Dunkirk trailer: First full look at Christopher Nolan's war epic

Featuring Kenneth Branagh, Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy and Harry Styles

The first full trailer for Christopher Nolan's upcoming WWII drama Dunkirk has been released.

Running for two minutes, it provides a deeper look at the world briefly presented in the teaser a few months ago.

It's early stages, but the trailer - featuring the music of composer Hans Zimmer - suggests that acclaimed filmmaker Nolan (Memento, the Dark Knight trilogy, Interstellar) has struck gold again.

"Why waste precious tanks when they can pick us out from the air like fish in a barrel," one official tells another before a catastrophic scene shows 400,000 troops getting shot at from above; it looks to be just one of the film's many breathtaking yet devastating set-pieces.

The trailer shows off the film's cast including Kenneth Branagh, Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy as well as One Direction singer Harry Styles in his film debut.

Mark Rylance and British newcomer Fionn Whitehead can also be seen.

Yesterday (13 December) saw the release of two astounding posters showing an unseen soldier watching a scene of war-torn destruction; one of the posters - German propaganda insisting on an Allied surrender - can be seen in the trailer.

Dunkirk will be released on 21 July with an earlier IMAX release in 35mm and 70mm planned for 19 July.