10 Most Intense Aerial Dogfights In War Movies

The Christopher Nolan-directed film was a critical and commercial success that was seen as largely historically accurate compared to films of its ilk. Its depiction of the evacuation of British soldiers from the titular town was handled in a realistic and relatively stripped-down manner. The film is light on dialogue and deliberately lacks a complex plot in favor of sequences that featured constantly escalating tension.

This scaled-back approach can be seen in the film's opening dogfight between Royal Air Forces Spitfires and Luftwaffe dive-bombers. It lacks the bombast of its contemporaries but makes up for it with stunning visuals, an increasingly tense score, and its commitment to realism (the Spitfires only had fuel for one hour and the film sparsely shows it to highlight the lack of time the pilots had in their encounter).

The realism is further seen in the film's usage of actual Spitfires and dive-bombers and shows how cumbersome these engagements were compared to the sleek and effortless nature of modern-day aircraft.