Dunkirk - Movie Review 

Academy: You're a big Oscar Contender! Nolan: For you.

I completely agree, its an incredible film. My Grandad was there, he was 18 at the time. He didn't talk much about his war experiences and most of little he did say was pretty negative. What he told me about Dunkirk was that everybody was quietly afraid, the day seemed to last forever and they all faced the horrible choice of standing near the shore and having a good chance of being rescued first or further up the dunes and having some cover from the attacking aircraft, by the time he got onto one of the little boats he had lost everything with the exception of his boots, trousers and shirt. Watching this film brought everything he told me into colour. It’s a mesmerising and horrific masterpiece.

The reason the characters weren't developed was to show how individuals with their own lives are so puny in a war. No one's life is more important than the others'. All that matters is whether you survive the madness.

The last shot with the Spitfire landing was an extremely beautiful.

I think this movie did a really amazing job at making the audience feel isolated, trapped, and disoriented, just as the soldiers felt, which is why it is so realistic and interactive.

"We're gonna need a bigger boat." Shit. Wrong movie. Shit. Wrong quote.

I saw the film in IMAX today and I'll be damned, I felt as if that entire theatre became the battlegrounds and beaches of Dunkirk. I can't even remember the last time I'd been so engrossed or totally immersed in a film. Nolan's a craftsman, and watching this film unfold from start to finish restored my faith in what filmmaking is all about. A+

I feel bad for anyone who didn't see this in theater.

In Nolan , We fucking trust.

So is Tom Hardy wearing a mask gonna be a meme like Tom Cruise running?

The lack of characterization is intended. Soldiers aren't characters, they are like robots, and this movie captured that perfectly.

Lmfao - “Ohhhh... I like that.” Great Ledger Joker impression Chris 😁

"The school ain't there anymore cause the nazis blew it up oh boohoo" Savage, Chris, savage

no Michael caine? are we sure this is a Christopher Nolan film?

My favorite part of this movie is the lack of dialogue. The way Nolan conveyed the story through actions instead of words was astonishing

I saw this in imax and the floor literally vibrated when explosions and shells went off which scared the shit out of me

A Christopher Nolan movie that's good? In other news water is wet.

- " We can praticly see it from here" - " What ? " - " the Oscar "

ngl I watched this because I’m a 12 year old girl and wanted to see Harry Styles but I bloody loved it.

I cared about the characters honestly

What Chris is trying to say is that do not go in this film expecting something dramatic and patriotic like Saving Private Ryan. Go into this film and watch it like a live documentary or a live "breaking news" if that is what you call it.

Spoiler Alert: Germany loses the war.

I saw this movie on a lazy Saturday in a mostly empty theater without knowing anything about it beforehand. It was honestly one of the best movies I've seen in years. It absolutely blew me away and I can't recommend it enough.

I think the limited talking of the two characters was a fantastic way for the movie itself to speak I thought it was amazing

People commenting on character development sorta miss the point. The movie purposefully is not about characters. They barely talk, a lot of them don't have names and they all share equal screen time. Even the biggest star in the cast doesn't get any special treatment from the camera. This is a fresh new approach to war movies and portraits the fact that war is about everyone and about every single event, small or big. Of course, some people might not appreciate that type of storytelling, which is a valid opinion. But it seems that a lot of people miss the point and try to judge the movie like a traditional war movie. This movie is all about feeling and perception.

I don't care about the lacking character development. It really focuses on the experience. There is no real protagonist cause the audience needs to experience being there themselves.

As a British person this film instilled such strong patriotism in me and i just found it so powerful

I like how when I saw the british ships I legit got teary eyed and extremely happy, as though I were a soldier when that happened.

Dunkirk. Nolan. Zimmer. IMAX. Hype - Yeah. Fuck Yeah.

I like how they didn't hold back on portraying just how deafeningly loud the German dive bombers were. I don't think any sound system could ever do them full justice

I can find no faults with this movie. The audience is completely immersed from beginning to end - perfect movie in my opinion.

I also love how big moments aren't done in the typical Hollywood way: drawn out, music swells, etc...Moments like when the torpedo was launched were so subtle and underscored that you might've missed it if you turned away for a few seconds. That made it so much more impactful to me.

