Sam Mendes WWI drama ‘1917’

[jolldan]

Really enjoyed this movie, probably one of the first where the cinematography alone was enough to keep me intrigued throughout.

Only complaint and this is true of most movies now is I think it showed too much of its hand in the trailers.

Huge credit to both Chapman and MacKay I don't know if it was Mendes intent but they seemed to represent two of the common personalities that were known to be prominent in the war. Chapman as young hopeful and somewhat naïve new recruits or at least fresher faces. While MacKay seemed to have been more reserved and changed by the horrors of war he's already seen.

Overall a excellent experience

 

[scarlet-witch]

Only complaint and this is true of most movies now is I think it showed too much of its hand in the trailers.

They did show a lot of their "money shot" but I thought it still worked really well seeing it uninterrupted like that.

 

[jolldan]

They did show a lot of their "money shot" but I thought it still worked really well seeing it uninterrupted like that.

Yeah it didn't ruin anything for me just felt like they could have been doing with shaving maybe 10-20 seconds off the trailer time.

One thing I will give them

Spoiler: 1917 SPOILER BEWARE!!!

was the plane crash, from the second trailer you see them running towards the plane after it crashes which made me think it would be an ally that they would save and he might temporarily join them, didn't expect it to be a German and certainly did expect Blake to be killed off then

 

[Schlosser85]

Really enjoyed this movie, probably one of the first where the cinematography alone was enough to keep me intrigued throughout.

Only complaint and this is true of most movies now is I think it showed too much of its hand in the trailers.

Huge credit to both Chapman and MacKay I don't know if it was Mendes intent but they seemed to represent two of the common personalities that were known to be prominent in the war. Chapman as young hopeful and somewhat naïve new recruits or at least fresher faces. While MacKay seemed to have been more reserved and changed by the horrors of war he's already seen.

Overall a excellent experience

Just from watching the trailer I suspected

Spoiler

Blake was going to get killed off before the end

because there seemed to be a suspicious number of shots/scenes where

Spoiler

you only see Schofield.

 

[jolldan]

Just from watching the trailer I suspected

Spoiler

Blake was going to get killed off before the end

because there seemed to be a suspicious number of shots/scenes where

Spoiler

you only see Schofield.

Yeah good point I suppose I just never put two and two together there.

One bit that had me laughing was

Spoiler: Spoiler

When Scofield met Richard Madden Blakes brother all I could think back to was "He looks like me just a bit older" I was left going

 

[scarlet-witch]

I expected

Spoiler

Blake to die but I didn't think he would die so early in the film. That surprised me.

 

[Schlosser85]

Yeah good point I suppose I just never put two and two together there.

One bit that had me laughing was

Spoiler: Spoiler

When Scofield met Richard Madden Blakes brother all I could think back to was "He looks like me just a bit older" I was left going

lol, Blake's wishful thinking?

 

[moviedoors]

I don't know if I would say this movie was as good as Saving Private Ryan overall either, but certainly better than other more recent war movies such as Dunkirk.

Ha, I had the exact opposite reaction; you can't help but compare the two. They're both war movies doing a feature-length formal experiment. This one's gimmick didn't always work for me, and I was distracted by one A-lister's casting and reveal at a pivotal moment.

That said, when it did click, it was stunning. The movie finally jumped to life when they go over the trench and into No-Man's Land.

 

[jolldan]

Huge credit to just the overall feel this movie induces. I am not a claustrophobic person but the early scenes of them walking through the trenches where you could see little holes that had two or three men squashed in to them all just trying to get some sleep actually made me feel uneasy for a second.

 

[scarlet-witch]

I kept thinking of Boardwalk Empire on and off during this. The part when Jimmy tells Nucky "I died in the trenches, years back."

 

[Flint Marko]

Perfection.

 

[Web-Head]

Just from watching the trailer I suspected

Spoiler

Blake was going to get killed off before the end

because there seemed to be a suspicious number of shots/scenes where

Spoiler

you only see Schofield.

I didn't expect it at first, but once it happened that thought went through my mind and made sense.

 

[writer0327]

I tried to stay away from spoilers and reviews of this film, but I still heard a lot of buzz about this film being the best of 2019. I will be honest, it definitely deserves top 10 status, but I don't think its as amazing as all the award hype led me to believe it was.

