What i believe people got wrong

Rating: 10/10 (14 September 2017)

Wow what a movie! But I guess what a person loves about this movie others hate.
And for most (skeptical) critics i read here i think they have misunderstood the purpose of the movie.
The main reason is that Nolan took a realistic approach of the war. It depicts the war as it was not as we would like to see it. I think that's why some people get confused and expect big Hollywood-like battle scenes (as in Saving Private Ryan that gets mentioned in most of the critics here). War isn't just big Hollywood stars doing heroic stuff on screen; It's all the other tens of millions just surviving it... This is a tribute to them, the soldiers and the civilians that just by being there allowed the Allied forces to exist and fight for this number of years and ultimately win the war. On top of that, this is just a small moment in history where the allied lost and are fleeing with their tails in between their legs. It is not a glorious time...
This leads to the building of the character (main critic out there). I feel like people believe that Nolan miscalculated on that side. He obviously didn't. By not giving names or ranks but just faces to people; he gives the feeling that the people on screen are all in it together. Stop wanting to have Hollywoodish heroes (by the way we have Tom Hardy's character portraying someone who is willing to give his life for the others). He gives the feeling that everyone is expendables; that they all went and fight in France and Belgium not expecting to come back. And as said in the movie "400.000 stranded but only for 30.000 to come back to England". How could you give that feeling if you had to build characters give them feelings and all?
In an era where most of us have only known war through films and video games, we tend to forget that most soldiers are just kids like us that wet themselves when scared. What Nolan portrays on the screen is just kids being super tired from stress, defeat, loosing friends and lack of sleep (by the way try talking when awake for 48 hours or more). He does that in a wonderful way and if you didn't feel sad if the protagonists of the movie died or not; I felt sad for every extras that died. Great job M. Nolan.
When it comes to the soundtrack; i guess it's a "hate it or absolutely love" kind of thing. I was sitting on the edge of my seat all the time because of the music. The grandiosity of the music at it's peak would be used in the most epic scenes and battles in other movies. Here it is used in such a way that if you were to be a veteran of the war, those "small moments" would be the unfortunate highlights of a war that would scare you for life.
Added to that, as everyone pointed out; superb filming, super acting, superb visual effects!
In short, best war movie i've seen and would rank it top above "band of brothers" and "saving private Ryan" (yes i did love Private Ryan as well)