This scene brought back so many memories. My late Dad's best friend was a Spitfire pilot and one of "The Few" in the Battle of Britain. He once quietly told the story of his first combat mission - a fighter sweep over Dunkirk in a similar situation to this movie scene. The Luftwaffe was at the top of their game that day and his squadron lost their Squadron leader (captured like Farrier) and two other Spitfires in the quick and deadly hit & run dogfights. My Dad's friend watched his best mate go down with his Spitfire in flames over the Channel - unable to get his canopy open. The mate simply smiled and waved goodbye as his cockpit was suddenly engulfed in flames just before smashing into the water. It was something that still haunted him from 1940 until his passing a few years ago. They truly were "The Few" and all very grand men.
That's what's wrong with all the aviation portions of this movie - all ones and twos, with nobody looking around to see what else is coming at them. Totally unrealistic.
@@danhollenbaugh - Hello Dan. Actually, the flight scenes were fairly accurate in their portrayal. At the time of Dunkirk, RAF Fighter Command flew in large 'V' formations called 'Vics'. The Squadron Leader was normally at the lead with everyone else queueing off of his lead. Unfortunately, these formations and tactics tended to cause the other pilots to fly very close and watch lead (rather than looking around 360 degrees) to avoid collisions. The Luftwaffe would often come in high and fast in quick 'bash & dash' tactics - hit and then gone. IF the RAF got into dogfights or furballs, it just went to crap with everyone running off like a box of wind-up toys in every which direction. Often times, RAF pilots were shot down and nobody else notice the loss since they were busy watching the lead and the formation. This stupidity continued until about July 1940 when the Battle of Britain began and the RAF reconsidered their tactics for the better.
What I'm saying is I don't see any large numbers of any airplanes. Never more than 3 Spitfires, and usually only 2. An He-111 attacking alone? Ridiculous. No "large vic" of Spits approa hing the area, no large formation of Me-109s diving in for a slashing attack, not a single Ju-87, let alone a formation.
@@danhollenbaugh - Understood and agreed. Seems the producers went on the quick and on the cheap. As my Dad used to say: "It's just a film..." No doubt that they airspace over Dunkirk was crowded. But nothing like during the Battle of Britain where 18 or so Spitfires/Hurricanes would find themselves facing 100+ German aircraft. BTW - The Squadron Leader that I mentioned was lost on Jock's first combat mission was Squadron Leader Roger BUSHELL - 'Big X' of The Great Escape from STALAG LUFT III fame. RIP to him, and 'The Fifty'.
@@danhollenbaugh It's the same reason why the Beach is empty, rather than being full of thousands of people like in Atonement (2017), the director wanted practical effects and minimal CGI. I understand the vision, and while it would have been nice to have busy skies as can be seen in the Battle of Britain movie that just wouldn't be possible without either spending a ridiculous amount of money on more props such as more large scale R/C aircraft (He111, Ju87) or using CGI which goes against the directors vision. I think Dunkirk is pretty unbeatable and tells the story it wanted very well, when the biggest complaint is the lack of large formations in the background then I think it's achieved it's goal.
@@firstlast6437 most people enjoy Venom. Hence the reason people kept going back to see the film in theaters. Not the best comic book film, but nowhere near the worst. It’s pretty average, which isn’t a bad place to be in with all the comic book films that have been made.
The plane just gliding with no engine is so evocative. Just gives me goosebumps. My favorite moment in any Nolan movie besides the interstellar climax I think.
He knew how to communicate with us with how his emotions flow through the muscles on his eyebrows and his eyes, a reflection of a real RAF pilot would put up during WW2.
That’s what I love about war movies and shows from the late ‘90s/early 00s. You see soo many familiar faces in Thin Red Line, Private Ryan, BoB, Black Hawk Down.
A friend went into it expecting a conventional war movie and came away disappointed. I see it as a survival movie dressed up as a war movie and as such, it's quite masterful. But the ending brought it around to war movie territory again and it was very moving. Also, Branagh in a key supporting role, 'nuf said.
Does anyone else find it weird how chill they sound? Lol. They could literally die and they're all like "He's down for the count. Cheerio. All good old chap."
