Nolan's Dunkirk! - MUST SEE

EAF Pub
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(Ok so technically this should be in the Books and Movies section but…)

Run, DON’T walk to see some of the most stunning Spitfire air-to-air footage committed to film…!

Harrowing, brutal and epic film. Saw it in normal format (not IMAX) but came out with nerves shredded yet uplifted. Audience in my part of London (not known for patriotism/jingositic behaviour started clapping at end - NEVER had that before - its a very British tale of pluck, hope and survival.

Some great technical details in there for us lot (fuel management, pumping the undercarriage down, vic of Spits being bounced without anyone knowing what happened) - and with stunning sound - Merlins, MG fire and terrifying Stuka attacks. I was flinching in my seat from some of it!

For EAF folks/IL-2 Cliffs simmers you really ARE in the Spitfire and willing Tom Hardy to ‘pull a bit more’ deflection at times. I swear there is also seems to be a bit of pre-stall buffet caught in the turns.

Some minor gripes: Unlimited ammo box check? CAP at 500ft seems a bit low - no wonder they were checking fuel every 5mins(!) Landing/ditching with canopy closed(!) and the finale, thou poignant sees a very very optimistic glide ratio… (!)

No (or few CGI) in entire film - including ships sinking (How the F*&% did they DO THAT???). However another minor niggle is that it perhaps could do with more CGI (ie smoke columns from Dunkirk oil tanks which were a massive beacon), plus more soldiers on beach, wrecked equipment etc. Its chaos, but very up-close and personal chaos

That said it is a bloody fantastic film and one which will leave you with a tear in your eye near the end for a couple of reasons. As a pal put it " the fighter comes to symbolise the defiance of a nation". Go see it!

(NB There is also a cameo from a well known WW2 movie actor/and Nolan favourite!)

“Spitfires, George, greatest plane ever made!”

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A great film, moody and realistic in terms of sound.

Spitfire footage was great, only complaint was 7 seconds of gunfire lasted way beyond 7 seconds and he turned on a Stuka with no engine, I cant see it would have had the energy to manoeuvre like that.

That said , its well worth a watch and encouraged me to research one of my all time questions about WW2, why did Hitler not annihilate the BEF on the beaches with tanks and air power.

It seems to a be a simple answer, his generals wanted this , but Hitler; it seems, did not want the generals to get away with telling him what he should do; so he did not give the order to proceed.

There is a theory that he allowed the BEF to escape so he could negotiate peace with Britain, but apparently this was not the case.

The lack of air cover over the beaches came across well, but I think it should have been explained that Dowding, was keeping fighters back for the Battle of Britain, which I believe was the case.

Maybe the Germans thought the same and limited their use of airpower for the same reason.

I like a film that raises questions.

In short, go and see it, well worth the money.

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Planning to watch it this weekend!

About why the germans didn’t press harder on BEF at Dunkirk, I have a vague memory of Göring promising to use Luftwaffe to annihilate them, but I might be wrong…

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Interesting, I did wonder why.

I kept crying out for Tom Hardy to fire earlier so many times. Way to much ammo and he was getting shot to bits sitting on the Henkel’s six but got away with it.

I enjoyed the film and the pace, it was suddenly over.

Couple of days earlier I got the chance to visit the Biggin Hill heritage hanger, which is a working restoration hanger for Spitfires mainly, plus they have a flyable E4 which had the the engine out for work. Two of the Mkvs there were used in the film, removing the cannons. Jumped in a flyable MKXVI and got to play about with the controls and got told off moving the throttle about. Surprised how much shoulder room I had and just felt at home in her straight away and the temptation to flick on the magnetos and fuel was almost to much. Glorious aeroplane.

Just need 2500 quid for a flight now…victory roll included.

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Watched it on sunday, good one! Those of you that haven’t seen it already, do it, and pay attention to the text in the beginning. :slight_smile:

I don’t know how many times I pressed the trigger on the Spit while the pilot waited (and missed). :slight_smile:

My girlfriend also enjoyed the movie, she was positively surprised as she was expecting something more like Pearl Harbour. :roflmao: