Dunkirk

[Boink]

It's now on Pay-Per-View and we watched it last night. Excellent... and very different than many other war movies (without a script as such or regular dialog).
Still amazes me that they got about 330,000 off the beaches back to the UK (though, thankfully, the 3 day "Halt" order by the Germans really helped). Anyway, I was just reading about it in terms of some of the technical scope:

"The British Army left enough equipment behind to fit out about eight to ten divisions. Discarded in France were, among other things, huge supplies of ammunition, 880 field guns, 310 guns of large caliber, some 500 anti-aircraft guns, about 850 anti-tank guns, 11,000 machine guns, nearly 700 tanks, 20,000 motorcycles and 45,000 cars and trucks." ​

 

[elrey]

THANK ALL OF YOU THAT SERVED OR SERVE. From the bottom of my heart, I deeply thank you.

 

[DrEntropy]

Watched it (mostly) yesterday. Already knew the ending...

 

[mikephillips]

And it was the Spitfire that saved western civilization.

Actually the Hurricanes during that time had more kills as a ratio than the Spitfires. They were considered tougher to shoot down due to the partial canvas covering and more stable gun platforms. Also the guns grouped together on each wing, rather than spread further apart in the Spitfire wings, gave a tighter cone of fire. Which was important since they flew with the .303 caliber machine guns which were a rifle size bullet so getting more of them in a tighter pattern stood a better chance of real damage.

 

[DrEntropy]

I was surprised there weren't more Hurricanes in the movie. And the RAF had yet to move from a Vic formation to the more useful finger-four grouping the Germans used. So from the historical aspect, the movie is accurate.

 

[Boink]

There's a web-page about accuracies (and inaccuracies) in the film. An excerpt (bold font is mine):

The film was noted for its generally realistic representation of the historical evacuation. It accurately depicts a few Royal Air Force planes dogfighting the Luftwaffe over the sea, limited to one hour of operation by their fuel capacity. In 1940, destroyers and fighter planes were indeed held back from battle, as the Royal Navy and Air Force would have been the sole defenders against invasion. Also noted were the accurate depictions of how a small boat attempted to evade aerial attack, and of how soldiers returning to England saw a civilian population largely unaware of or unaffected by the war.[SUP][171][/SUP][SUP][172][/SUP] British officers did initially refuse to evacuate French soldiers, although Churchill later insisted that the French be evacuated alongside the British.[SUP][171][/SUP] The overall realism of the film was acknowledged by surviving Dunkirk veterans, although Branagh said that some thought it "was louder than the battle".[SUP][173][/SUP]

Hispano Buchon masquerading as a Bf 109E, wearing a temporary paint scheme for the film.[SUP][72][/SUP]​

However, although some events are based on true history, the characters and the storyline are fictional. Branagh's role is a composite character[SUP][174][/SUP] based partly on the actions of James Campbell Clouston.[SUP][175][/SUP][SUP][176][/SUP] When the beach scenes were shot, the weather was worse than during the real evacuation; Nolan explained that this helped to understand the danger faced by the pleasure boats.[SUP][177][/SUP] In one scene, an officer gives a salute without wearing his military beret, which a veteran pointed out as inaccurate protocol.[SUP][178][/SUP] The German planes had noses painted yellow in the film; this was not actually done until a month after Dunkirk.[SUP][174][/SUP] The involvement of French, African, and Indian soldiers was either limited or left out.[SUP][166][/SUP][SUP][171][/SUP] Modern shots were used for the aerial photographs, whereas in reality the town was substantially in ruins by the time of the evacuation. The design of the leaflets dropped from the air demanding the British surrender was artistic and not one used in 1940.[SUP][171][/SUP]​

 

[HealeyRick]

I enjoyed the movie and seeing it in IMAX is a real treat. My only criticism is the beaches didn't seem crowded enough with personnel and materiel. I always pictured it as being cheek by jowl with soldiers waiting to get on boats, but the movie made the beaches seem kind of empty. Seems like some CGI might have helped a bit.

