Based on 594 votes and 198 reviews
Short on history. Long on noise. Not for someone who enjoys good dialogue.
Xcellent..!
Beautifully and expertly made film with little if any computer generated effects. A strong blend of the epic event and characters who create a strong sense of the horrors and heroism of the Dunkirk evacuation. It's nonstop.
The movie did not depict the true story of over 700 civilian boats went across the channel to save the soldiers who were being attacked by the Germans, another fact not disclosed. It was a wonderful moment in history to know that the British civilians picked up the soldiers. A very moving real experience in history.
Very slow and you had to pay attention
A missed opportunity. Can't begin to express how disappointing I found this film. an epic story left one feeling nothing at the end. No emotion. No dialogue. confusing chronology. I was so looking forward to this film. Underwhelmed and disappointed.
Not sure why it fared so well . audio was terrible couldn't understand what most actors were saying . Actors had no powerful performances Story was not explicable . The beach was too clean for a war depiction and the soldiers perfectly lined up single file . . VERY VERY DISAPPOINTING . What was the director thinking .?? Don't waste your money . Absolutely no comparison to a well made well depicted war movie like Saving Private Ryan .
A disappointment given the dramatic events the film dealt with. Nolan is a gifted director but he let his love of the craft interfere with the telling of the story by playing with the timeline - one of his favorite techniques - when he should have approached the story for what it is, the recalling of an important historical event.
The movie was confusing at the beginning but as it started to progress into the events, I began to understand that the movie wasn't about one person or, ship or plane or town ... It was a story about who was involved at Dunkirk and how they got the men back home. Stories of the rescued and the killed. The good decisions some made and the bad ones. Lots of action and I thoroughly enjoyed the movie though my husband ... I rated it a five.
Uneven, inconsistent story content, tension and sense of desperation. Little historical or personal story development. At times, the structure of scenes within in the movie appeared and felt low-budget; per the absolutely underwhelming, if not almost laughable scene of the appearance of the supposed civilian evacuation flotilla along the Dunkirk shoreline. Vapid story development. Sadly, disappointing.
Confusing. Too many things were not explained.
Magnificent movie, Wonderfully directed and a best movie of the year. Lots of tense drama. Good acting too. Should win Academy Award.
Didn't like Spider-Man either. I respect reviews from those who say it was accurate and did not need the Hollywood touch, so maybe the movie was best suited for the history channel. No dialogue left the movie confusing. It won't stay long. A flop!!!
It had hardly a story and harder to follow.
Was disappointed - very little dialogue. Terrible music played too loudly - hurt the eardrums.
I believe it was reasonably accurate, but not realistic it didn't have the breath nor did it provide any context. I could have been a lot better for the effort. I didn't answer the question why.
Excellent movie, based on historical facts, action packed, as was the evacuation of these troops....well worth seeing, intense drama, but then again it was a World War battle.
Superb. Intense. Totally outstanding. Probably the finest film of all time in depicting the horrors of war. Bravery, fear, cowardice, futility, selfishness, selflessness, confusion, panic, helplessness.
i didn't get it
Good movie BUT no story to begin with so u do not get to know the characters. Therefore u have no feeling one way or another for the main characters. You are just thrown into the middle of the war at Dunkirk and view the action but nothing about why they are in Dunkirk or what Dunkirk was really about. I and my friends were left liking the movie but not as much as we would have had we been invested a bit in the characters.
This is one of the absolute best World War II movies. The real story, so intense and real. No need for romance or any other silly Hollywood made up stories. Loved the beginning to the very end. On the edge of our seat during intense. We cannot thank our war veterans enough!
People expecting to see big Hollywood style melodrama should stay home. This is how it happened, all the longs endless hours of waiting for the troops on the ground, the night time surprise U-Boats attacks on defenseless ships as well as the slow paced daytime pounding of the Stukas which seem to come in just in time when you think you're finally going to escape from hell. The real thing, no bells and whistles, no magic heroic moment with the big fanfare. Come and feel their fears and anguish hour after hour, minute after minute, until they were finally... home.