Dont scare me like that Chris. At the start you made it seem like it turned out bad.

people before were like- *Marvel VS DC* now they are like- *Jeremy VS Stuckmann* why not like both?

Tom Hardy's character deserves a damn medal and then some for the piloting skills he showed. And Tom Hardy himself did a great job portraying him lol

Saw this today, I just love how every shot took it's time and wasn't rushed

They're are no German characters in this film, you never see the soldiers, apart from the silhouettes at the end. You never k ow what they're doing, you don't know where they are or how close they are. That is very deliberate, the suspense and tension is incredibly well built. By seeing less you show more.

Your not meant to connect with the soldiers individual, it's about that every soldier and person on that beach is equal, no one is better or more important than anyone else. It's purely on how these men coped with the realisation that anyone can die at any moment. It's a perfect representation

Does anyone know what he means by "There's a moment in this film where I saw a character in the night time and I went 'wait a second'.... Ooooh. I like that"? Maybe I'm missing something obvious, but I can't figure it out

Every now and again I come back to this review for your little Joker reference/impersonation. It's butter to my toast

Watched it in IMAX yesterday with 6 friends of mine. Wow, this movie grabs you by the neck, drags you into the war with these soldiers and does not let you go until it ends. 2 hours felt like 40 minutes, the cinematography looked spectacular and the sound was fantastic, and not just the music. Bombs, bullets, screams, airplanes, it all sounded so raw and realistic and you'e constantly on edge. Not ONE dull moment in the entire movie. Yes, there's not really a character arc or development for these characters. All these people were equally represented in this event and this is how they reacted to it. And this movie shows beautifully that most of these men don't want to go to war, they don't want to die or kill, but they have to. One of the best movies of the year.

Saw the film tonight. Would love t say I saw Hollywood film and came out thinking YEA! We won the war, but in stark truth I felt my eyes open to the horrific experience of anyone involved! This is a movie that doesn't glorify Dunkirk in any way, and for that I only have praise!

this is the real horror story not some ghost shit that doesn't even exist..

This was a fantastic war movie. Good review. Nice background btw! I love the Empire Strikes Back poster.

Just left the theater about an hour ago and I'm still feeling and thinking about this movie. It's true that you won't connect on a personal level with any of the characters (knowing hardly anything about them other than being in the war) but still I was biting my knuckles, on the edge of my seat when it came to the 2 pilots, Tom Hardy in particular. I was thoroughly engrossed in his fate. If there is one "hero" in this movie it is him. Let's just say his character was very good at his job. What a performance!! Would definitely see it again.

Christopher Nolan made a movie that shows the present moment, not really a story. He shows our relationship to time as humans, how there's a duality of time and action in reality (real reality). The suspense AND excitement is in the feeling of being part of the movie.That feeling is in the theme of duality by allowing the viewer to be a participant of the war AND the movie. The last movie that did that was Birdman, without the war part.

Dunkirk had some of the most perfect and breathtaking cinematography I have ever seen. It was distractingly good!

Man you are literally the best review guy ever, you are really relatable and ur comic timing is amazing, I Love the references u make u, I can really tell that u genuinely love movies and what u do, it's about time I found someone like you on RU-vid, keep it up man❤️🙏🏻😜

I hope the French army isn't DLC

I think instead of connecting with one single person and rooting for them, you're to connect with everyone on the beach, the pilots and the seamen. You're supposed to root for the soldiers and civilians to come home

The dogfight felt so real I felt myself gritting my teeth And clutching the armrest like it was my joystick and I was trying to line up a shot in a flight sim

Viewing tip: Watch "Darkest Hour" first and then "Dunkirk".

The thing with the characters wasn't that I cared that much about who they were as a person or what their life back home was like, I cared about them as If I was them, just feeling that desperation to survive. I feel the lack of characterization helped the movie in that sense. With the characters not having a back story or much dialogue the actors main focus was portraying their anxiety and fear, and that portrayal of emotion is what connected me to the characters. I was invested in their survival because I felt their fear, and in my opinion that's what makes this movie so great.

