TonyWatchesMovies Movie Review: Dunkirk: 8 out of 10

With every human endeavor, we are bound to make mistakes. That is the basic concept of science, that to learn more about our world we experiment and try things in lots of different ways, and a lot of times it won't work. That's fine though, because simply by knowing what works and doesn't work, you can learn. However, when it comes to the subject of war and the value of human life, I think it's fair to say that you have to prepare for every eventuality, because one simple miscalculation can cost thousands of lives.

TonyWatchesMovies Score; 8 out of 10

Dunkirk was a fantastic movie, and I believe one of the truest war movies out there. Unlike a lot of other films where the violence is glorified or the heroism being the focus, this movie focused on the direness of combat and how a situation can turn from manageable to catastrophic within moments. Whilst watching in the theater, when we started to hear the roar of a German plane, many people were visibly bracing for it, and even my dad reacted using his voice (much to my dismay). When people physically react during a movie that's normally a sure sign that not only are they immersed in the film but also that they understand and empathize with the characters' plight, which is something that can make or break a war movie. When you're just watching a bunch of glorified explosions and guys shooting an endless amount of bullets, it's hard to feel that certain situation. With Dunkirk, however, there's one feeling you get throughout, the thing that makes this movie so impactful; you feel human, you feel mortal. That's really the story of Dunkirk, when you boil it down, that when under constant and real threats of death we are willing to sacrifice what we must to survive.

A huge part of this movie that makes the whole film as tense as it is are the slow scenes, the ones that happen in between the attacks, the quiet desperation. The reason that 13 Hours and Black Hawk Down feel like war porn is because it just feels like a constant barrage throughout the movie, whereas with movies like Saving Private Ryan and Dunkirk, there are moments that don't have warfare and killing which speak to the human side of every soldier, the part they have to suppress when on the battlefield. In Saving Private Ryan, it's the storytelling in between the fighting that make that movie powerful; in Dunkirk it's the moments when they are waiting for the next attack that make this movie great. Sure, some of the scenes were a little slower than others (which I think is what brought the score down a little), but for the most part they served the film well.

Overall, great movie.

Cheers,

-TonyWatchesMovies