‘Dunkirk’ Fact Check: How Long Could Tom Hardy’s Plane Stay in the Air?
Real World War II pilots in the Royal Air Force flew the Supermarine Spitfire
Brian Welk | July 24, 2017 @ 5:15 PM
Last Updated: July 24, 2017 @ 5:58 PM
"Dunkirk" / Warner Bros.
(Spoiler alert: Don’t read this if you haven’t seen “Dunkirk.” Also: Go see “Dunkirk.”)
In filming “Dunkirk,” Christopher Nolan developed special IMAX camera rigs in order to make the movie’s perilous flight sequences look genuine. You’re right with Tom Hardy in the cockpit, and the whole experience feels jarringly real.
But are the feats of heroics in Nolan’s film accurate to the period? Just how long could Hardy’s fighter plane have stayed in the air once it ran out of fuel?
In the film, Hardy engages in a dogfight and finds his fuel gauge has been cracked. He radios to his fellow pilot and scratches in chalk, “50” and “14:30,” as in how many gallons of fuel he has left, and when it will run out.
Many of the planes flown and lost during at the Dunkirk evacuation were the Supermarine Spitfire, a single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force. They burned through fuel much faster when dogfighting than cruising, and Hardy’s character does a lot of fighting.
This point is especially important near the end of the film. Hardy’s plane has completely run out of fuel and his propeller has even stopped turning. He manages to glide around and out of nowhere save the day as more of the soldiers on the beaches are trying to escape. He’s then able to cruise for seemingly miles and even land safely on the beach, only for the enemy soldiers to find him.
Believe it or not, the BBC reported that after the war attempts were made to make Spitfires break the sound barrier. Like Hardy, one pilot was able to successfully glide and navigate his plane down safely after the propeller had broken off completely.
What’s more, a USA Today Q&A with a pilot posed the question of how far a jetliner could glide if the engine quit at 30,000 feet. While it would vary in the wind, the pilot estimated that it could travel for another 100 miles. An older, smaller plane like the Spitfire would cruise at only 20,000 feet, and it’s 78.5 miles from Dover, England to Dunkirk — so even after the Spitfire’s dogfights, the distance it traveled in the film without a propeller was well within the range of possibility.
All 10 Christopher Nolan Movies Ranked, From 'Memento' to 'Dunkirk' (Photos)
Director Christopher Nolan has become well-known for blasting audiences’ brains with mind-bending, over-the-top spectacles. His latest, “Dunkirk,” is capturing critical acclaim — but how does it stack up to his other efforts? Here's TheWrap's definitive ranked list of his movies.
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10. "The Dark Knight Rises" (2012)
That you can’t understand a damn thing Bane says is the least of this movie’s problems. It’s heavy social politics and bleak ideologies of hope in the modern day are a drag for a superhero movie, and Nolan’s twists and parables strain credulity.
Warner Bros.
9. "Interstellar" (2014)
On the trajectory of Nolan movies getting more and more bogged down in their complications, “Interstellar” is probably the pinnacle. It has its poignant moments — Matthew McConaughey’s despair-wracked sobs are pretty unforgettable — but gets lost in time travel, temporal displacement, global warming, interpersonal drama and a weird sometimes-documentary style. None of the ideas gets the right amount of attention and the whole thing is a bit of a mess.
Paramount
8. "Insomnia" (2002)
It's really the performances this remake of a Norwegian film work. Robin Williams delivers some of the best dramatic work of his career as the primary suspect in the murder of a teenage girl in an Alaska town. It’s more of a mid-budget stepping stone ahead of "Batman Begins," but Al Pacino slowly losing his grip on reality ratchets up the tension.
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7. "Following" (1998)
Many have labeled “Following” as just a student film. It’s better than that. Nolan's debut feature features his penchant for rules and brisk pacing. The story concerns a man who follows people around and becomes protege of a petty house thief (who shares a name with an "Inception" character, Cobb). And this Cobb has philosophies about creating chaos that are a dry run for The Joker’s craving to watch the world burn.
Zeitgeist Films
6. "Inception" (2010)
This is Nolan’s “Vertigo,” a movie that combines everything that has defined his career into one ambitious opus. He takes the world of dreams and applies his signature rules and rigid structure into a bombastic, mind-bending thriller that's sometimes awe-inspiring and sometimes maddeningly exhausting with its exposition.
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5. "Batman Begins" (2005)
Nolan reinvigorated the onscreen character of Batman with a more intimate look at Bruce Wayne’s origins. The more serious take on the hero. Thanks to Nolan’s focus on a man figuring out how to be a symbol rather than just punching bad guys, he helped make “Batman Begins” a template for superhero movies hoping to be more realistic and less cartoonish. And having Liam Neeson in your movie doesn't hurt.
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4. "Memento" (2000)
The movie that first really started to tip people off to Nolan is a noir-esque mystery told in reverse, with Guy Pearce's detective unable to form new short-term memories. The movie’s construction keeps the audience as confused as protagonist Leonard, but once it all comes together, the frightening story of how people manipulate each other, and themselves, blows minds in the best way.
Newmarket Films
3. "The Prestige" (2006)
Michael Caine’s three rules in “The Prestige” could also define Nolan’s filmmaking. Above all, Nolan is a showman who stages something elaborate and magical and then wants to show you how it’s done. Fittingly, “The Prestige” is Nolan’s most twist-filled and rewatchable film.
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2. "The Dark Knight" (2008)
It’s bolstered by Heath Ledger’s otherworldly, swan song of a performance, but “The Dark Knight” redefined grizzly, post-9/11 neo-noir. Its twists, moral choices and provocative themes on heroism upped the games for superhero movies and blockbusters for all time.
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1. "Dunkirk" (2017)
Nolan’s sprawling WWII epic is quite possibly his simplest movie. Despite its enormous scale and running three tales in parallel with some non-linear storytelling, the minimal use of dialogue and powerful performances makes “Dunkirk” incredibly tense and human. It's a different kind of war movie -- and Nolan accomplishes a lot by holding back (some) of his usual complexity.
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Where does auteur’s new WWII drama land?
Director Christopher Nolan has become well-known for blasting audiences’ brains with mind-bending, over-the-top spectacles. His latest, “Dunkirk,” is capturing critical acclaim — but how does it stack up to his other efforts? Here's TheWrap's definitive ranked list of his movies.
Getty Images
Warner Bros.