@@DaveRichardsonFitness not everyone is brave, those guys on the ground have been getting squeezed back to those beaches for a while, the commanders are probably getting promotions up the ladder to their previous bosses position and also if you get hit by another airplane you're probably dead before you hit the ground, no point freaking out if you wont even realize you're gone
@Rubi Avelino top gun has good cinematography but not as realistic but I’m not a navy pilot so I don’t know what a realistic dogfight is but the cobra manouvre wasn’t realistic I don’t think
I watched Dunkirk for the first time last week. Great movie. I knew Tom Hardy was in the movie before I watched it but wasn’t really looking for him. I loved the pilot sequences and when Ferrier decided not to return to base you knew he was gonna be a hero. When he took off his mask and helmet at the end I definitely had an “OMG, that was Tom Hardy all along” moment. Really hit home how good of an actor he is. Just his voice can carry a character. And the you-don’t-need-to-see-my-face-because-it’s-not-about-me humbleness is very refreshing.
Still not sure why Farrier didn't circle back and dead-stick land near the friendlys.. But that would negate the emotion of his heroism I guess. #Movies
I believe the logic behind it was he wanted to keep his plane in the air, and patrolling, until he couldn't possibly anymore. The RAF were specifically instructed to draw the fight as far away from the beach as possible.
Apparently based on the experience of New Zealand BoB pilot Flt-Lt Alan Deere! Deere crash-landed his Spitfire on La Panne beach was eventually taken off by a RN destroyer to return to action within 3 days!
I saw Tom Hardy's interview after the release, and appreciated him being very aware of the individuals who actually took part in the conflict. As for his ability to represent a pilot actually dogfighting, is nothing less than brilliant.
It's because there are no airworthy Ju-87s so the filmmakers had to use large scale models instead. It would have looked really fake having them both in frame at the same time.
Without Tom in this roll I wouldn't have been half as interested. He really played the part with excellence, and as a character gave every ounce he had left.
Hats down for fantastic depiction of the dogfighting during the time - with all the proper communications, routines, procedures etc..Have hard time to find other movies with same deep insight, or at least well reproduced details of the fighter plane operation / action. Not to mention Tom Hardy's excellence !
Over the nine days of operations, the RAF carried out 171 reconnaissance, 651 bombing and 2,739 fighter sorties, losing 177 aircraft, including 106 fighters, bringing the total number of fighters lost in the whole Battle of France campaign to 250. The losses over Dunkirk reduced the strength of Fighter Command to 570 operation fighters; 280 Spitfires and 290 Hurricanes, the latter of which included three squadrons in France.
The complete genius of Tom Hardy here is that he appears to be too busy flying the plane to put in a cliché performance, the likes of which we have seen countless times before …
I love the way he glides the spitfire for about three quarters of an hour when it ran out of fuel, real talent. Also loved seeing the modern roof top terraces clad in glass with potted palm trees along the sea fronts, they really nailed it with this film.
"Do you feel in charge?" I think of that first. This film is incredible, and I love how they are going for realism now. What amazes me is that air to air combat so captivated us that we spend Billions on air to air jets now, and we will never see air to air combat again. No more aces, no more dogfights. And still we keep a massive arsenal of air supremacy fighters.
Even with the impossible, "glider kill" the aerial combat footage in this movie is my favorite. The rest of the cinematography feels so grounded. The planes aren't on rails like they are in most other films.
That is an actual Spitfire burning. Nolan was obsessed with historical accuracy in this scene, and this is the result. So sad but so authentic at the same time.
The burning spitfire was a mock up, the spinner and prop are hanging on what looks like a scaffold pole, also the cranes in the background were built in the 1970s
Mad, I was just explaining to my wife, an hour ac=go, why Hardy should have been the first actor who won an Oscar with a performance, largely done without any lines, any only with the top half of his face. Riveting.
Tom Hardy is praise. I seem to be the odd man out. He portrays it like its a boring walk in the park. While he is a flight leader, he needed to at minimum, portray a sense of urgency. I have seen plenty of interviews of pilots. At best very frightened but trying to survive.
