@Outerspec:
Ummm…that's war, man. Pointless, senseless, and at many times random deaths. You don't know exactly who's going to die in war. A bullet can come out of nowehere and kill the person standing right next to you. A bomb can land on your head at any second with a strong wind. Take a stroll out on a beach and you can step on a landmine. Get rescued by a ship and a torpedo from the depths sinks your rescue boat as you're eating bread and jam. Death is ever hanging over your head in war.
My point was not that dying at any moments from any kinds of weapon was bad, but that Nolan focused too much time on a soldier who pushed a civilian down the stairs (not even mentioning his obvious death that was blatantly told when he went into the boat and said he wanted to help, also the other dude who told him where they were going was no joke) while thousands were dying on the beach and thousands were holding the Wehrmacht so that thousands could escape with the ships.
Yes, this situation could have happened and maybe it did, but it didn't worth spending this much time on it. Nolan created some stupid drama here instead of focusing on things that mattered. I'm criticizing his poor choices here, not that people can die from it or not in times of war or not.
I'm not complaining about the guys who died crushed by the ships, but about Nolan spending too much time on pointless and unnecessary death scenario.
That's where the suspense comes from, in knowing anyone can die but not knowing exactly who.
The sound editor and Hans Zimmer have done a great job.
Any of these…beautiful boys you keep talking about
I've said one or two things about the main cast who is consisting of young models, yes. But whatever, that's not really my issue with the movie.
The pilots' adventure in the sky while running low on fuel was particularly well done with their dogfights and heroic sacrifices. Especially the last shot with…
Yes the plotline with the pilots was good. Best part of the movie. (Don't know why only three are shown though)
And there were pilots during the war who were fighting until the end even without gas left. Don't know if it happened during the Dunkirk evacuation though(but even "if", that would not really be a problem).
I have other complaints and probably even more would come to mind if I took the time to think about it, but the lack of soldiers who are seen crossing the sea is something though.
Nolan made it a survival movie, while hundreds of thousands had crossed the sea (340 thousands did it and only 40thousands –mostly French-- died ), Nolan only shows ships who are getting sinked except in the last 10minutes, because... because it was more cinematic to do so. The writing couldn't be more classic (cliché/bad).
Why does the whole plot unfolds within a day btw? Because Nolan is self-conscious with making this movie a survival.