Credible WWII Movie Inevitably Laced with Computer Effects

Rating: 8/10 (20 July 2017)

Good WWII movie, admitting early on that historical accuracy is not its intention, and told in Quentin Tarantino fashion, flashing back and forward between incidents involving army, navy and air forces trying to flee Dunkirk (France), or help others make their way back to the UK.
According to Commander Bolton (played by Branagh), 400,000 men were on beaches of Dunkirk awaiting removal, and supposedly only about 10% of those men would get out of France - or so were Winston Churchill's calculations because the overriding priority was to use all resources to protect UK territory.
Direction is sound, photography competent (though computer effects are obvious), and acting is in such small patches by so many people that no one really stands out, with the possible exceptions of Mark Rylance, who embodies the famous courage of common British people as he takes his small yacht to Dunkirk and rescues British forces stranded at sea along the way; and Tom Hardy, who gets the plum part of the Spitfire pilot shooting the hell out of Messerschmidts and Heynckels.
It is refreshing to see a movie about Brits played by Brits, no Americans about, which is historically accurate as the USA pursued its isolationist policy at the time.
It is also credible that, at the beginning of the movie, the Brits should want their countrymen to travel first out of France and leave the French to their fate. It is not so credible that, by the end of the movie, Commander Bolton should say that he wants to stay behind to help the French get out, nor do I imagine the Admiralty agreeing to such a senior officer staying potentially within grasp of the enemy just to help the "frogs." It is an unfortunately overly sentimental touch that - in my humble opinion - smacks of Brexit apology.
In fact, what happened was that Churchill ordered the destruction of the French Navy's fleet, then the world's largest, so it would not fall into German hands and be used against Great Britain -- and many of the French ships were sunk with French servicemen inside. So much for helping the "frogs"...
Perhaps that is why Nolan is not interested in historical accuracy about the events at Dunkirk.
All told, it is a film well worth watching that pays deserved homage to the British people's courage, intelligence, resourcefulness, firmness of purpose, and capacity to find the silver lining in the direst of situations.