Well i'm really glad you came here before viewing this complete & utter piece of rubbish !. I got about 15 min into it & realised 'this is it'. The 'actors' the uniform,machines & general demeanor of people attempting to portray scared & desperate body of men in a huge push to save as much of the structure & integrity of the British ARMY ! & send a very sad crew of the paras to certain death. 'nuff said,it's rubbish !!.

Have made no secret in the past of intensely disliking, and even outright hating a lot, a vast majority of The Asylum's (near-universally maligned for good reason) output, though there is curiosity as to whether they are capable of making something good and compulsive about their output's badness. Admittedly, The Asylum do have a small group of watchable films and the occasional (big emphasis on that word) above average one, unfortunately outweighed by the lacklustre at best and often dreadful films they churn out.

'Operation Dunkirk' is not just one of their worst last year and in a while, it is also for me down there among their all-time worst. Considering how many awful films The Asylum has, that is not a distinction any film wants to have but 'Operation Dunkirk' deserves it. Like what was said with 'Geo-Disaster' with 'Geostorm', 'Operation Dunkirk' believe it or not is not a blatant rip off of Christopher Nolan's 'Dunkirk', having been released two weeks before that film, but it was made to capitalise on that film's release.

Regardless of what people's stance is on 'Dunkirk', despite being acclaimed by critics have also come across many people who disliked it, those who hated it will find themselves appreciating it after watching 'Operation Dunkirk'. With me, didn't find myself being blown away but did find it good and appreciated it. Regardless of criticisms of lack of emotion, lack of character development and not doing enough with the subject, at least it was a visual, technical and directorial achievement.

Conversely, 'Operation Dunkirk' is an anti-thesis to all that and those who were alive at the time of one of Britain's most significant events or had relatives who were will be offended at how the film portrays it. Am not one who criticises or even mentions historical inaccuracy in a film usually (or tries not to),but this was a slap in the face in this regard. It is such a significant historical event that is intimate and painful to a lot of people. Calling it a major disservice to it is not enough to describe it. Sorry for the rant, but do feel that it does have to be said.

Just for the record, as said many times, giving a film the lowest possible rating is incredibly rare for me these days, trying to be a fair reviewer trying to see the good in everything viewed. That rating is only reserved for films etc. that look like no effort or heart was put into it and like nobody was trying, a cardinal sin in film but actually not committed all that often. Not in a while has there been a worse example of this than 'Operation Dunkirk'. 'Dunkirk' cannot be accused of not trying, whereas it was plain obvious that even though it was low budget this film did not.

Visually, 'Operation Dunkirk' looks incredibly cheap even for something made on a low budget. It's very drably and sometimes dizzyingly shot, incoherently edited (bacon-slicer-like) with glaring and unforgivably sloppy continuity errors and even the scenery doesn't make much impression despite being actually the least bad aspect of the film. There are worse special effects in other Asylum films, they still look very cheap though and like they were an afterthought and made in haste. Am aware of the film being low-budget, but there are examples of low-budget films that still don't look awful and manage to be pretty good.

Can remember little about the music, which tended to be intrusive, annoying and out of place. The script makes little sense, sounds awkward constantly and on the wrong side of camp throughout.

There is absolutely nothing thrilling, tense, suspenseful, emotionally investable or fun about the story. The predictability may have been forgivable if the film was actually engaging let alone exciting but it fails to be either throughout. 'Operation Dunkirk' is basically non-stop dullness and intelligence-insulting ridiculousness, with unintentional humour because of the excessive cheese, bouts of mawkish and stilted melodrama and irritating character behaviours that makes one endear to them even less in a film with not one interesting or rootable character.

Although there are worse-acted The Asylum films, there is nothing praise-worthy about any of the acting, which was a mix of overdone and phoned in. They do not have much to work with at all, but there are many instances of actors/actresses still making a lot out of little, but that's not an excuse either. The direction is not worth mentioning, due to being a large part of the film's failure.

Then there are the costumes, which are an indiscernible mish-mash and shows a lack of research. And the bridge scene is now very high up on my top 10 of the most embarrassing scenes in film, certainly the single most embarrassing of any film seen in the past two or three years.

