Review of Dunkirk (2017) by Ohsiyo — 20 Jul 2017

Are there 2 different versions of this movie? The movie that all the "experts" are raving about is not the one I saw. Have they all lost a bet to Christopher Nolan or is there blackmail involved? What showed at my theater was not much more than a glorified movie of the week.

There is almost no dialogue, and what little there is is drowned out by the soundtrack which tells us it's not important in the first place. There is no plot, no character development, no acting, confusing characters, and time jerks from dead of night to simultaneous broad daylight.

There is no audience connection or identification with the characters or situation. Granted, this is a critical episode in a World War, but the movie is filmed as "a day in the life." The "experts" claim the acting is fabulous, but there is no acting.

Tom Hardy sits in the cramped cockpit of a plane with his face covered by a mask the entire time. 400,000 soldiers are stranded on the beach, and we see maybe 500. There is supposed to be a massive rescue flotilla and we see maybe 12 boats.

The "experts" describe the movie as "avant garde" and a "masterpiece". What I saw was "meh". Although I found it difficult at times to watch, "Saving Private Ryan" was a war movie with intensity, plot, and characters.

"Dunkirk" doesn't come close.