The present and the future becomes the past in a hurry.

Having said that, Christopher Nolan’s forthcoming World War II epic Dunkirk about the past during the mid-1940s is a heroic present for the 21st-century future.

400,00 men. 933 ships. 9 days.

The harrowing events portrayed in the film Dunkirk strive to capture the legitimately incomprehensible odds Allied soldiers faced against the merciless German army during World War II on the beaches of France. Incredibly, the battlefields of World War II may never be seen again in the context of the three figures listed above. Wars, throughout time, have contained many threads of commonality with innovative changes and strategies according to the century and respective technological advancements. Still, the magnitude of the Battle of Dunkirk is still staggering.

And it’s that reality of history, the scale of the Battle of Dunkirk, that sparks curious intrigue for Mr. Nolan’s first filmmaking venture into an event during a historic war that defined the 20th-century. Beyond Dunkirk being the first war film by Mr. Nolan, which is an exciting moment as a directorial benchmark and cinematic reference point, one of the storytelling gifts the aforementioned director gives movie fans is the skill to scale a moviegoing experience onto the largest IMAX screen while simultaneously grounding the story and characters in deeply intimate struggles (internal and external) with powerful acts of heroism, defeat, and mystery.

And mind-bending surprises in the finale.

Or, in another word, prestige.