"Dunkirk" of 2017 is a war movie that was made with a focus on a few individuals whose experiences of it were on land, sea and in the air. Director Christopher Nolan said that he wanted to focus more on the individuals for their experiences. So, much of this film has narrower scenes and small area closeups. That gives viewers a sense of the plight of the soldier, the RAF pilot, and the civilian rescuer - and the fear they would feel at times. The few brief wider area scenes show few boats on the water and only occasional action on the land or air.

The first scenes when Tommy goes onto the beach and it is strafed and bombed, show many men. After that there are three or four quays of men lined up on the beach. But that's the only staffing and bombing of the beech in the film. Most of the land action after that occurs on the mole and dock with a Red Cross ship that gets bombed and sunk. And the soldiers on the structure strafed and bombed twice. A long series has Tommy below another ship that gets bombed, then he and others struggling to get out as the ship goes down. And Tommy and some other soldiers hole up in a beached fishing trawler that will go out at high tide. Considerable time is spent there and with the soldiers then struggling to get out after the boat sinks from the bullet holes in it.

The air portion showing the RAF pilots, Collins and Farrier, have just them and one other pilot encountering a flight with Luftwaffe bombers and fighters. The last remaining plane aloft, Farrier, downs another fighter and then intercepts a German bomber and disables it before it can bomb a minesweeper. The civilian rescue portion is mostly on one small craft piloted by Mr. Dawson, with his son, Peter, and his friend, George.

This film approach gives one the sense of the personal fear of the harrowing experience felt by these men. But it seems to pull each of these encounters out of the whole debacle that is taking place. Most scenes on the beach after the opening show huge expanses with just a few soldiers in a couple of places. Where did the lines go, where did the soldiers go? Where is the sense of the mass of humanity - 400,000 men on the beaches that Naval commander says he has to get out?

The technique used in making this film constantly switches between the three elements. So, the audience is not seeing different RAF fighters, or a different ship that is later attacked. The film shows many encounters over, but from another of the three perspectives. And that gives it the effect of much more activity. While quite effective, it's also somewhat jumbled and hard to follow with the switches of characters.

It struck me that this was a technique that would give audiences the sense of confusion, terror and almost hopelessness, without showing the broad expanse of the operation. It does a good job of portraying the sea on fire, men struggling with fear to stay alive, and the horrors of the encounter. It's a good film for that. But, with all of the narrower scenes, one doesn't have a sense of the war going on all around it. Rather, it has a feel that the rest of the action is now on hold to focus on this scene and locale.

So, while some hail this as a great movie, it's not one of the great films about World War II. It's a good anti-war film that just partly celebrates the marvelous rescue of the armies from Dunkirk. The 1958 film, "Dunkirk," gives that broader, overall picture with a better sense of the immensity of the whole Dunkirk operation, and the great civilian part in the rescue.

As of early 2022, "Dunkirk" of 2017 is billed as the highest grossing World War II film, with ticket sales of $526 million. That was against a budget listed at $100 million to $150 million. But, it needed the worldwide box office, because its U. S. and Canada gross was just under $190 million, which would have meant a big loss for the film. Adjusted for inflation, other movies would top this one. "Saving Private Ryan" of 1998 would still be first - at $725 million in 2017. Schindler's List of 1993 would have been $545 million. "Pearl Harbor" of 2001 would be over $600 million. And, while it wouldn't top "Dunkirk" of 2017, "The Longest Day" from 1962 and a much smaller population base, would have an adjusted 2017 box office of $407 million.

This film won three Oscars, all on the technical side. Here are some of the great World War II movies and their Oscar wins. All of these include best picture. "Casablanca," of 1942, won three Oscars. In 1943, "Mrs. Miniver," won six Oscars. "From Here to Eternity," of 1953, won eight Oscars. "Bridge on the River Kwai," of 1957, took seven Oscars. From 1970, "Patton," won seven Oscars. And, seven Oscars went to the best picture of 1993, "Schindler's List."

One obviously great film is missing from this list, but there are many, many, great war movies that were made in the 1940s and 1950s as well. The big one missing here is "Saving Private Ryan," of 1998. Besides holding the highest box office, adjusted for inflation, it won five Oscars, but not best picture. That year the actors, crew members and moguls of Hollywood voted best picture to a fluffy fairytale comedy romance, "Shakespeare in Love." Well, that film will never be in the top 250 films of IMDb, but "Saving Private Ryan" and some of the above WW II films surely will stay there well into the future.