This movie was great! Tom Hardy always gives 110%. Yes, it can be a bit slow in spots, but this is a true story. People who don't know the history, back story leading up to Dunkirk will most likely not understand what's going on, and probably won't appreciate how good this film really is.
Put yourself in any one of those situations and imagine the anxiety and terror. This movie is the closest you will ever want to get to being desperate, afraid and alone. I saw this movie in IMAX and it was so moving and so real and so horrible. At the same time Dunkirk was such an amazing victory from total defeat. See this movie and imagine you are there!
The only complaint I have about the movie is that if you're not familiar with the start of WWII, or know how the Germans were able to cut off the Allied forces, then you will have no idea what's going on in the movie. The forces retreated to Dunkirk, were surrounded by advancing German forces, and cut off by the sea. This is a great movie if you take 10 minutes to review youtube videos on the subject before going. Harry Styles role could have been performed by a turnip.
The story was great but the movie was phony. At least a half dozen last second life saving moments. The background music was terrible. Just listen to it and you will surely agree. This is the worst musical score that I have evr heard. I expected so much more from this movie. Save your money stay home. I even hung around to see if there were any redeaming bloopers to see. There were none.
To all the people that didn't understand and to the one guy that fell asleep. If your old enough to know a veteran from WWII ask him or her if they didn't understand war or were bored ,fell asleep on a beach or field in France under fire. If you don't understand, stay at home and hide under your bed when the next war starts.. Or call in a Super Hero.
Did not depict hundreds of boats to rescue..should have had more personal real stories of rescuers to stranded British and French troops!
One of the best films of the year-definitely Oscar material. The amazing part is that there was little CGI in play. The sinking of the vessels was well done plus Hans Zimmer's score was riveting.
This seems to be half documentary/half movie. Not much acting. The first 45 minutes there is little talking at all. Just enough so you know what's going on. Some moments of bravery but you really need to be a history or military buff to enjoy this movie.
Love watching historical movies, especially war movies. This movie was a real let down for me. It had some cool bomb scenes, spitfire scenes, ship sinking scenes, and the movies sound was good. BUT it was all layed out in boring mis aligned plot with poor character development. Probably 80% of the movies footage is nothing but looking at British peoples faces looking at other British people and not saying more than one sentence.
Meh !! 4 plots that start from different timelines and progress at different pace from each other, in order to get to the same point in time when the plots converge. Dialogue was scarce, acting - ok - The movie failed to capture the magnitude and scope of the issue. Even numerous beautiful panoramic shots still failed to convey the size of the near tragedy. I found myself bored and underwhelmed by the effort. I found myself better entertained by the 2 war veterans sitting in front of me getting pissed off by the far too many pre-movie commercials and the 3 teenage girls who wouldn't stop giggling.
This is a review and a rant. I would give this movie 4 and 1/2 stars The story was told from several perspectives and does not get romantic with one story --pearl harbour with Ben Affleck this tells the story of Dunkurk the pain and heroics. I read reviews where they said there was not enough action and I say go back to the FAST AND THE FURIOUS or THE AVENGERS... this was real.. it happened, people died this is no romance and if you need romance in a war movie there is something wrong. If you did not understand what it was about then google history. The movie has enough that you understand the human character good and brave and some cowardly. I ,for one, did not miss the romance from a movie about historic event in a war...The movie is not for those who feel romance is critical in a movie or those too immature to understand that movies about life are not Fast and furious special effects(unrealistic).. and I truly believe you must understand what kind of movie you are walking into before you buy a ticket....and be knowledgeable-- do not see TITANIC if you did not know lots of people died...
Great from start to finish. Beautifully directed, acting was amazing considering not a lot of dialogue. Great to see an adult movie without all the CG! Loved it.