 

[Boink]

I enjoyed the movie and seeing it in IMAX is a real treat. My only criticism is the beaches didn't seem crowded enough with personnel and materiel. I always pictured it as being cheek by jowl with soldiers waiting to get on boats, but the movie made the beaches seem kind of empty. Seems like some CGI might have helped a bit.

Agreed. Despite the many long lines, it sure didn't look like 330,000.

 

[mikephillips]

. It accurately depicts a few Royal Air Force planes dogfighting the Luftwaffe over the sea, limited to one hour of operation by their fuel capacity. [SUP]][/SUP]

Yea, the Spitfires and Hurricanes weren't really designed with distance type operations in mind. The early versions had small fuel tanks and no option to carry external drop tanks as they were considered point defense aircraft that would defend targets and be true offensive weapons. Later versions were better with more fuel capacity, but the ability to operate into France was still a year away.

And to be fair the BF109s had the same problems operating over England during the Battle of Britain.

 

[Roger]

I really enjoyed the movie, but surly they could have left out the shot of the burnt-out Spitfire with the prop hanging off a bit of scaffold pole rather than a Merlin? I realise they wouldn't burn a real Spit, but this fake is too obvious.

 

[mikephillips]

Kind of like the 1969 film "Battle of Britain". There are a few shots of planes on the ground during airfield attacks that quickly show they are steel tube wrapped with wood or fiberglass exteriors. But then the majority of folks probably don't know what the guts of any of these aircraft really look like anyway.

 

[Boink]

Now, having seen Dunkirk, we just saw "Darkest Hour." I had read it YEARS ago (as part of the 6 volume WWII history written by Churchill).
It's VERY well done. I even recognized parts of Chartwell (his home in the SE).
For those that don't know, this is the story of how he rose to power in early 1940 (having been relegated as a bit of an old coot) and the mobilization of the rescue at Dunkirk... and his declaration that the UK would fight and not discuss conditions of surrender to the Nazis.
It's a tiny bit sentimental a times, but well done.

 

[NutmegCT]

I am *really* looking forward to seeing Darkest Hour. Two very honorable - and human - leaders:

A bit of sentiment is fine with me, if it gets the larger point across.

 

[PAUL161]

I really enjoyed the movie, but surly they could have left out the shot of the burnt-out Spitfire with the prop hanging off a bit of scaffold pole rather than a Merlin? I realise they wouldn't burn a real Spit, but this fake is too obvious.

We as aircraft oriented people, notice things like that, but most folks don't pick things apart or even know anything is amiss like we do. Pearl Harbor had some pick apart aircraft scenes also, but watching those type of movies I don't say anything as not to ruin it for others. Aircraft people are a picky bunch anyway, comes with training, LOL! PJ

 

[DavidApp]

A friend of ours after watching Pearl Harbor pointed out that one of the Aircraft carriers had steel decks in the film rather than wooden decks. History major.

David

 

[DrEntropy]

Aircraft people are a picky bunch anyway, comes with training, LOL! PJ

Ain't it th' truth.

And as far as the "Darkest Hour" flic, I'm anxious to see that one. Hard to believe that's Oldman in that Chirchill.

 

[Boink]

Oldman did a FANTASTIC job!

 

[waltesefalcon]

"Pearl Harbor had some pick apart aircraft scenes also"

That entire movie was a pick apart movie, terrible, terrible, terrible film.

I didn't mind seeing the prop on a piece of frame, as pointed out above it was no worse than the frame and canvas planes in Battle of Britain. I'd rather see that than know that for realism sake Christopher Nolan bought a Spitfire and burned it to the ground for that scene.

 

[mikephillips]

Not to mention guys didn't go fight in the Battle of Britain, then go to Hawaii for Pearl Harbor then volunteer to fly with Doolittle. Lord the things they did to try to tie the who story line together....

 

[waltesefalcon]

Mike it was just a travesty all the way around.