All in all, a disgrace. 1/10 Bethany Cox

Apart from some vintage, black & white, newsreel footage of the historic British retreat from France in 1940, director Nick Lyon's "Operation Dunkirk" has nothing to do with that landmark event aside from the setting. "Operation Dunkirk" reminded me of an earlier World War II epic, director Walter Grauman's "The Last Escape" (1971) starring Stuart Whitman. These two Second War World sagas chronicled the Allied rescue of important German scientists. Whitman reached his scientist before the Russians. Similarly, a squad of British soldiers under Lieutenant Galloway (Ifan Meredith of "Metroland") are ordered to find a German scientist (newcomer Eddie Curry) whose expertise in algorithms may significantly enhance radar technology. Historically, radar saved England from the Luftwaffe during the Battle of Britain in 1940. This critical technology enabled the English to detect German warplanes when they entered Allied airspace and alert Sir Hugh Dowding's Fighter Command about them. Furthermore, radar meant that the heavily outnumbered RAF would not have to maintain constant full-scale aerial surveillance. This meant their pilots could grab some much-needed sack time between dogfights. Consequently, the premise that a German scientist would possess valuable technological information about radar which would aid the British seems unlikely. Meantime, this stubborn scientist has refused adamantly to share his algorithms with Hitler. Now, historical accuracy doesn't always make a movie more entertaining. Consequently, Hollywood often plays fast and loose with the facts to heighten dramatic impact.

Anyway, back to the plot. When one of several, hand-picked commandos asks Colonel Plummer (Gerard Pauwels of "Resurrection") about their evacuation, Plummer barks, "Pull your balls out of your throat and be a soldier." Later, Galloway and his five men cruise off in a jeep to a rendezvous with the French Resistance. Armed with American .50 caliber Thompson submachine guns, they leave the jeep and cross a cornfield. They don't behave like battlefield veterans because they walk too closely together without a scout either at point or on drag. When they arrive at a huge lumber storage facility, a member of the French Resistance challenges them. By this time, the villainous Nazi officer, Strasser (Michael Wouters of "Sins of the Guilty") has shot the unfortunate scientist to death. Galloway reacts with incredulity when the Resistance explains that they have a woman, Angelique (Kimberley Hews of "The Other Wife"),for him to escort back to headquarters. Not only is Angelique the late scientist's daughter, but also she has memorized the algorithm. Not long after the British show up at the lumber yard, the Germans arrive. The fact the villains are hot on the heels of our heroes and stay one step behind them is a positive point in favor of Lyon and his writers. Later, the same French Resistance member who challenged Galloway is captured, questioned, and then shot in the back by the Nazis. Meantime, Galloway refuses to turn Angelique over to the Germans. A firefight erupts. The Germans refuse to take cover. Instead, they stand in the open and blaze away at the British hidden in a brick building. The arrogant Strasser stands with his men as if he were bulletproof. The Germans riddle the building with a hail of gunfire, and then they discover to their chagrin that the British and Angelique have fled. All of this occurs during the first 30 minutes of this 95-minute epic. Happily, Lyon keeps the action moving forward at a steady pace. Ultimately, he brings the action right down to the wire with a last-minute appearance of the Royal Air Force as the air force routes the Germans.

"Operation Dunkirk" doesn't rank as your average Asylum quickie, knock-off. "Rise of the Zombies" director Lyon takes and scenarists Geoff Mead of "I Am Omega," and Stephen Meier of "Re-Generator" take themselves somewhat seriously. Unlike most straight-to-video Asylum outings, the action is depicted in a largely straightforward manner, with the unsavory Strasser relentlessly pursuing the British. Mind you, this is the same Nazi officer who not only derived sadistic glee in torturing, but also in murdering the scientist. Strasser enjoys burning the hand of Resistance member with a clothes iron and then impales it with a screwdriver so he can induce the Frenchman to squeal. At the same time, "Operation: Dunkirk" is a compilation of World War II clichés. First, Galloway and company must endure their commanding officer's standard-issue speech: "This mission could not only save lives but win the war." Second, a seriously wounded British soldier insists on being left behind by his fellow soldiers. When two Germans stumble onto him, he brandishes a hand grenade and blows them to smithereens. Third, another British soldier steps on a cleverly hidden German booby trap by a tree. Actually, these two scenes demonstrate Lyon's dramatic strength as a director. He generates suspense and tension in both instances. My quibble with the hand grenade scene is that the soldier doesn't know when to shut up. The ironic thing about the booby trap scene is that the British commander saves his soldier's life, but a shattered tree branch skewers his thigh like shrapnel and lodges perilously close to his femoral artery. Meantime, it is interesting to note that Lyon provides subtitles so the nasty German officer can speak in German. Since I am not fluent in German, I cannot comment on the accuracy of both the translation or the German language. The appearance of Sherman tanks is a plus. Blood is spilled in most of the combat scenes, too.

Clearly, Asylum produced "Operation: Dunkirk" to cash in on writer & director Christopher Nolan's forthcoming "Dunkirk." Typically, Asylum cranks out knock-off movies that exploit bigger studio releases. Although "Operation: Dunkirk" is routine and often unrealistic, director Nick Lyon's World War II thriller amounts to a better-than-average Asylum release.