The actual fact that this was a feat that really won WWII
Harry Styles!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The movie is well worth the admission. It show you how close things came to a real disaster.
I do not know how any one can say this was a good movie it was nothing but killing no story line , when they did talk which was very limited, you could not understand what they were saying clearly , I feel My husband and I wasted 2 hours of our day ,
Visceral and riveting! The music, often staccato and pulsating in rhythm, but perfect for displaying the urgency and intensity of what was happening on the screen. Not your typical war movie and I suspect there will be some who will not appreciate this film. But to me, a masterpiece. RAN
This movie is magnificent , it is exactly the way it was , with no embellishment . It brought me to tears. My father was there.
Had high expectations of this movie ak: Saving Private Ryan. I felt this movie was poorly directed as the story was not told properly from the lack of dialogue. The background music was also very over powering. Lots of Spitfire dog fights in the air where you couldn't tell the British from the Germans. The movie was put together as if all of us should have known the history of Dunkirk which most of us did not. Maybe, save your money and watch Saving Private Ryan again!
Very slow. Plot was confusing. Didn't explain about how British were trapped at Dunkirk and didn't focus on all the British that came to help in their small boats. The story of the Dunkirk evacuation was poorly told by this movie. Terrible screen play.
total action, important thing is hopefully Canadians will wake up and realize what our troops and allies went through past and present to save our FREEDOM so don't let anyone take it away,
good movie as Christopher Nolan films are but with this one u don't get the feel of the charters and who they are, so u don't get emotionally involved and that for me it miss the mark, but anything else was good but it not Nolan best film that for sure, but don't mine me go see it for yourself
Outstanding, certainly will get some Oscar nominations. The cinematography is probably the best I've ever seen in a war movie, the shots of spitfires and battleships are simply awesome. That being said, it's probably not for everyone. There are no female characters at all, there is no love story or sub plot, and not much in terms of character back story or development. There isn't much dialogue at all, in fact. The plot might be difficult for some to follow as its not linear, and things are happening during different days. But it will be a classic. As others pointed out, the feelings of hopelessness and impending doom reminded me a lot of a Kubrick film.
A Great War film! A movie you need to watch in theatres to experience the sound and action for the film
A dramatic portrayal of one of the most sobering yet inspirational moments in WW2. At what other time in history have civilians rescued the military in order to defend a nation?
Dunkirk was amazing. It was an immersive epic, It reminded me of a Stanley Kubrick film. It's definitely gonna get some oscar nominations. It's not your traditional war movie, it doesnt follow a bunch of soldiers fighting a winning battle, its a defeat, an evacuation. First off: there's not a lot of dialogue, and yet it's super effective, the amazing visuals tell the story. When there's shooting, it's really loud and menacing, which enhances the experience. The sound of the planes are awesome, gives your heart a jolt. When the german planes attack the troops on the beach, the sound of the approaching plane is just electrifying; It's like you're actually there. And when the bombs hit, plus the music really made you feel the despair. You could even hear the sand and water flying when a bomb went off. The music really made you feel hopeless when things were grim, but near the end, plus the music, it feels hopeful and even gives you goosebumps. The movie is told through 3 different perspectives: The land, which is in a week, the sea, which is in a day, and the air, which is in an hour. All 3 perspectives connect here and there, kinda reminded me of pulp fiction, reservoir dogs, or cloud atlas for the perspectives intertwining. The visuals are stunning, especially one scene involving one of the british pilots landing his plane; the sunset makes it just beautiful. There was one scene on a sinking ship that had a really cool camera angle. To sum it all up, Dunkirk is an ambitious epic that puts you in the boots of the soldiers, sailors, and airmen in a dark but hopeful stage of WW2. If you're going to see this movie, I'd recommend watching it at a theatre, it only enhances the experience.
Excellent movie. Not an American spectacle with flags waving and cheering. Real people. Loved it.
Very disappointing could not connect with any of the characters. Story line bounced around all over the place. Epic failure.