Good Morning Lovelies, 

Christopher Nolan deserves to be shown in 4K resolution, whether it is his classic features (Batman Begins) or his latest releases (Interstellar/Dunkirk) and now the masterminds at Warner Bros have answered all our dreams. Out now on Blu-ray, Nolan’s masterpieces have been reformatted in a 4K feature and they are truly beautiful. So beautiful in fact that I just had to delve in and have a cheeky viewing of two of them…

Dunkirk 4K Review

Three years on from Interstellar, Christopher Nolan brings his new film closer to home in a retelling of the WW2 Dunkirk story that continues to shock when told, due to the heroic actions of the soldiers, commanders and the British public.

Using familiar faces including Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, Mark Rylance, Sir Kenneth Branagh and a mix of fresh faces such as Fionn Whitehead and Harry Styles, Nolan's film bursts with talented figures who know how to command a screen and give this film the power it deserves. As it is one hell of an emotional ride.

Split into three sections exploring the soldiers on land, in the air and the people from home who came to save them, Dunkirk is a non-linear story that packs a punch. Men trying to find a way off the beach by carrying the injured on to ships and jumping back on them when kicked off and RAF fighters protecting those on the ground from enemy pilots who are bombing their men, the film knows how to make audiences emotions build and build. When safe areas are believed to be found – for both the characters and the audience members watching - the soldiers face even more heartache, as they try to hide in boats and houses, which end up being disaster zones too. The trust they should have in one another becomes lost in the flowing waves of the beach.

In Dunkirk, less is always more for Nolan, who has always been a director who likes to let his characters and audience think rather than speak or hear what others have to say. In Dunkirk, he makes further suspense, as his non-linear story means audiences are never truly sure where they are but stay on the edge of their seats, intent on finding out.

Murphy's shivering soldier is a key example of this, as he is captured in control and out of it within the story, meaning you get to see both sides of the man he plays. Styles' character is another key figure, as he tries to find out who he can trust out of his fellow comrades, leading to the ultimate plot twist.  In fact, Whitehead, Styles and Aneurin Barnard, who plays an army private, have made sure that those watching the film don't forget who they are but with very little use of words or powerful speeches to make them rememberable.

There aren't many films where silence is key but in Dunkirk it is everything. Silence brings with it the urgency of getting the men off the beach and back home. Silence is the realisation that Rylance's character faces when he sees his country's men drowning and covered in oil. Silence is the thing that causes fear within all of the soldiers. It is a matter of life and death and Nolan has captured this incredibly well.

Especially in 4K, which brings to life the key to Nolan's Dunkirk success! The 75mm film, which first showed in IMAX, captures the length and beauty of the screen inch by inch, as it causes your own emotions to be heightened. When scenes show Hardy's character in the cockpit of his Spitfire, the noises make it feel like you are sat beside him. A similar thing is felt when the young actors are trapped in a boat with the water rising in from enemy bullet holes. Your eyes feel like they are doing a work out trying to make sure they are capturing every little moment of Nolan's story.

Visually stunning and beautifully told, the film is an educational and cinematic feature that will stand the test of time. Especially as a war film masterpiece.

Nolan's Dunkirk has earned this huge...


Interstellar 4K Review

Interstellar was the film of the year last year! It exceeds all expectations that you may have had and completely and utterly blows your mind! With an incredible plot and cast, it is a must see!

The plot is refreshing and completely not what you expect. When Cooper leaves his family behind to save the world, which is being destroyed rapidly, he travels through time and space, quite literally with his crew, to save the human population back on Earth. However, while you may think that it is a similar plot to the trailer it is nothing like that! It is completely different to what I imagined the plot to be when I watched the trailer for the first time.

For a starter, actors and actresses play parts that I didn’t expect them to play and led the plot in a very different way to what I expected them to. For example, watch out for Jessica Chastain, who plays a character that you will not be expecting, because I certainly wasn’t expecting her to be who she turned out to be. But it wasn’t just her and going back to the plot, the last 50 minutes of the film are so mind-blowing that your eyes and mind are working so fast to keep up, that you are left wondering about Space and Time as well.

Both Nolan’s have obviously worked their socks off to get the perfect script and something I was so happy that they didn’t include was Aliens! Yes, it may seem like they have, but it turns out there is not one of them in here and the machinery that is in the film is instead an advanced piece of equipment that adds a lot of humour to the script. Moments with no script were tense and the effect they had on the cinema were moments of just jaw-dropping proportions.

Going back to the cast for a moment, the three key players in this are Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Mackenzie Foy, who gives a breakout performance in this film and Jessica Chastain, who all give performances that are award worthy! They are a talented team together and separately on the big screen, creating reactions that had the audience laughing, crying and in still in moments of tense shock, because of their performances. As well there is a little cameo from a Hollywood actor, but I won’t spoil that for you because that was a moment when the whole audience started talking because they were not prepared for it, including myself as I spoke out loud to myself when it happened (aha!).

Now I am going to say something that will be a little controversial, but forget last year’s Gravity and welcome the new space movement which is Interstellar. While Gravity was an incredible film and always will be, this one just bumped the Sci-fi genre up to another level and I feel that Nolan will be working more with this genre because he is obviously a genius at it! Anything he touches is just cinematic gold and this one is going to be added to his collection.

Overall, I believe that this film will be up for some of the best visual awards this award season and Nolan should be proud of it because it completely entraps the audience to the point in which you forget you are watching a film and not someone’s actual life. A perfect plot blended with an incredible cast has made this a film that everyone must see. It is too good to miss!

This 4K version is rocketing off with this…