Just saw it last night. Thought it was fantastic.

It brilliantly captures the hellish intensity of war yet manages the difficult feat of doing so without the need to resort to arterial sprays of blood or severed limbs. Rather the impact is in its brutal audio and stark cinematography; be it the deafening scream of dive bombers, the thunderous crack of gunfire, or the near constant pulsing score which modulates with the action yet lurks in the background even in quieter moments, so that like the characters, we're reminded that the violence is only ever on hold, never truly absent.

The action, when it does come, hits like a freight train, and is designed to be frightening rather than thrilling. These guys aren't fighting for glory or even for victory; they're fighting for survival.

It also deserves props for never preaching; it has emotional moments, but they never feel cheap or tacky. There's little character development, but honestly I didn't feel this was a flaw; the film isn't about the personal lives of these guys, but rather how they respond to the extreme situations they're put through. Performances are strong across the board, with the big name actors wisely underplayed so as not to distract.

Where most war films try to capture the broader geopolitical context through the story of a squad or unit, Dunkirk goes for a more minimalist approach; it's less a story than an experience, less a journey of heroes than a raw portrayal of what it would have been like for the average guys caught up in the madness, and it pulls it off magnificently.

A 9/10 from me.

I have seen dozens of war films including Saving Private Ryan. I own hundreds of movies.

There is plenty of action in Dunkirk; ships are attacked from both the air and submarines, planes dogfight, a squad is cut down by Geman gunfire within a minute of the film opening.

I can care about these people because there are portrayed as realistic human beings, ordinary people caught up in an insane scenario. There is plenty of emotion, the film simply doesn't spell it out with over-the-top heartstring tugging. There was no time for them to grieve George, they were in a life-threatening situation. Peter clearly is upset by it though; he doesn't need to say anything; acting is so much more than just saying lines, his facial expession, his eyes convey his frustration and grief.

I feel like you went into the film expecting a different kind of movie. This isn't a blockbuster action film, it's an minimalist, almost abstract study of how people are affected by war.

@curl

Perhaps you have never seen Saving Private Ryannheemotive. This does not brilliantly capture anything. I would usually just so that we are just two totally different people.  I like Devils third you do not.  But you must know what happens in films like saving private Ryan or hacksawridge?

There is no action and how can you care about any of these people? People liking this movie is more shocking than anything the movie had to offer.  There is no experience and it is never emotional,  even when ugly kid dies the characters show no emotion and the dad does not even say anything. 

I will just assume you watch few movies and leave it at that. 

I have seen dozens of war films including Saving Private Ryan. I own hundreds of movies.

There is plenty of action in Dunkirk; ships are attacked from both the air and submarines, planes dogfight, a squad is cut down by Geman gunfire within a minute of the film opening.

I can care about these people because there are portrayed as realistic human beings, ordinary people caught up in an insane scenario. There is plenty of emotion, the film simply doesn't spell it out with over-the-top heartstring tugging. There was no time for them to grieve George, they were in a life-threatening situation. Peter clearly is upset by it though; he doesn't need to say anything; acting is so much more than just saying lines, his facial expession, his eyes convey his frustration and grief.

I feel like you went into the film expecting a different kind of movie. This isn't a blockbuster action film, it's an minimalist, almost abstract study of how people are affected by war.

Though I wasn't a big fan of war movies, so it'd be probably hard to please me, I think this was the best war movie I've seen. It was truly an interesting and different portrayal. I thought that it'd be more blockbuster-y, but it's definitely not. It's as minimalistic as a war movie can get. And the storytelling was pretty interesting. I feel like I might missed how all the three stories connect (specially the Cillian Murphy story), so I might have to watch it again to appreciate the film more. I felt a bit cold because I tend to enjoy Nolan films way more and, honestly, I didn't feel the emotional punch of the movie. I was brought to tears in Interstellar, for example, so you can clearly see the difference. And it felt a bit flat at the beginning. Also, I don't get the score at times. It was like... there is nothing happenning right now, and the score seemed to build up to a NOTHING moment XD. 

 Also, I don't get the score at times. It was like... there is nothing happenning right now, and the score seemed to build up to a NOTHING moment XD.