Dunkirk

Christopher Nolan has made an immensely powerful film that may be about war, but it is first and foremost about people. About how strong they are, how weak they are, how they can come together, and also about how they can kick each other down. The film isn't great because it has great fight scenes, but because it captures the human fate and pain of war in an incredibly realistic way. (07/25/2017)

A depersonalized war epic in which instead of powerful and emotionally wrenching human stories or heroism, Nolan presents a wartime hell in an anonymous, detached guise. Indeed, it is quite difficult to fixate on any one character, as the narrative honestly follows the "rescue" as a whole and, with few exceptions, essentially gives no character room to make individual sacrifices for the benefit of all. Dunkirk's strength lies primarily in its detached, impersonal, bold approach and Zimmer's hellishly evocative soundtrack, which I can't imagine the sound of some scenes without hearing. In IMAX it was incredibly good; home viewing cut almost a quarter of the original experience. But in the war movie category, it's stunningly original and innovative. (11/20/2018)