Went to see "Dunkirk." It's riveting.

[Wade Hampton]

Simply put, I thought "Dunkirk" is one of the best movies about war in general and WWII in particular that I've ever seen.

My Uncle Lewis was in the invasion in Southern France, led by Mark Clark, that rarely gets much attention when compared to Normandy. They were in heavy combat, regardless.

One of the things he hated about most war movies was how much you can see of the enemy in them. Even though he and the platoon he led were actively engaged with the Germans for months on end, they still rarely caught more than a glimpse of the guys on the other side.

This film is like that - the bullets whiz past, but everybody's got their heads down.

I'm not going to go on at great length here, but would recommend that those of you that are interested by this should go see it in a theater rather than watch it on TV or (God forbid) your phone. There is so much incredible visible detail that's going to be lost once the screen size gets reduced. So roust yourselves and go see it in a theater if you possibly can.


Wade Hampton Miller

[fazool]

Thanks Wade. My daughter is a huge BC fan and asked to see it today. We couldnt get to the theater tonight but will go see it.

[Gmountain]

Originally Posted by fazool

Thanks Wade. My daughter is a huge BC fan and asked to see it today. We couldnt get to the theater tonight but will go see it.

What's BC?

[Brucebubs]

Opened in Australia yesterday, the clips look amazing.
I'll try and catch it at my local cinema.

[Dirk Hofman]

Thanks for the recommendation–been interested in this one from the trailers. Glad to hear it's good.

[LarryVe]

Can't wait to see it, I am a sucker for war movies.

[M19]

It's a shame that the film makers totally ignored Churchill and the underlying nature of the struggle.

[Wade Hampton]

Originally Posted by Gmountain

What's BC?

I was wondering the same thing. Here on my perch on the Pacific coast we mean "British Columbia" when we say "BC," but I don't think Fazool meant that.


whm

[gjd100]

I saw it at an Imax theatre.... Fabulous

[ThermiteTermite]

I've got high hopes, real aircraft and the lack of CGI sounds promising. Tough go under General Mark Clark, many of those who served under him didn't care for him.

[Wade Hampton]

Originally Posted by ThermiteTermite

I've got high hopes, real aircraft and the lack of CGI sounds promising. Tough go under General Mark Clark, many of those who served under him didn't care for him.

Nope, he was a first class horse's....

My uncle didn't like him either, not just for his grandstanding behavior during his command positions in WWII and Korea, but for what he did to the Citadel after the Defense Department put Clark out to pasture and he took over as President there at the Military College of South Carolina.

The Citadel is my old family alma mater: we've been going there literally since the doors were first opened in the 1840's. My Uncle Lewis was roommates with Fritz Hollings, later US Senator, in Company A of the Citadel when they were all marched down en masse to the Armory in Charleston to be sworn in as active duty second lieutenants so they could be put into the fight. I think Lewis was Class of 1943, but he only attended college a year or two.

Those from his class who survived and came back from the war were given their college degrees as thanks for their service, no more classes required. Fortunately, Lewis survived, but many of his classmates didn't.

After Clark was retired from the Army in the 1950's he took over the Citadel, and made it a much more brutal place, according to Lewis. Lots of West Point nastiness (like shaven heads, making plebes brace and eat "square meals") was introduced under him. There was hazing before Clark took over, but not to the insane degree he encouraged.

Naturally, I went to the Citadel, and while it wasn't as bad as it had been when Clark was actively mismanaging the place, it was still bad enough.

Anyway, Clark was still alive and living in the penthouse of the Francis Marion Hotel in downtown Charleston when I was a cadet. One time a friend and I went into the bar in the hotel to get beers, when I saw Clark sitting a few bar stools down. We were in our so-called "undress blouses," grey wool with black bands down the front and high collars, so of course he knew we were cadets.

I saw him gazing at us, all wobbly with drink, martini glass in hand, but I didn't feel like talking to the old drunk so I pretended not to see him.


whm

[RussL30]

Thanks for the review Wade. I don't go to many movies, but I definitely want to see this one now. It still amazes me that Hitler halted his advancement. That
really back to bite the Germans.

[Wade Hampton]

There's an excellent new book, just translated from German into English, called Blitzed, that you might want to read. What it explains is that the Blitzkrieg was accomplished by the German army totally cranked on methamphetamine. During the initial invasions of France and the Low Countries they went 17 days without sleeping.

So while part of the reason the Germans dawdled outside Dunkirk was that Hitler was still halfway expecting the British to cut some sort of deal with him, the other reason was that the Wermacht needed to rest. They were coming down from what has to be the most monumental mass drug binge in history.


whm

[Silly Moustache]

Originally Posted by M19

It's a shame that the film makers totally ignored Churchill and the underlying nature of the struggle.

Apparently that was the intention all along.

See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunkirk_(2017_film)

I guess that we see so many documentaries (now more likely "drama docs" that you and I would have hoped for the "real story" of this - probably the worst defeat the UK had suffered, but celebrated due to the willingness of so many of the civilian population to endanger themselves to help in the rescue.


" ........ We shall not flag nor fail. We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender... "

It was hoped that 30,000 British and French soldiers might be rescued, but whilst so many were lost, 300,000 actually made it back to blightly.

[Jim Owen]

Thanks for the review, Wade. It's not opened in Wilkes yet, but I'm going ASAP. Mark Rylance is a riveting actor--I saw him twice at the Globe, and have admired his BBC work and work in American films such as Bridge of Spies.