OF COURSE none of the characters will be extremely developed in a movie like Dunkirk! They're not going to be sitting around talking about their private lives and they're motives!!!!! They're in the middle of history's biggest emergency evacuation!!!!

10/10 for me, very thrilling and I loved the pilot's experience

This movie was a ride. A ride you may not want to ride again but boy was that ride fucking amazing.

Reasons I want to see this movie - Nolan not doing fucking exposition - Nolan being small on the dialouge - Nolan doing a film that just exists over the period of a day - Chris rubbing his nipples doing a Joker Impersonation

i agree 1000% with the review...one thing worth mentioning are the sounds of the movie....not (only) the sounds tracks, but the sound effects....make sure you watch this movie at a system that has good sound, cuz the noise of the gun-shots and Aeroplane engines are incredible

A strange little thing that stood out for me in this film was how he films boats being tipped over. Not sure how else to describe it, but the way he films this is so stunning. You can FEEL what it would be like to be trapped under a boat as it tips over and capsizes.

Your clips are 2.40:1. I saw it in IMAX (about 16:9), does this mean it was released in theaters in 2.40:1 for the non-IMAX version?

It goes to show how powerful of a director Nolan is when in a summer full of sci-fi and superhero blockbusters, his WWII film is going to be just as big. I'm super excited for this film. Good job on the review Chris!

Came out of the IMAX cinema an hour ago and holy shit. Two years ago, Interstellar just blew me away and now Nolan is back at it again with Dunkirk. The dog fights, the bombs, the shooting - its all so damn loud and authentic. Combined with the soundtrack, this movie was so damn good to watch and to experience. Never had such an intense cinema experience before.

Saw this films nearly alone in IMAX. Forever changed the moviegoing experience for me. Nothing will ever be the same. I walked out of the theater completely out of breath. It was like a roller coaster ride that just ratcheted up the intensity every ten minutes. I've never been more affected by a movie during the run time. Amazing.

I lost it when he went into the close up and quoted: "ohhhhh, I like that" in Heath LEdgers Joker voice (sounding like it at least) LOL

* rubs nipples * "I Like That" - Chris Stuckmann, 2017

3:14 his own opinion of the movie in 2 seconds.

*Close up “Oh... I LIKE THAT” Great joker impression chris 😂

Saw in IMAX last night! Excellent movie!

Alright! We got it all. Thank you for these Reviews, Chris. Following: B Memento: A+ Insomnia: A+ Batman Begins: A+ The Prestige: A+ The Dark Knight: A+ Inception: A+ The Dark Knight Rises: A+ Interstellar: B+ Dunkirk: A MINE: Following: B+ Memento: A Insomnia: B Batman Begins: A+ The Prestige: A+ The Dark Knight: A+ Inception: A+ The Dark Knight Rises: A- Interstellar: A++ Dunkirk: Hope it's an A+

This movie floored me to the ground - Chris stuckmann 2017

I usually write like a paragraph on stuff like this, but damn you did good on this review. You didn't spoil much of the plot, kept it nice and interesting, and straight to the point, This was probably the best movie review I've ever seen. Great Job!

should I watch this or Valerian? please someone answer

A little fight in you 3:13

Harry Styles is in this? Man, his debut album was great, and he may be great in this film.

I loved this movie so much, i felt like i was there.. the ending got me so emotional 😭 its scarily realistic

Anybody know where you can get that shirt. Im a major spiderman fan

great movie - I was rooting for Tom Hardy up in the Spitfire, I was rooting for Mark Rylance in his little boat, I was rooting for whatever the young guy is called...I was rooting man roooooting

For ones who want to watch Dunkirk : WATCH IN IMAX

Thank you chris, you've practically said everything I was thinking. Great review, well put together and I'm so pretty happy that you see it the way I do in regards to characterisation (something Jeremy Jahns didn't). Though I would have given it an A+

I was at the edge of my seat for the whole film. It was so thrilling. Also the score and visuals were incredible.

Review in 3 words...directed by Nolan

3:13 Chris is a better joker than leto

"The poor guy is always gonna wear a mask. In everything he's always gonna have something over his face." REVIEW *WARRIOR* ALREADY

Chris what about doing a review of Ghost World along with your thoughts in the end.

