Jump to content

Darkest Hour - New Winston Churchill/Dunkirk Movie


huntssurplus
 Share

Recommended Posts

I have done a few reviews now and I just got back from the theater after seeing this movie that I thought I give it a review. I would like to say that this is all my opinion and that I am not an expert in the field of history this movie covers, nor am I a professional film critic. I am just a guy in a chair at my house who likes history and movies.

 

I'll try to keep this review spoiler free so if you want to go watch it in theaters right now you can, but since the movie is a historical film you can't really spoil anything to hinder the enjoyment of the film as the events already happened almost 78 years ago.

 

Now for my opinions. I have to say this really was a great movie. A mix of humor and real historical accuracy makes this movie great. I think it had a great balance of seriousness with a few good jokes that weren't cringey or felt out of place. Gary Oldman gave a steller and possibly Oscar worthy performance as Winston Churchill and there were great performances by the supporting characters as well such as the secretary, Churchill's wife, Halifax, Chamberlin, the King, pretty much every actor or actress did a really good job in this movie. I thought that the movie flowed really well, and kept my attention pretty well throughout the entire film. The movie was also quite uplifting too and I left the theater willing to pick up a rifle to fight for the British cause.

 

In terms of historical accuracy, again I am no expert but it seemed pretty accurate. Of course the movie is a drama so a lot of what actually happened was dramatised and some of scenes that happened in movie never happened if real life, but the overarching premise I felt stayed intact and didn't stray to far from what actually happened. Keep in mind this is a movie meant for entertainment not a documentary, however, it might spark some more interest in the topic.

 

Now for criticisms. If you aren't to interested in the more political aspect of WW2 you probably won't like this film and will find yourself bored at many parts. There really is only one scene of an actual battle, but, it lasts for only a minute before it switches back to England again, so do not go into this film looking for a Saving Private Ryan, or Band of Brothers type film. That isn't really a criticism of the film just a warning. I don't really have any criticisms of the film to be honest. It really is a great film and I think it lives up to the hype surrounding it. Some critics are calling it one of the best movies of the year even. Maybe some scenes were a bit long but I don't think it is enough to warrant you not watching it at some point in time.

 

Now this film isn't really one you need to see in theaters in my opinion. You could probably wait until it comes out on DVD and watch it then if you please. But if you are really aching to see it then spending the $8 or so on a ticket is probably worth it.

 

One thing I liked about this film is that Dunkirk didn't come out too long ago so this film is really a parallel to that film. Instead of showing the fighting it shows the political aspect. If you really wanted to you could watch Dunkirk then go watch this film so you get a full idea of what happened at Dunkirk.

 

One more thing to add is that this film is from the perspective of Winston Churchill for most of the run time.

 

In conclusion, Darkest Hour is a great film about the early days of WW2 that I recommend you go see. The film tells a great story that I think you will really enjoy. I give it a 9.5/10 so if everything I said before didn't convince you then hopefully that rating does. It really is a great film.

Thanks for reading my review and i'm curious about your opinion on Darkest Hour.

Hunt

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Patchcollector

I've heard a lot of positive feedback about the movie.Gary Oldman is one of my faves,I always enjoy his intense performances.I hope he gets the Oscar this year.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've heard a lot of positive feedback about the movie.Gary Oldman is one of my faves,I always enjoy his intense performances.I hope he gets the Oscar this year.

 

I agree, Gary Oldman really is an incredible actor, especially in this movie!

 

Hunt

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Garandomatic

And my local theater isn't running it yet... I've been waiting on this intensely for months... If you like Churchill, the "walking with Destiny" documentary on Netflix is amazing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

huntssurplus

And my local theater isn't running it yet... I've been waiting on this intensely for months... If you like Churchill, the "walking with Destiny" documentary on Netflix is amazing.

 

I'll check out the documentary, that's too bad your theater is running it yet.

 

Hunt

Link to comment
Share on other sites

huntssurplus

Thanks not playing locally just yet, but it is our list of movies to attend.

 

Hmm that's interesting, i'm pretty sure its been playing in my theater for a few weeks now. When it does play in your theater I definitely recommend seeing it!

 

Hunt

Link to comment
Share on other sites

huntssurplus

I have only seen the Trailer and I didn't know that the RAF was using the DC3 so early in the war....hmmmm.

 

That is a minor inaccuracy in my opinion. If this was a movie about paratroopers then yes it would be greater, but the plane itself is only shown for a minute at most. I don't think that it affects the overall film in my opinion.

 

Thanks for the comment!

Hunt

Link to comment
Share on other sites

huntssurplus

I saw it last week and thought it was a terrific historical film. 5 Stars! Bobgee

 

Glad you liked it! I couldn't agree more!

 

Hunt

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

I saw the film yesterday and have to admit that I'm thoroughly impressed by it. It is beautifully filmed with attention to detail. And the acting from Gary Oldman as Churchill is truly amazing.

The story starts just before Chamberlains resignation and ends with Churchill's "we will never surrender" speech. In between you get to see how Churchill became PM and the difficulties he had to deal with. I can recommend seeing this film if your interested in this part of history. It is not a sit back, put your mind on standby and relax film. It's also not a fast paced film. Time is taken to tell the story.