Again, this is not to say this film isn't great, because it definitely is. Certainly based on trailers and the premise, the story itself was going to be riveting enough, and was definitely well written, well crafted, and well acted. There were many, many unsettling moments at the beginning of the film, which was like walking through the aftermath of a horror movie. I mean you really get a sense of the real tragedy of war and how war just utterly devastates and changes a country. That was the most intense part of the film, maybe some of the best filmmaking I've seen in years, and honestly I kind of wished it stayed there for most of the running time because that was as captivating as filmmaking gets. You can tell just from the visuals there was serious passion behind what they were doing. It certainly is visually arresting, and from that standpoint alone, everyone who can should absolutely see this on the big screen. However it just didn't hold that feeling for me. It waned towards the end, and while there were certainly more great moments in the film (the river scene was especially intense), it just didn't hold up to the first hour of the film.

However I am ecstatic that its getting the buzz and respect that it absolutely deserves and I really hope this promotes more filmmakers to do more with the camera and make more artistic films. This is a fantastic movie and I certainly will be using up a couple more A-List viewings to check this out again.

8.5/10

 

[Filmfan93]

This was one of the best films and experiences I've ever had at a cinema.

From the technical aspects (the cinematography, set and costume design, sound design and score), to the emotional impact and engagement with the 2 main characters - this film was a tremendous achievement.

Just wish it had more character background work, specifically for Schofield.

9.5/10

 

[Flint Marko]

Just from watching the trailer I suspected

Spoiler

Blake was going to get killed off before the end

because there seemed to be a suspicious number of shots/scenes where

Spoiler

you only see Schofield.

Same. Had that same feeling right at the start of the movie, but

Spoiler

I knew he was a goner when they split up for a second at the house and it had the shot of him perfectly framed outside in the window. It hovered on that for too long. Sure enough he was dead within minutes, but even though I saw it coming it didn't make it any less tragic.

This movie incredible. If you're reading this thread and haven't seen it, do yourself a favor and get to a theater this weekend.

 

[Kev4000]

This movie incredible. If you're reading this thread and haven't seen it, do yourself a favor and get to a theater this weekend.

It is ranked #10 of 2019 for me but the lack of character Scenes and a real Story hurts a lot. It is "just" a technical movie-porn fantasy. And that will be forgotten in 2 or 3 years like Dunkirk.

 

[inomilan]

Well, that was amazing.

 

[Schlosser85]

It is ranked #10 of 2019 for me but the lack of character Scenes and a real Story hurts a lot. It is "just" a technical movie-porn fantasy. And that will be forgotten in 2 or 3 years like Dunkirk.

I don't agree with this. IMO Dunkirk is "just a technical movie-porn fantasy", but to me 1917>Dunkirk. It has an obvious story, a simple and straightforward one, but a story nonetheless, and IMO even though we don't get much background on Schofield and Blake, we become invested in them by following them along their harrowing journey, whereas in Dunkirk we don't care about anyone.

 

[Drizzle]

This was definitely the best WWI movie I've ever seen, though there are far fewer of those compared to WWII. George MacKay and Dean Charles Chapman did a great job carrying the film, especially MacKay. It reminded me of a lot of older war movies with the bigger name actors playing small roles, basically cameos, while the rookies did the heavy lifting.

 

[Schlosser85]

This was definitely the best WWI movie I've ever seen, though there are far fewer of those compared to WWII. George MacKay and Dean Charles Chapman did a great job carrying the film, especially MacKay. It reminded me of a lot of older war movies with the bigger name actors playing small roles, basically cameos, while the rookies did the heavy lifting.

There's really a dearth of WWI movies. All Quiet on the Western Front and War Horse are about the only ones of any note I can think of.

 

[terry78]

WW1 is really just as cinematic as WW2 but I guess the latter is the one where we really jumped in and had a stake, hence so many flicks about it. A real clear cut good guys vs bad guys deal.

 

[Drizzle]

I can count the number of WWI films I've seen in my life on one hand, and that's even if I include Wonder Woman.

 

[terry78]

WW2 was basically about an evil overlord trying to take over the world and exterminate those he viewed as a threat. That **** writes itself.

 

[Schlosser85]

WW2 was basically about an evil overlord trying to take over the world and exterminate those he viewed as a threat. That **** writes itself.

WWI was like the early days of the writing room trying a big crossover "event", and then WWII came along with more writers, a bigger budget, a lot more characters, and a better villain.

 

[KaijuDude1992]

My god was the Deakins cinematography in this movie incredible. Between this and Ad Astra I honestly don't know which was the most visually stunning film of 2019, but I definitely enjoyed this film a lot more than that one overall.That combined with the score from Thomas Newman were easily more than enough to keep me hooked the entire time, and the fact that I actually connected somewhat with the lead characters is why I found this to be a far more successful movie going experience than something like Dunkirk. Not that I hated that movie or anything, because I didn't, but damn was the second half of this movie compelling and riveting as hell.

9/10