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Dunkirk

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July 20, 2017, 10:43 PM
hogarth
Dunkirk
Just got back from seeing it. Pretty awesome, I thought, as did my friend with whom I went.

Not a long movie, under two hours, but exhausting due to the tension build throughout.

Definitely the best movie I've seen in the theater in a long time, and I will probably go see it again. Definitely worth seeing on the big screen.
July 20, 2017, 10:54 PM
parabellum
I'm wary of any Hollywood interpretation of WWII these days. Looks entertaining, though.


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July 20, 2017, 11:01 PM
hogarth
quote:
Originally posted by parabellum:
I'm wary of any Hollywood interpretation of WWII these days. Looks entertaining, though.


This is not "Pearl Harbor" or some goofy movie like that. It also lacks the ham-handed approach of Spielberg. It has a lot more subtlety and leaves a lot more to the imagination. Visually it is stunning, and the dialogue is so sparse that it really could have been produced as a silent (or at least dialogue-less) movie.

I hate anything to do with super-heroes, and it saddens me that Chris Nolan is probably more known for the "Dark Knight" trilogy than for movies like "Inception", "Following", "Interstellar", "Memento", and "The Prestige". This is probably the first of his movies that I've seen where I did not notice a glaring flaw. Really well-done.
July 20, 2017, 11:46 PM
Vgex
Chris Nolan made a movie under 2-hrs? I don't believe it.

1hr and 46 Minutes? I'm impressed.
July 21, 2017, 09:11 AM
PASig
I read a review that said it was incredible but noted the very loud music that drowned out weapons/aircraft noise and dialog that was already hard to follow due to accents was a negative.

I'm seeing it tonight and can't wait!


July 21, 2017, 09:20 AM
oddball
quote:
Originally posted by hogarth:
I hate anything to do with super-heroes, and it saddens me that Chris Nolan is probably more known for the "Dark Knight" trilogy than for movies like "Inception", "Following", "Interstellar", "Memento", and "The Prestige".


I've also seen everything Nolan directed and The Dark Knight is my favorite, almost a perfect crime epic. I don't think of his Batman films as "super-hero movies" anyways.

We bought our tickets for an IMAX showing of Dunkirk this Sunday. Chris Nolan- I'll see anything he directs.



"I’m not going to read Time Magazine, I’m not going to read Newsweek, I’m not going to read any of these magazines; I mean, because they have too much to lose by printing the truth"- Bob Dylan, 1965
July 21, 2017, 10:10 AM
parabellum
I first noticed Nolan as a director when I saw his neo-noir treat Memento. I was disappointed in seeing a clearly intelligent and capable director (a rarity in Hollywood) move into comic book crap with that Batman stuff. I'll take creative and original films such as Memento any day over childish fantasies of "caped crusaders", that any number of Hollywood hacks could handle.


____________________________________________________

"I am your retribution." - Donald Trump, speech at CPAC, March 4, 2023
July 21, 2017, 11:23 AM
PASig
quote:
Originally posted by parabellum:
I was disappointed in seeing a clearly intelligent and capable director (a rarity in Hollywood) move into comic book crap with that Batman stuff.


I never got the impression the Nolan Batman was really supposed to be based on anything out of a comic book, to me it was a sci-fi/action movie that happened to have a Bat Man.


July 21, 2017, 11:27 AM
parabellum
Huh?? It's Batman. It's mindless dreck. Comic books. You can try to relabel it as "science fiction", but it's crap out of comic books.

A guy running around in a costume and cape, callling himself "Batman". In the real world, he'd be laughed off of the planet. Only in comic books and adolescent fantasies would anyone take a guy calling himself "Batman" seriously.


____________________________________________________

"I am your retribution." - Donald Trump, speech at CPAC, March 4, 2023
July 21, 2017, 03:57 PM
hogarth
Para,

I totally agree re: Batman. Can't get into them.

THIS movie borrowed elements from some of his others (Memento, Interstellar, Inception) with his use of not-quite-parallel-in-time story arcs (one week with an infantryman, one day with a civilian sailor, and one hour with a Spitfire pilot), brining all three arcs together at the climax.

There is action throughout, but he leaves a little more to the imagination of the viewer than Speilberg. No real gore. The action is relatively steady throughout, with a slow build of tension to the climax.

The other cool element is that you see a few scenes more than once from a few perspectives, and so you can see how one person's perspective can color their perception or understanding of events. It's subtle, but there.

Really well-done.
July 21, 2017, 06:16 PM
Kevbo
I just got back from it



I was disappointed. Not that it wasn't good, it was, but it did not live up to my expectations. Without spoiling anything, my biggest problems were the characters, particularly the soldiers.