 

Rene

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I caught it last weekend. I simply could not believe that was Gary Oldman! After l got home, I had to google his picture because I thought I must have been confusing him with a different actor. His performance easily made this film worth seeing. I don't follow film awards, but man he deserves something big! As with any historic film, you have to take the history with a grain of salt. From what I know of the subject matter, it was accurate in general, but took liberties with specifics here and there, better to tell the story. I compare it to the movie Lincoln, in that it was about the politics of the era, not so much the military history, and shows the behind the scenes maneuvering of a single historic event. Well worth seeing. I missed Dunkirk when it came out but I would imagine these two films would make a great double feature.

Mikie

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I saw the film yesterday and have to admit that I'm thoroughly impressed by it. It is beautifully filmed with attention to detail. And the acting from Gary Oldman as Churchill is truly amazing.

The story starts just before Chamberlains resignation and ends with Churchill's "we will never surrender" speech. In between you get to see how Churchill became PM and the difficulties he had to deal with. I can recommend seeing this film if your interested in this part of history. It is not a sit back, put your mind on standby and relax film. It's also not a fast paced film. Time is taken to tell the story.

 

Rene

 

I couldn't agree more! Gary Oldman is stellar in this film! Thanks for the comment!

 

I caught it last weekend. I simply could not believe that was Gary Oldman! After l got home, I had to google his picture because I thought I must have been confusing him with a different actor. His performance easily made this film worth seeing. I don't follow film awards, but man he deserves something big! As with any historic film, you have to take the history with a grain of salt. From what I know of the subject matter, it was accurate in general, but took liberties with specifics here and there, better to tell the story. I compare it to the movie Lincoln, in that it was about the politics of the era, not so much the military history, and shows the behind the scenes maneuvering of a single historic event. Well worth seeing. I missed Dunkirk when it came out but I would imagine these two films would make a great double feature.

Mikie

I agree with the comparison to Lincoln. I did the same thing when I saw the movie too, they must've gave Gary Oldman some CGI he was really transformed!

 

Thanks for the comment,

Hunt

Link to comment
Share on other sites

BILL THE PATCH

Haven't seen it, but when I saw the trailer I said to myself this is going to be good. They should do a sequel from where they leave off till final victory. Can't wait to see it.

 

Sent from my XT1031 using Tapatalk

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I saw the movie last weekend and Gary Oldham's performance was simply astonishing. It was like watching the real Churchill in a documentary.
Dunkirk slightly disappointed me but Darkest Hour had my full attention for the full length of the movie. It was nice to see a movie of the early days of WWII that highlights the political aspect and one of the most famous persons in 20th century history. Some parts were not entirely historically accurate but overall a very good movie. I wasn't disappointed at all so I would recommend to movie to anyone who has a general interest in WWII.
Jelle

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...
Retired Army Noncom

Excellent movie, true to facts and worthy of any awards. Gary Oldman's portrayal is spot on....IMO

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You know, since I saw this wonderful movie, I've adopted his practice of have champagne and brandy with my breakfast. :rolleyes: Always something to be learned from ole' Winston, don't you think?

 

Steve

Link to comment
Share on other sites

pararaftanr2

An excellent film, highly recommended. Mr. Oldman deserves an Oscar, in my opinion. As for the use of a DC-3 in the scene where Churchill visits France, I've read that he actually visited six times before France fell, and made the trips in a De Havilland Flamingo. Only 16 of these aircraft were ever built and the few that survived the war, and brief post-war commercial use, were scraped in the early 1950s. The DC-3 makes sense as a period correct substitute, for the purpose of the film, at least. In 1944, Churchill did make a flight to Paris in a Dakota (RAF version of the DC-3) I believe.

 

 

post-9787-0-62625700-1519879664_thumb.jpg

post-9787-0-52577900-1519879677_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Retired Army Noncom

You know, since I saw this wonderful movie, I've adopted his practice of have champagne and brandy with my breakfast. :rolleyes: Always something to be learned from ole' Winston, don't you think?

 

Steve

The movie clearly shows the germans were not the only arseholes Winston was up against!!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Retired Army Noncom

Best acting Oscar for portrayal of actual happenings from a historical figure...I concur!!!! Historical account movies should have there own category Oscar awards completely separate from fantasy movies...IMO. Let those that live in a fantasy world celebrate without the knowledge or beliefs they can do so from those from actual History that provides that freedom to entertain !!!!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

huntssurplus,

 

Thank you for that review. I'd been debating (stalling really) about the film, but will now go give it a chance.

 

I may be one of the relatively small few here who have actually read Churchill's entire 6-volumes about WWII... it was worth the effort and time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

huntssurplus

huntssurplus,

 

Thank you for that review. I'd been debating (stalling really) about the film, but will now go give it a chance.

 

I may be one of the relatively small few here who have actually read Churchill's entire 6-volumes about WWII... it was worth the effort and time.

 

I'm glad you liked it, I really enjoyed the film so I'm excited to hear what you think too!

 

I might eventually give Churchill's WW2 volumes a try eventually, if I have the time.

 

Hunt

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I might be the only one here who was a bit disappointed. Though it was a great movie, I thought it portrayed Churchill as somewhat confused and indecisive which is at odds with the several biographies I’ve read about him. They also took some liberties by unnecessarily inserting some fiction and rearranging some facts to bolster the plot. All that said, amazing acting by Oldman.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...