Boc @ 17/7/2017 15:55

Quote Christopher Nolan's epic isn't just the best film of his career, but one of the best war movies in decades. omg

This is a big statement. I don't know if I've seen a war film from the past two or three decades better than Saving Private Ryan.I GUESS WE'LL SEE!

Saving Private Ryan is my favorite but I think I'll really like this for a much different reason

I'm excited to see a WWII film from the British perspective for a change.

Pretty great. Pretty overhyped

8/10. Not my fav from Nolan or my favorite war movie but still very good

I haven't read many reviews but I agreed with this one the most. Except for the Avatar part

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It's hard to go into a Christopher Nolan movie without having high expectations, and those expectations aren't met every time. Nolan approaches the subject matter with a blazing level of skill and mastery of his craft, making Dunkirk one of his best movies. With that being said, do not go into this expecting an emotional roller coaster like Saving Private Ryan. Nolan made it with the intention of it being mysterious and as realistic as possible, told from multiple perspectives: but this was done at the cost of a cohesive storyline, which, if certain tweaks were made, could have made Dunkirk the best war movie ever made. There are three perspectives of the operation going on at once, which is a great idea, but it's presented in a non-linear manner. This makes it very had to make a clear sense of the overall journey of these soldiers. The IMAX format of the film is the loudest theater presentation I've ever experienced, making it in some ways a physically tiring experience. It's hard not to be moved by subtle things like an Allied fighter plane taking out an enemy aircraft while Hans Zimmer's flawless score kicks in; and that's more than enough. As soon as the first bullet was fired, I had to shift in my seat to get comfortable, and I knew I was in for something amazing and extremely intense. I haven't been this enthralled by a theater experience since Avatar, and Nolan did it without the aging concept of 3D technology. Dunkirk won't be remembered for it's performances or it's story, but for the overwhelmingly visceral combination of it's immersive action, tension, and amazing soundtrack. It would be a crime to miss it before it leaves the theater.

It's similar to Avatar in the aspect that it's more of an experience than something with content.

And just like Interstellar and Inception it would probably be considered bad if not for the soundtrack and trembling bass.

Well not bad but not good.

I just meant that I hated Avatar and wasn't enthralled by it

Ehh I definitely disagree with that review, but obviously it's a matter of personal taste. I loved the fact that this movie was different and didn't give us backstories and follow the traditional war movie formula. And I'm an Aaron Sorkin fan who looooooves heavy dialogue, so I didn't expect to say this. I thought it showed that a movie could be plenty emotional and say a lot without a lot of dialogue or heavy plot (but obviously with a lot of Hans Zimmer) beyond the reality of what occurred. I just read a review from Christopher Orr of The Atlantic and he said:

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"Some men live, some die. There is not a great deal of time devoted to their individual characters and motivations, in part because in the latter case they aren’t particularly individual at all: The motivation is to survive. Whether it is to return home to wives or sweethearts or an empty flat is beside the point."

Which is basically what I've been struggling to articulate about why I liked Nolan's choice. I think it's a proper tribute to what happened at Dunkirk without making it melodramatic. The sheer idea of civilian boats crossing the Channel into war to get their men home provided plenty of emotion and showed how the event united humanity. I loved the different vantages and non-linear format and how they all pieced together at the end to show how all of the vantages were working together towards the same goal. I think he also conveyed the meaning of "home" really, really well.

Also gotta hand it to Hans Zimmer because his score made the film.

Still doesn't top Saving Private Ryan, Band of Brothers, or Letters from Iwo Jima for me, though. But I think it's another favorite for entirely different reasons.

I watched an 8 minute sneak preview months ago in IMAX, I think it was before Rogue One. The clip showed me what kinda movie it would be, with the music ratcheting up the tension and it would almost feel like one long harrowing sequence (like Inception) so I got the gist of it and was really excited

But my problem is that watching that clip told me EXACTLY what the movie was. When it came time to watch it I wasn't really surprised by anything, it was that 8 minute clip just spanned over like 140 minutes. Some of the situations they found themselves in were really unique and horrifying but I kept waiting for the movie to give me something more and live up to the insane reviews but then it ended without that ever happening. It didn't really come together for me how I wanted it to unfortunately

I thought it was really well made but I have no strong desire to watch it again unlike Saving Private Ryan which I could watch an endless amount

Curtis @ 24/7/2017 13:16

I thought it was really well made but I have no strong desire to watch it again unlike Saving Private Ryan which I could watch an endless amount

I'd def watch it again (I saw it again with my dad last night) but I really don't think I'm going to enjoy it as much on my TV screen. It was definitely an experienced enhanced by watching it in theaters.

And I'm the same with Saving Private Ryan. It's easily a top 3 favorite movie for me.

I'm all for 'experience' films now and then, I saw one RT review say it was the best theater experience since The Walk which got me onboard almost as much as the 'best Nolan/war movie' reviews (I seriously wish that movie had done better, it was by far the best 3D experience I ever had, probably the first I'd want to see again in that format)

seeing this tomorrow on 70mm (though not IMAX), pretty pumped. I'm glad for the less hyped reviews in here though so I can go in with not-quite-as-high expectations (:

I think my best theater experience was the re-release of Jurassic Park in 3D a few years ago. It was amazing

It was...good, but damn I was expecting more. The fact that they didn't really characterize anybody really hurt it in the end. I see what people were saying now that it was great but could've been one of the best. The experience itself was vry immersive and the sound editing is def gonna sweep awards season. Made you FEEL like you were there, moreso than probably any war film I've seen. But I feel like they could've had that while still giving at least one character an emotional connection and it would've elevated it so much

as far as where I'd rank it with the rest of Nolan

1. The Dark Knight
2. Interstellar
3. The Prestige
--gap--
4. Inception
5. Memento
6. Dunkirk
7. Batman Begins
--gap--
8. The Dark Knight Rises
9. Insomnia
10. Following

That's a pretty perfect list there buddy boy