1:35 That's what Jeremy Jahns was saying was missing, and I'm like thats what they had in Pearl Harbor and look how that turned out lol. Yeah this didn't have much character development, but like you said the movie is about being in the moment, no one's gonna talk about how their life is, when they're trying to survive. And I like how they never really show the enemy, like theyre faces at all, you just hear the bullets flying, bombs landing, and planes roaring. It was more suspenseful to hear a bullet with no warning. Only thing I didn't like about the dog fight, was that there were only 3 planes, like really there could've been way more dogfights, but still they were amazing.

i just saw it with my brother ... and i left the theater in awe. mr. nolan got me thinking the whole movie, stitching every scene in my head and always at the edge of my seat. the acting fits, and it fits well. not too gaudy or dramatic, and not too bland and robotic. the cinematography and the music wasn't like a michael bay "everything uses gasoline and big sound booms". it was more like a War channel dramaticized biopic. you aren't suppose to connect directly with the characters, but more of the terror on what they got themselves into. it was the setting, to the point that i would say the main character was the scenes themselves. anyway, 10/10 must see (especially on IMAX, or on a theater-like sound system if you ever get a copy once it comes out in the future)

what about the sound quality is this in dolby atmos or DTX-X

3:06 I just saw this movie tonight,What scene was he talking about with that Joker voice

Judging by this review, Dunkirk sounds like a WW2 equivalent of Mad Max Fury Road: A simple survival movie of characters trying to escape a totalitarian dictator, with the intensity turned up to 11 from beginning to end.

Nolan is my spiritual animal.

Omg that “I like that” is so funny and perfect

Loved the heath ledger joker impersonation when you said "I liked that".

This is so different to the Jeremy jahns review, he called Dunkirk pretty dull whereas Chris describes it has thrilling.Just shows reviews are opinion so shouldn't sway you.

I must be the only one who was interested in the characters and cared about them

I'm not sure why in some scenes letterboxs are added when most of the movie is in full screen. I did see it in IMAX so maybe the whole movie wasn't shot for IMAX?

This is what Nolan is a master at doing it's creating the perfect mixture of an epic spectacle but never ever losing the heart of it which is the story and the characters within

3:13 Chris Stuckmanns beautiful impression of the joker

It's funny how polar opposite this review is from Jeremy Jahns as far as it being non stop action can boring lol. Can't wait to see it though

Not fanboying or anything but this is probably the best review slash explanation of this film that I've come across yet. It's not a traditional war film. It's certainly not an action film. It's not even rated R. There's not a lot of dialogue in it but for this movie I think it works. It's not about a great victory, rather it's about a great loss and subsequent evacuation. The Americans weren't involved yet, it was only 1940 I think. Or 1941 (USA entered late 1941 around Christmastime). This is truly a movie that's less about what the characters have to SAY and more about what they actually DO in the moment, given the circumstances. It does kind of drag on and one of the themes I think is simply "waiting" in the context of being in a basically hellish situation where you could be shot at any given moment. Like waiting at a bus stop, waiting for your bus, as open and vulnerable of a shot as the enemy could ever hope to get. But at the time the Allied forces were losing, that sort of hopeless feeling is felt in the film as well. But the most important thing of all is that in spite of the odds aginst them not just in that battle but the entire war, they were determined to NEVER surrender. And in fact of course they used the legendary Churchill speech at the end which basically reaffirms all of that. This movie was phenomenal for a lot of reasons but one of the most chief among them was the fact that this era in history is rarely ever touched upon. This depicts a part of the war in which the "good guys" as we know them now I suppose as basically not just losing but getting their asses handed to them. This movie was about them rescuing as many as possible and getting the rest of them back on their feet to strike again... and of course we already know they won in the end. Anyways. Long comment, but the movie was great but DO REALIZE it's different before going to see it. It's really not bloody or gory at all, again it was only rated PG13, but as a film for history buffs it's a powerhouse. 9/10 IMO

I saw this movie, but what nighttime scene is he referring to??