Dunkirk - The Movie

[Dryce]

Dunkirk was filmed mainly in 70mm format for big screen theatres and rumoured to start a resurgence of interest in the format.

Doubt it.

I think this is a publicity / vanity / cine-snobbery thing. Gets people talking. But the real test is whether audiences will pay.

I remember the publicity Mr Nolan generated for Batman The Dark Knight about *ten years* ago with regard to Imax in film.

I saw it in Imax. It had some moments of 'real' Imax and many moments of ordinary stuff and some very jarring moments that were a travesty to watch on Imax. I came away feeling ripped off at the time.

While Mr Nolan is a vocal proponent for me it was Avatar that was the best in-cinema visual experience that I can recall - saw it in Imax 3D and it was immersive enough to forget the more childish aspects of the plot. The cinematography and editing worked in that format. And I think it makes a mockery of avoiding CGI. Basically good CGI works - bad CGI doesn't, just like good editing vs bad editing, good live action vs poor live action.

As regards live action vs CGI for this sort of movie it would be hard to beat what was managed with the Battle of Britain - but then they had the Spanish Airforce and a bunch of very nice pseudo-He111s and pseudo-109's to work with. But it's telling that even with that and all the aircraft and live stuff you see in the BoB there's still the Bullitt green VW Beetle effect of repetitions edited in from different cameras to generate a longer action sequence. It's not badly done in the BoB - but the reality is you have an aerial battle that is presumably set up with a main formation - eg you film the formation of He-111s breaking apart with one aircraft smoking from several cameras - and edit it as a sequence where it looks like the formation is attacked more than once and more than one aircraft peels away smoking.

 

[BTB 500]

As an aside, they used over 80 radio controlled models (including many He 111s) in the making of the BoB film. This was in the '60s when r/c equipment was pretty unreliable, and they were flying large models rigged with explosives and bags full of gasoline to be detonated in flight

Many years ago I went to a very interesting talk by a guy called Mick Charles who was involved in building and flying them, and he showed some great 'behind the scenes' home movie footage.

 

[Druk]

Mixed reviews both on here and in the press. Think I'll wait for it to come on TV and make my mind up then.

Good move John. Got dragged along tonight by swmbo nd not worth the effort. Very poor continuity imo, whatever beach they used they might have found one that didn't have blast furnaces and container cranes highly visible in the background. And the port of Dunkirk with modern cladding warehouses in full view.

Just...naw. Shame really cos it's a story worth telling but done badly. If it weren't for Mark Rylance I doubt it would have got most of the pre-release hype that it did.





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[SL300-24]

Good move John. Got dragged along tonight by swmbo nd not worth the effort. Very poor continuity imo, whatever beach they used they might have found one that didn't have blast furnaces and container cranes highly visible in the background. And the port of Dunkirk with modern cladding warehouses in full view.

Just...naw. Shame really cos it's a story worth telling but done badly. If it weren't for Mark Rylance I doubt it would have got most of the pre-release hype that it did.





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Thought you were a Harry Styles fan....

 

[brucemillar]

Good move John. Got dragged along tonight by swmbo nd not worth the effort. Very poor continuity imo, whatever beach they used they might have found one that didn't have blast furnaces and container cranes highly visible in the background. And the port of Dunkirk with modern cladding warehouses in full view.

Just...naw. Shame really cos it's a story worth telling but done badly. If it weren't for Mark Rylance I doubt it would have got most of the pre-release hype that it did.





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Apparently it is a feature of his work to have this very jumpy continuity that can be very confusing. In Dunkirk he is telling the story from xx viewpoints all at the same time. Mrs M got lost as to where 'he' appeared from shipwrecked on the stern of the sunken ship. She assumed he was one of the German pilots we had just seen being shot down and crashing.

As for the cranes etc. He left this as he wanted to use the original beaches believing that this was more important than the aesthetics. Again it was confusing, to many.

It is such a massive period in our military/human history and yet so little is probably really published or taught about it? I am pleased that he tried and made decent fist of it.

I recalled my Dear Uncle's account(s) of being torpedoed in the South Atlantic and again in the North Atlantic. It is almost unimaginable to get anywhere close to the absolute horrors that he witnessed in these sinkings. Many years later the smell of fuel oil would make him shudder.
Should you ever venture into the Graveyard at Crook of Devon Church, please look him up - Charles Reid Gibson - maybe say a thank you to him. He would have liked that.

 

[grober]

This guy didn't like it!
So far its apparently grossed $100m (£77m) at the global box office in its first week.

https://www.theguardian.com/film/fi...-empty-christopher-nolan-dunkirk-left-me-cold

 

[Druk]

This guy didn't like it!
So far its apparently grossed $100m (£77m) at the global box office in its first week.

https://www.theguardian.com/film/fi...-empty-christopher-nolan-dunkirk-left-me-cold

Well, I'm not a Granuiad afficionado Graeme but that review pretty well sums it up for me. The box office take may well be down to the unending hype the film got on the Beeb (other tv stations may be equally guilty).

 

[Druk]

Thought you were a Harry Styles fan....

Had to Google 'Harry Styles' Ray. That may reveal more about my lifestyle than you thought.

 

[SL300-24]

Had to Google 'Harry Styles' Ray. That may reveal more about my lifestyle than you thought.

Or mine maybe...with 2 daughters