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Dunkirk [1958]


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The first blockbuster
Review date: 2008-06-04 Rating: 10 out of 10

Like many other reviewers I came to this film by accident and almost reluctantly. It isn't the best known and, until now, was not widely viewed. But, if you need any persuading after reading all the five star reviews, this is a must-have for any serious viewer of the genre. I would make it compulsory viewing for all school-children over 16 both from a film-making point of view and as excellent history. It is rare for films to stick to the facts these days.We almost suspect other forms of foul play when they do. But this is also truly great cinema. In terms of pace, effects and detail it holds up very well against modern equivalents. In terms of humanity it ranks with the most moving war films. But it also shines in accuracy. Watch this film and then read the seminal "Dunkirk" by Hugh Sebag-Montefiori. If his incredibly well researched history hadn't been written forty years after the film was made, you would have sworn it was the template for the film. The acting is tremendous, the characters entirely believable and the storyline clear and effective. Up to now a massively under-rated film but most definitely a classic that will claim a place among the very best WWII films.

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Reviews


One of the best underrated WW2 films
Review date: 2008-04-09 Rating: 10 out of 10

There are 3 types of World War 2 films, the Hollywood blockbuster, the Noel Coward stiff upper lip variety and films like Dunkirk.

Films like this one, Canterbury tales, Millions like us and Went the day well did not deal in heroics but with the sacrifices and ordeals of ordinary people whose lives where touched by war. It was made the whole lot more honest as most of the films were made during the war and with later films by people who had served in the war.

There has been criticism that that the film was too slow and took to long to get to the evacuation where the action took place. I have to disagree. Although I am no expert on WW2 history, I have enough knowledge to know that the British response to the German aggression in the early stages of the war was in a shambles and this was portrayed throughout the film.

What I liked about the film was that it concentrated on the ordinary people, both civilians who had to deal with and respond to the disaster as it unfolded and a platoon of soldiers stranded behind enemy lines trying to make their way to the beaches for evacuation.

IMHO, the film worked well as every character had a small story to tell that contributed to getting the 'big picture' of the event in the same way as all the small ships that came together and formed the massive fleet which carried out the evacuation.

Worth watching to really understand the real sacrifices that ordinary people endured to ensure that we today have the freedoms we enjoy.

No nonsense motion picture
Review date: 2008-02-09 Rating: 8 out of 10

An honest story. Almost like a lecture on history. It's an old movie so the tech stuff is not great and the budget was not for fantastic actors and lot's of retakes and editing, but they do well enough and it all works fine. It does not make war look cool. It makes it look unattractive and wasteful. Except for bringing the nation back home together of course which is also the end line of the movie.

Not spoken about enough!
Review date: 2007-06-25 Rating: 10 out of 10

An absolute classic war film starring John Mills, with many memorable scenes. In particular when leaving an English battery in a wood to be attacked by Stukas and the horrific scenes on the beaches of Dunkirk. This film does what many war films of the time didn't and looked from the other side of war: retreat. Always on the back foot Mills squad are under massive pressure to escape the stranglehold that Germany was implementing on the British Expeditionary Force. and accurately portrays the general feeling of panic throughout the film.

Dunkirk: A truly brilliant movie
Review date: 2007-06-06 Rating: 10 out of 10

This has to be one of the very best movies about WW2. There is an enormous sense of realism, almost docudrama, enhanced by the understated performances and the black-and-white photography.Intensely moving, it details how a small group of soldiers were caught up in a campaign that went disastrously wrong owing to a total lack of appreciation of Nazi power. The result was an ignominious retreat that threatened to wipe out the British army - only for it to be saved by a miraculous evacuation involving nearly a thousand naval and private vessels that turned defeat into something akin to a victory. The intervention of private boat owners sailing tiny craft into the maelstrom of bombs and shells to rescue the stranded army has become a legend. So atmospheric you believe you were there on those beaches. There has been some criticism that there were not enough big battle scenes, but they would have destroyed the pathos of individual human situations. Again, some have argued that the film should have shown more of what went wrong and what should have been done, but at the time no-one really appreciated this, and the period atmosphere is best served by this aura of disbelief and incomprehension.

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
John Mills
Richard Attenborough
Robert Urquhart
Bernard Lee
Flanagan And Allan

Creators:
John Mills (Primary Contributor)
Richard Attenborough (Primary Contributor)

Director(s):

Recording label: Warner Home Video
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
EAN: 7321900571616
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: Black & White, PAL,
Release date: 2006-08-21
Audience rating: Parental Guidance
Region code: 2
Running time: 130 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1958
Language: English (Original Language)

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