Christopher Nolan's "Dunkirk" (July 21, 2017) - Part 3

Seen it yesterday. It's very nice (cinematography, soundtrack, effects, tension) but no masterpiece like Inception or the Dark Knight.
It was the most interesting of the contender for the Academy Awards - still have to see Drkest Hour and maybe Call me by your Name.

Edit: I forgot the Shape of Water lol
 
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I'm glad I got to see it on the 'big screen' but I don't think there is much need for a re-watch on home release. It's impact is subdued and lessened on a smaller screen and although the content is impactual, I don't have a 'burning necessity' to see it again.

I'm thinking this is why I didnt enjoy this. I saw this on a regular, relatively small movie theater screen with a small audience. I keep hearing thay this is an immersive experience you have to watch on a huge screen with loud speakers to really enjoy this.
 
I saw it on 70mm, regular digital projection, and on blu-ray. Played great every time. I love it.
 
I'm thinking this is why I didnt enjoy this. I saw this on a regular, relatively small movie theater screen with a small audience. I keep hearing thay this is an immersive experience you have to watch on a huge screen with loud speakers to really enjoy this.

Absolutely agree with that. I saw the film in 70mm IMAX and it was the most immersive movie-watching experience that I've ever had, not just visually but also aurally. That gunfire in the opening scene was so loud I felt like I was right there on the street with the soldiers and being shot at along with them. And the way Nolan framed his shots made all of the scenes feel like I was in the air with Hardy, on the boat with Murphy, or on the beach with Styles.

It was absolutely incredible how much the 70mm IMAX transported me into the film, but I haven't seen it on a smaller screen yet. Not sure if I want to. ;)

Actually, the only reason that I'd consider watching Dunkirk again would be to watch it on 4K Blu-ray with subtitles, because I missed quite a bit of the dialog due to all of the British accents flying around and getting obscured by Nolan's atrocious sound mixing.
 
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Absolutely agree with that. I saw the film in 70mm IMAX and it was the most immersive movie-watching experience that I've ever had, not just visually but also aurally. That gunfire in the opening scene was so loud I felt like I was right there on the street with the soldiers and being shot at along with them. And the way Nolan framed his shots made all of the scenes feel like I was in the air with Hardy, on the boat with Murphy, or on the beach with Styles.

It was absolutely incredible how much the 70mm IMAX transported me into the film, but I haven't seen it on a smaller screen yet. Not sure if I want to. ;)

For me, the beach scenes were the most disappointing, in say comparison to Atonement, the amount of actors on the beach were not enough and beyond the main parts, the extra's (those that they had, not enough of them IMO) were not 'reactive' enough to what was going on around them.
 
I can appreciate the films technical qualities but I don't watch movies for technical qualities, I watch them to be entertained and for them to engage me, this did neither, I found it cold and dull.
 
I at least want to be engaged with a film. Not every movie is meant to be entertaining but there has to be something tangible for me to latch onto and for me that usually comes from the film's characters--my avatars so to speak- that guide me through the story and the journey.
 
I can appreciate the films technical qualities but I don't watch movies for technical qualities, I watch them to be entertained and for them to engage me, this did neither, I found it cold and dull.

Same. It’s like the least engaging of Nolan’s films to me, which is a shame as the combination of Nolan and WWII initially had me hooked.
 
Same. It’s like the least engaging of Nolan’s films to me, which is a shame as the combination of Nolan and WWII initially had me hooked.
Perhaps it would have been better if it were set during WWII but not about a real mission
More room to breathe in terms of how the events plays out.
 
Some shots of the outstanding Cinematography:

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Watched this again on 4k blu ray, and it’s a ****ing masterpiece.

Maybe it’s because I have familial connections to the story, or maybe it’s because I have a very good knowledge of the events at a Dunkirk and its importance to history (none of us would probably be here if things had gone differently) but I don’t think I’ve been so emotionally affected by a movie in such a long time. When Branagh sees the little ships and the Elgar swells.... oh good lord.

I totally understand why others would be left cold by the film. It jettisons a lot of things that an audience is used to seeing in terms of character, story set-up and narrative flow. Nolan takes a lot of chances - by basically stretching out act three across a whole film, and with the way he plays with time - but for me it’s just an amazing, amazing film from start to finish.
 
That final Hardy shot is something else and the sequence that precedes it.
 
This film was amazing in every aspect.
 
I thought the movie was great. One of the few movies of 2017that lived up to the hype for me.

Tom Hardy was boss as the stoic pilot. The fact Hardy can have his face covered and he can have little dialogue yet still have screen presence is a testament to how good an actor he is.

Jack Lowden has been a solid up and comer waiting for a breakout role for a few years now.

Fionn Whitehead's Tommy wasn't the most likeable protagonist. I remember Whitehead in ITV mini-series HIM in which he played a telekinetic powered teenager who was an homicidal ass****. His role in the mini-series probably contributed to my dislike of him in the movie.
 
Watched this again on 4k blu ray, and it’s a ****ing masterpiece.

Maybe it’s because I have familial connections to the story, or maybe it’s because I have a very good knowledge of the events at a Dunkirk and its importance to history (none of us would probably be here if things had gone differently) but I don’t think I’ve been so emotionally affected by a movie in such a long time. When Branagh sees the little ships and the Elgar swells.... oh good lord.

I totally understand why others would be left cold by the film. It jettisons a lot of things that an audience is used to seeing in terms of character, story set-up and narrative flow. Nolan takes a lot of chances - by basically stretching out act three across a whole film, and with the way he plays with time - but for me it’s just an amazing, amazing film from start to finish.

I'm sure having a personal connection amplifies the emotional experience for you, but speaking as an American who only had a vague knowledge of the story going into the movie...the movie is still incredibly affecting.

Personally, I found the aspect of the day being won by simple common decency and humanity in the face of fascism at its scariest was incredibly touching and oddly relevant to what it'll take to make it through the dark time we're currently facing in history. Seems to me that the Dunkirk spirit is something very much worth honoring and keeping with all of us, British or not, as we're face our own turbulent times.

It's an incredible piece of filmmaking, no doubt. I see it as Nolan almost making a silent film, just with a modern cinematic language.
 
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I finally got around to seeing this. It didn't really 100% click with me, but I didn't dislike it. I think it may just be one of those things where repeated viewings actually improves the experience. That score was really something, though. And if it gets Nolan Oscar-love, then I'm all for it.
 
The movie Atonement is worth checking out for it's Dunkirk section as well.
 
A shame Nolan isn't embracing Atmos or DTS:X like he is with 4K.
 

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