Dunkirk

A very neat and tidy, let's tone-down-the-violence-of-war movie from Christopher Nolan. Here's a director who likes to cut from one of his land-sea-air story lines to another, but the cuts are too quick and you easily lose perspective. At times, the cuts are to scenes unrelated to one of his 3 themes, and you wonder...okay, where are we now? What boat/ship are we on? That's frustrating. Excellent cinematography, sadly offset by horribly grating soundtrack from Hans Zimmer. Nolan didn't want to show any Germans, and he doesn't, thinking that perspective from the British soldier's point of view would be compromised...instead, it becomes muddled, even lost. As a war movie, not a classic as the critics would have you believe, certainly not the same caliber as say Saving Private Ryan. I was really anticipating much better, found myself leaving disappointed. This one won't stand the test of time.

I thought the film was very well done and showed the true spirit of man kind

waste of time

A boring and badly done war movie. Ignoring the technical faults (see the MAGIC SPITFIRE GLIDE ITS WAY TO VICTORY!!!!) This is a movie about a group of guys hanging at the beach. They watch the tide. A plane drops a bomb. They watch the surf. Some drown on a boat. The movie is only about 20 minutes long, and they keep re-looping the same sequences from different perspectives. This is fun and different for all of 10 minutes. Then it get's tiresome. Then it get's truly annoying. Finally you are looking forward to a bathroom break, looking at your phone for the time, and looking around the theatre out of boredom. And I'm a Guy Who Loves War Movies.

I was disappointed in the lack of historical data & scope of the movie. The length of the movie should've been 15-30 min longer with more story & details of the "little" boats & why the Germans failed to take advantage. I appreciated the effort to use more actual live explosions etc in scenes but I felt that the overall effort was a "chapter" in the Dunkirk "book" leaving me feeling like I was given the short version, ie "Dunkirk for Dummies" instead of the "novel" I was hoping for. Saw it with my brother out of town on regular screen & wouldn't care to pay to see it again on an IMAX venue that is available in my hometown.

It was weak. How can a war movie be pg or pg13. No blood or gore. Real wars had this, it's a reality. Confusing not enough action just weak. Black hawk down, we were soldiers, enemy's at the gates, saving Private Ryan, tears of the sun, act of valor, etc. Those were good war movies dunkrik can't be mentioned in this list. Even mark whalberg's lone survivor killed this.

Way too much drama and hollywood stuff and not enough factual information. Why turn a perfectly good historic event into something distorted with sissy drama. The story of Dunkirk is interesting enough to portray. I was looking for more of a documentary type movie.

I thought it was an excellent film. It's not so much the story of the event (i.e. a documentary), but the experience of the evacuation from several individual perspectives. I too am a history buff but still enjoyed the film

I think "Dunkirk " was more of a documentary, than a movie. I was waiting for something, anything, but it just wasn't there. Not in the same class as "Saving Private Ryan ". I am a history buff, and I was disappointed.

This was probably the worst movie I have seen. I didn't know anything about Dunkirk before I went and knew less when I left the movie. There is very little dialect and you were wondering the whole time what was going on. Nobody had names either except the one civilian boat. There was just so much bad about this movie. The purpose of a history film is to educate about the event, not this one. I still cannot figure out why I sat through it all. I actually told a couple people to see it just because then they would see how bad it was. The friend I was with is a history buff and felt the same way I did and was actually probably more disappointed than myself.

A reminder of past glory for older viewers, and a good history lesson for the young. Not to be missed.

Jaw dropping. But this is a war film for people who understand history. Dunkirk is not D-Day.

only a so so movie

Huge disappointment - disjointed scenes which fell short of sharing true accounts of heroism, sacrifice, and the brutality of the war. To make it more frustrating was the mix of either inaudible dialogue between the actors or the over-the-top musical score during many scenes. As many people have stated, this movie does not hold a candle to Saving Private Ryan.

Whether it mirrored history accurately or not its just a flick for entertaining people. That being I found it OK. Story a little corny and without the "Jaws" sound track would have been poor. Far from the best war movie ever, save that for Private Ryan. The reality of War is that war is hell, gore and death and that needs to be be on the screen to remind us all or surely we'll find ourselves back on the beaches again.

Two very important stories about Dunkirk: 1) The rescue itself by the British civilians, 2) Why didn't the Germans go ahead and totally destroy the British army on the beach? The movie managed to almost totally ignore both stories Actually, the movie managed to avoid any story. Stupid movie.

