Posted on 07/24/2017 9:48:24 PM PDT by yetidog
Watched the 1958 Dunkirk last week on YouTube.
If you haven’t seen it do so. It is a classic
It’s a good film. I took my wife to see it even though she dislikes war films. We all served in the military (Israel Defense Forces) so we hate war but we understand what “sacrifice” means...
I did say that some, today, might find MRS. MINIVER a bit too contrived; however, I did see it, yet again, very recently, and still enjoy it greatly! It was made when actors could still really act, didn't mumble, and yet the audience cared about the characters. The writing was also much better!
If you get the idea that I don't much care for today's movies, so-called actors and actresses, then you'd be correct!
And as other posters have said...this historical episode has be done and done and done...which I concur with and say it's been done to death.
As an aside....I loathe CGI movies, don't "need" a whole lot of dialogue, can do without excessive amounts of blood & gore, not to mention exploding bits of bodies when someone is shot, am easily able to watch a movie/T.V.show/series with many different subplots and NOT be "confused" in the least, so none of the posters' criticisms re all of that, has less than nothing at all to do with me.
An audience's reaction, especially when it comes to today's films, is less than "helpful" to me, as I find that many movies that garner fantastic reviews are worthless.
Band Of Brothers is in a category all it’s own, sorry.
My wife likes a good war film (she loved Hacksaw Ridge - just covered her eyes when the gore got to be too much and too long). I’m just not sure she would like something where one needs to “fill in the blanks” too much.
Give it a shot. I think it is all at once, artistic, important and respectful. All the naysayers apparently came to the cinema with expectations of some kind of combo between Star Wars and some kind of massive Independence Day blow up with known and famous Brad Pit actors. When the Brits do a serious film, they do it better than anybody else...
I’d like to qualify the following by stating that I’m a big fan of Band of Brothers and always will be. However,
1. Band of Brothers told a true story. So does Hawksaw Ridge.
2. Without getting too deep here, clearly both movies dealt with WWII and it’s impact on human character.
3. Both movies featured interviews of surviving men from the war.
4. And finally both movies stressed that the real heros are buried over there.
You can argue camera angles, production qualities, talent, directing etc., but Gibson’s Hawksaw Ridge did something Spielburg and Hanks failed to do-— instead of talking about being a Band of Brothers, Hawksaw Ridge through the actions of one soldier, powerfully illustrated the concept.
So respectfully, I must disagree with you.
The storytelling timeframe confused me as at the start title said The Mole One Week, The Sea One Day , The Air On Hour. Until they converge , despite portions of each shown throughout until meeting up.
about filming the mole. http://emanuellevy.com/comment/dunkirk-camaign-on-land/
You heard incorrect information.
The above statement is false. I will be generous in saying the poster is erroneous, not dishonest.
Rent “Mrs Miniver” staring Greer Garson and Walter Pigeon this movie was made at the time and it gives you a good idea of the times and how the Brits handled it.
Youtube has multiple full length postings of “Mrs. Miniver” for free.
Sigh. Well, here’s hoping they don’t butcher the upcoming Churchill movie.
There’s always hope...:)
For the amount of money spent I thought it was a shame that Nolan didn’t do a better job. I appreciate the importance of Dunkirk and there are some good scenes, but overall this movie is bad.
1. Super Loud. Thankfully I had read a review before I went recommending earplugs so I took some. I heard all of the dialog just fine - it was that loud. Much of the “music” didn’t fit with the scenes, and during some of the “non action” scenes there was super loud background noise that was not linked to anything (such as combat, boat motor, etc.) just this meaningless body jarring booming noise.
2. Sorry, but the three plot thing just didn’t work and the acting was deadpan horrible. I don’t know much about movie editing, but I believe that I could do a better job of making the movie flow better and making more efficient use of the hour and a half.
3. Technical. Where to begin. The movie industry must take us for total buffoons, and maybe most of “us” are. The so called air combat scenes were a joke. The fighters never did more than some lazy “S” turns. No hard G turns, pitch ups, split S, etc. Go watch some gun camera footage on youtube to get an idea of real ACM. After the spitfire ditching scene I could hardly stay for the rest of the movie. The whole drama of the sinking aircraft with the pilot stuck with a closed canopy went on and on and on. Sink and drown or get rescued already. Besides, the entire premise of that scene was bogus. Look at any photo of WWII type aircraft landing on carriers and the canopy will be OPEN. One of the first things you learn in prop aircraft (and some early jets without canopy jettison systems) was when taking off/landing on a carrier or when ditching is to have the CANOPY OPEN for the very reason that it might jam.
In another situation about 10 soldiers were hiding on the fishing boat waiting for the tide to come in and the Germans were taking pot shots at it. As the tide came in and water started coming in through the bullet holes, when there was several hundred gallons of water sloshing around, one of the soldiers said “one of us has to get off” so that the boat can float. I laughed out loud. This created the whole drama scene where the French soldier posing as a Brit was found out. A gallon of water weighs 8.5 lbs so even 200 hundred gallons would be 1,700 lbs, so one man at 150 lbs would be meaningless.
I am not saying Hacksaw was a bad film, it was very good BUT... the ridge itself is depicted as this huge, insurmountable cliff whereas in realty it was small.
I am not taking away from the huge sacrifice of the US Army and Marines here at all. What I AM saying is that BoB created a feeling of camaraderie, an actual bonding with the uniqueness of each character in the series.
In other words, I felt like I was getting to know each soldier and officer personally. The character development in BoB was amazing. BoB placed less of an emphasis on gore and the actual battles although it showed (like Private Ryan) what it was like, on the ground, in the trenches and that made it real.
I was so impressed by Major Winters that I wrote to thank him before he passed away. The identification with each guy in Easy company was the best I’ve seen.
Now there will be a BoB type production called “The Mighty Eighth” about the USAAF 8th Air Force over Europe. From what I can see from the trailer it looks like they’re going back to the massive graphics formula again. Lots of CGG German aircraft.
Go watch the trailer.
Can somebody actually say the sky was so full of German fighters as shown in that trailer? I am not sure it looked like a swarm of mosquitos but maybe it was...
I have never seen any war movie that accurately depicts war. The problems are that writers, directors, actors haven't either been in a war or just haven't the talent to really show what war looks like (or as in Oliver Stone's case, have a political agenda and aren't interested in realism). Directors want as many of his actors in a shot as he/she can get, while no combat commander in his right mind would cluster people together in a fight. Special effects and sound folks have no idea what HE sounds like, being enamored with large fireballs and the "boom" of black powder explosions.
Even in reasonable attempts, like Clint Eastwood's "Flags of our Fathers" and the Series "The Pacific", all the small arms sound like blanks (which of course they were) and nobody throws grenades - which are always used in close combat.
Then, there's the lack of suffering and blood.
No, never saw a realistic war movie
Did it need more women and people of color?
Less than one year! Tempus fugit, eh?
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