Not a patch on the 1958 version. The older one told the whole story even though it had the usual jingoism of the times. This one is a patchwork of small pieces. It's more about Nolan's budget allowing him to make the aerial battles and the sinking of a few ships the centrepiece of his tale. The constant switching between scenes, the drawn out mini dramas trying and failing to create suspense, the incessant 'musical' droning in the background attempting to add to the sense of impending doom. None of it really achieves much. Make no mistake, the aerial photography has a certain beauty but the aerial battles make it look easy shooting down enemy planes and that's just not realistic. The beaches were mostly unmanned and mostly you could only see a sloping piece of sand. The 1958 film showed the scale of the task and the conditions on the beachhead. In this one a few boats turned up and the day was saved. Did Nolan waste his budget on the aerial scenes? I'm not sure how I would class this as a movie but it's not great and it's not Dunkirk.