcast palls of thick smoke from the many fires that were coming from the bombed buildings, warehouses and oil storage tanks of the town and port of Dunkirk itself..?
There are plenty more questions I could ask but you get my general drift...Director Nolan said he wanted 'No CGI'...he wanted it 'All REAL'...But in doing so he reduced a truly amazing, almost miraculous rescue of nearly 340,000 men down to, what looked like, just a couple of thousand blokes standing on a pristine, freshly swepped beach who just missed the last boat home..!
The old 1958 black and white 'Dunkirk' captured a lot more of the disaster and the deliverance of the B.E.F. than, sadly, this one. And at a tiny fraction of the cost...A tad over US$1 million compared to about 100 million. Having said all of that, I am glad the new one was made and am even happier it has been successful...
That way next time around we may get a better representation...probably not another 'Dunkirk' as that boat has already sailed...But at least a better War Movie! I hear Ridley Scott may be working on a Battle of Britain story...Here's hoping!
Best wishes and happy viewing, Andy.