Tight & Tense Evacuation Spot

Rating: 8/10 (3 March 2018)

(Flash Review)
Not a location I'd like to be stranded at that point in time. 338,226 men (including 123,000 French soldiers) needing to be evacuated from the shores at Dunkirk as the German had them encircled during WWII. The film chronicles their evacuation and the tense moments while waiting on the beach and the mole (a large dock). The film follows a few storylines. One is the perspective of British pilots, men waiting at the beach and the many civilian vessels sent to rescue the troops as large battleships were needed elsewhere. For me the main character was the Zimmer music score as it kept a mesmerizing atmosphere of the tension. While this was the opposite of Saving Private Ryan, as there was no true hero character, the visuals felt similar with saturated and muted color tones. The editing provided smooth transitions from scene to scene which helped hold the tense atmosphere. This was a solid war film yet there were a couple egregious continuity fouls such as one fighter plane that was able to glide around without fuel for a literally unbelievable amount of time while shooting down another enemy fighter to boot! As well as a couple questionable character decisions. Enjoyable nonetheless.