I also agree that the thing that set the Dark Knight, and to a lesser extent the other Nolan Batman movies and even ones like inception and the prestige, apart from other sci-fi/comic movies is they were great movies where the main character or story just happened to originate in a comic, instead of your typical "comic book" movie. I also find the premise that intelligent directors don't deal with comics and sci fi stuff fairly ludicrous, but to each his own. I understand that genre and subject matter isn't for everyone


Back on topic, Dunkirk is definitely worth seeing. But I personally found it lacking. Ironically, I think it could have actually benefited from being longer, which, as discussed, is hard to believe is possible


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If the meek will inherit the earth, what will happen to us tigers?
July 21, 2017, 06:54 PM
RAMIUS
quote:
Originally posted by Kevbo:


I was disappointed. Not that it wasn't good, it was, but it did not live up to my expectations. Without spoiling anything, my biggest problems were the characters, particularly the soldiers.



What was wrong with the soldiers? Were they replaced with black trannies? You can't leave me hanging like that...
July 21, 2017, 06:57 PM
Kevbo
They weren't very redeemable characters. The RAF and civilians and the high brass even were portrayed as fairly heroic


I understand the stress and distress and reality of the situation, but I just didn't care for the characters they chose to tell that side of the story


quote:
Originally posted by RAMIUS:
quote:
Originally posted by Kevbo:


I was disappointed. Not that it wasn't good, it was, but it did not live up to my expectations. Without spoiling anything, my biggest problems were the characters, particularly the soldiers.



What was wrong with the soldiers? Were they replaced with black trannies? You can't leave me hanging like that...



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If the meek will inherit the earth, what will happen to us tigers?
July 21, 2017, 08:33 PM
Sig209
Looking forward to seeing it at some point.

It's one of those moments in history that is so almost unbelievable that if you wrote the script as a work of fiction no one would believe something like that could / would happen 'in real life'.

Just an amazing historic event.

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Proverbs 27:17 - As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.
July 22, 2017, 05:26 AM
KevinCW
quote:
Originally posted by parabellum:
I first noticed Nolan as a director when I saw his neo-noir treat Memento. I was disappointed in seeing a clearly intelligent and capable director (a rarity in Hollywood) move into comic book crap with that Batman stuff. I'll take creative and original films such as Memento any day over childish fantasies of "caped crusaders", that any number of Hollywood hacks could handle.


That is one of my favorite movies... One of his best IMO.

That said, even his "comic book" movies like the Batman series, are IMO, the best comic book movies made, and the best Batman movies made thus far. Far, far superior to the Michael Keaton/Val Kilmer/George Clooney abortions, and far better to the current Ben Affleck movies (even if that was a high bar to jump).

I was talking about this at work today with some friends, and I was hard pressed to find a BAD movie Nolan has made. While some have not exactly been what i would consider epic, or influential, i can't think of one I would consider "bad."

Probably my least favorite would be Insomnia, I just didn't buy it, and I wanted to....

I'm curious to see what you thought about Inception, as it is probably my second favorite of his, behind Memento.





Strive to live your life so when you wake up in the morning and your feet hit the floor, the devil says "Oh crap, he's up."
July 22, 2017, 05:54 AM
lastmanstanding
I was surprised to see something come out of Hollywood that's not a remake, cartoon or the tenth in a series of Transformers, Planet of the Apes, Batman, Superman, Rambo, Rocky or Fast and Furious.

I will wait for Dunkirk to show up on my DirecTv Now. Hollywood hasn't produced anything to inspire me to spend money on a theater ticket for years.


"Fixed fortifications are monuments to mans stupidity" - George S. Patton
July 22, 2017, 07:24 AM
Ronin1069
quote:
Originally posted by parabellum:
I first noticed Nolan as a director when I saw his neo-noir treat Memento. I was disappointed in seeing a clearly intelligent and capable director (a rarity in Hollywood) move into comic book crap with that Batman stuff. I'll take creative and original films such as Memento any day over childish fantasies of "caped crusaders", that any number of Hollywood hacks could handle.


Para,

Did you like what he did with Inception?


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July 22, 2017, 11:18 AM
PASig
INCREDIBLE movie!

Saw it last night and thought it was amazing. It's no Saving Private Ryan with lots of machine guns and people getting bloodily blown to bits, but is instead a Nolan masterpiece of long stretches of no dialog and the music literally had me on the edge of my seat the entire time, it was almost stressful.

A friend complained that it was "slow in spots" but then again he thinks movies like Transformers where it's 100% ACTION ALL THE TIME! are cinematic masterpieces.

Overall it was REALLY well done and not at all what I expected and the way they told the story from 3 different points of view that jumped around chronologically was also really good.


July 22, 2017, 02:13 PM
10X-Shooter
Saw it yesterday. I though they did a fairly good job portraying the desperation and lack of support. I kept wondering why I'm the hell everyone wasn't firing their rifles when the planes came low on their passes. Good movie.
July 22, 2017, 04:02 PM
GarandGuy
Just saw it and thoroughly enjoyed it. Very sobering movie. Loved the air battle scenes. Just a great cinematic experience. The closest I'll ever come to experience that historical event. Really paints perspective. I hope there are more films of this level to follow in the near future. Lest we forget.


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