History come to life - don't miss it! could have given more information about the approx. 700 ships and the fact that the evacuation took about 8 days.

Well, a different type of war movie; didn't show any Nazis, swastikas or even Hitler. Great costumes, props and epic proportion but as a history buff it kinda missed a lot. Anyways a good flick, but it just seemed to be missing a lot. A huge arena for a type of Hollywood correct war without misery. I enjoyed the panorama of the lousy weather, fog, sand, choppy dark ocean on the beach and sea though.

It was a major disappointment - a movie I had been looking forward to for a long time, but all my own fault, I should know better than to start believing all the hype. There were very little story lines, the role of the RAF could have been shown much better - considering the immense affect they had on the evacuation - hardly seen any of the German side of the action - and the screw ups their generals made by not going in full blast. The vocal sounds were in most instances unintelligible - just a major let down, and very disappointed.

Short on history. Long on noise. Not for someone who enjoys good dialogue.

Xcellent..!

Beautifully and expertly made film with little if any computer generated effects. A strong blend of the epic event and characters who create a strong sense of the horrors and heroism of the Dunkirk evacuation. It's nonstop.

The movie did not depict the true story of over 700 civilian boats went across the channel to save the soldiers who were being attacked by the Germans, another fact not disclosed. It was a wonderful moment in history to know that the British civilians picked up the soldiers. A very moving real experience in history.

Very slow and you had to pay attention

A missed opportunity. Can't begin to express how disappointing I found this film. an epic story left one feeling nothing at the end. No emotion. No dialogue. confusing chronology. I was so looking forward to this film. Underwhelmed and disappointed.

Not sure why it fared so well . audio was terrible couldn't understand what most actors were saying . Actors had no powerful performances Story was not explicable . The beach was too clean for a war depiction and the soldiers perfectly lined up single file . . VERY VERY DISAPPOINTING . What was the director thinking .?? Don't waste your money . Absolutely no comparison to a well made well depicted war movie like Saving Private Ryan .

A disappointment given the dramatic events the film dealt with. Nolan is a gifted director but he let his love of the craft interfere with the telling of the story by playing with the timeline - one of his favorite techniques - when he should have approached the story for what it is, the recalling of an important historical event.

The movie was confusing at the beginning but as it started to progress into the events, I began to understand that the movie wasn't about one person or, ship or plane or town ... It was a story about who was involved at Dunkirk and how they got the men back home. Stories of the rescued and the killed. The good decisions some made and the bad ones. Lots of action and I thoroughly enjoyed the movie though my husband ... I rated it a five.

Uneven, inconsistent story content, tension and sense of desperation. Little historical or personal story development. At times, the structure of scenes within in the movie appeared and felt low-budget; per the absolutely underwhelming, if not almost laughable scene of the appearance of the supposed civilian evacuation flotilla along the Dunkirk shoreline. Vapid story development. Sadly, disappointing.

Confusing. Too many things were not explained.

Magnificent movie, Wonderfully directed and a best movie of the year. Lots of tense drama. Good acting too. Should win Academy Award.

Didn't like Spider-Man either. I respect reviews from those who say it was accurate and did not need the Hollywood touch, so maybe the movie was best suited for the history channel. No dialogue left the movie confusing. It won't stay long. A flop!!!

It had hardly a story and harder to follow.

Was disappointed - very little dialogue. Terrible music played too loudly - hurt the eardrums.

I believe it was reasonably accurate, but not realistic it didn't have the breath nor did it provide any context. I could have been a lot better for the effort. I didn't answer the question why.

Excellent movie, based on historical facts, action packed, as was the evacuation of these troops....well worth seeing, intense drama, but then again it was a World War battle.

Superb. Intense. Totally outstanding. Probably the finest film of all time in depicting the horrors of war. Bravery, fear, cowardice, futility, selfishness, selflessness, confusion, panic, helplessness.

i didn't get it

Good movie BUT no story to begin with so u do not get to know the characters. Therefore u have no feeling one way or another for the main characters. You are just thrown into the middle of the war at Dunkirk and view the action but nothing about why they are in Dunkirk or what Dunkirk was really about. I and my friends were left liking the movie but not as much as we would have had we been invested a bit in the characters.

This is one of the absolute best World War II movies. The real story, so intense and real. No need for romance or any other silly Hollywood made up stories. Loved the beginning to the very end. On the edge of our seat during intense. We cannot thank our war veterans enough!