1917 |OT| A war film directed by Sam Mendes (wide release on January 10th)

[hydruxo]

Spoiler: Major plot detail

I felt that Blake's death was more impactful and fucked up than many other death scenes I've seen in a lot of war movies. It just...happens, a kind of usually inconsequential wound we've seen character take in dozens of movies, and then the suffering and struggling to survive goes on for what felt like many long minutes. Him suddenly being so pale was really shocking. It happens so fast

I couldn't believe he actually died too. That was a legitimately surprising turn

Click to shrink...

Spoiler: 1917 heavy spoilers

Yeah, the way you don't even see it happen and just hear Blake's screams while Schofield is filling up the helmet with water was bone-chilling. Then Blake's look of pure shock and disbelief that he'd been stabbed was really well done by Dean-Charles Chapman.

What I really love about this movie, and what I think the way it's shot to appear as one take adds to it, is how you're there with Schofield at all times. Blake dies and then there are no cuts that dampen the impact of the moment. You see Schofield's grief and heartbreak as the other squadron rolls up and as he's forced to sit on the back of the truck with the other soldiers who are joking around him. You watch his range of emotions the whole time and it really made the emotion of the movie feel more pronounced. Honestly the more I think about this movie since seeing on Saturday, the more I love it. It's really stuck with me.

 

[Geoff]

Spoiler

What I liked about that bit was that you expect everyone to share a touching moment of recognition and empathy across the lines, maybe they even team up...but no. The German strikes as soon as he is physically able and surely in the knowledge that it will mean his own death. I liked that. Sometimes I think the 'playing football in no-man's land on Christmas day' aspect of war is way overstated.

 

[RecRoulette]

Saw this again in IMAX today, still amazing

Spoiler: Stuff I noticed on rewatch, heavy spoilers

Knowing Will has a wife and two kids definitely paints some things in a different light, but damn there's a lot of subtle stuff

When they run into the leftenant who gives them the flare gun, he's mocking them about them trying to do this crazy thing for a medal, and he goes "Nothing cheers up a widow like a medal" right to Will. Then also in the German trench he sees the picture left behind of the wife and kid.

Kind of makes the whole scene with the French lady and baby too, he clearly knows how to handle a baby. She even asks if he has a kid which he doesn't even acknowledge.

Also the clock tower signals that it's 6am

I thought this was just me, but I really appreciate some of the casting they did near the end after he delivers the message. All you know is "He looks like [Blake], only older" and there are a handful of people that meet that description among the dead and dying. It's a really nice touch.

Others have mentioned this, but the movie starts and ends with Will leaning against a tree. But the second time through it was really bittersweet because realistically, there's a good chance he's still going to die. If not in an upcoming attack, then definitely from sticking his cut hand into a rotting corpse.

 

[Deleted member 31199]

The last movie I saw in theaters was Hacksaw Ridge. To me, this had less unnecessary violence then HR. HR though had a bit of a background before diving into the action and 1917 dives right into the action.

I almost expected 1917 to last a little longer. I went to see it for a 7:00 PM showing and I was out by 9:15 PM and it was timed at 2 hours but felt more like 90 minutes. I was a bit surprised by the ending and expected something else but it was a good film overall and I loved seeing it.

 

[Prolepro]

Spoiler: Major plot detail

I felt that Blake's death was more impactful and fucked up than many other death scenes I've seen in a lot of war movies. It just...happens, a kind of usually inconsequential wound we've seen character take in dozens of movies, and then the suffering and struggling to survive goes on for what felt like many long minutes. Him suddenly being so pale was really shocking. It happens so fast

I couldn't believe he actually died too. That was a legitimately surprising turn

Click to shrink...

I dont love the movie but that aspect was my favorite part about it. You dont see that Metal Gear Solid 2 style twist too often.

 

[RecRoulette]

Spoiler: Major plot detail

I felt that Blake's death was more impactful and fucked up than many other death scenes I've seen in a lot of war movies. It just...happens, a kind of usually inconsequential wound we've seen character take in dozens of movies, and then the suffering and struggling to survive goes on for what felt like many long minutes. Him suddenly being so pale was really shocking. It happens so fast

I couldn't believe he actually died too. That was a legitimately surprising turn

Click to shrink...

Spoiler

In my head I kept thinking "He's not dying here" until the long pause after Blake asks "Am I dying?" Such a fantastic scene.

 

[More_Badass]

Saw this again in IMAX today, still amazing

Spoiler: Stuff I noticed on rewatch, heavy spoilers

Knowing Will has a wife and two kids definitely paints some things in a different light, but damn there's a lot of subtle stuff

When they run into the leftenant who gives them the flare gun, he's mocking them about them trying to do this crazy thing for a medal, and he goes "Nothing cheers up a widow like a medal" right to Will. Then also in the German trench he sees the picture left behind of the wife and kid.

Kind of makes the whole scene with the French lady and baby too, he clearly knows how to handle a baby. She even asks if he has a kid which he doesn't even acknowledge.

Also the clock tower signals that it's 6am

I thought this was just me, but I really appreciate some of the casting they did near the end after he delivers the message. All you know is "He looks like [Blake], only older" and there are a handful of people that meet that description among the dead and dying. It's a really nice touch.

Others have mentioned this, but the movie starts and ends with Will leaning against a tree. But the second time through it was really bittersweet because realistically, there's a good chance he's still going to die. If not in an upcoming attack, then definitely from sticking his cut hand into a rotting corpse.

Click to shrink...

Spoiler

Realizing that he has a wife and kid back home also underscores his anger and frustration at Blake after making it through the mine collapse

And yeah, the final moments felt bleakly bittersweet in a way that I haven't seen in a war film in a while. Like yeah, he was able to just barely stop the attack, but in the long run, that Herculean journey only delayed a charge into the meatgrinder for himself and Blake and all those other men. Seeing he has a family makes the ending kind of depressing, not victorious

 

[Geoff]

I thought the attitude of the general was well done.

Spoiler

You expect him to just be some posh arsehole who wants to fling his men at the enemy to get himself a promotion and that is there but you can also sense his frustration. He knows that they will have to attack at some point. They can't just sit there forever. He thought he could see a glimmer of hope, a way through the German line and an end to the purgatory but it's all snatched away. And chances are that the next push won't be in anything like as favourable conditions as the one he thought he had.

 

[CloudWolf]

Saw it yesterday and I unfortunately didn't love it. It was perfectly fine, but nowhere near worthy of the praise it's getting IMO. The faked one/two shot approach often felt more like a gimmick than something that was truly necessary for this story IMO. Like in a film as Climax or A Long Day's Journey Into Night the long one takes are used to achieve some sort of nightmarish/dreamlike feeling. In Victoria and Utoya it's used to create a sense of getting the viewer right in the middle of the action, making the viewer as it were a character in the movie.

Here it's clearly not dreamlike, but it also didn't really work as a way to bring the viewer inside the action IMO, since the camera more often than not moves in ways that a normal participant wouldn't be able to move. What works so powerfully for me with one shot movies that serve as a way to heighten immersion is that the film is often shot like I'm part of it. Here I wasn't, unless 'my character' for some reason constantly walks backwards. So for me the approach, while beautifully done, often felt like a gimmick more than anything. The only scenes were the long take really worked IMO was the beginning and the scene at the end where he walks towards the colonel.

The story also did very little for me. It was just two guys walking from point A to point B, with occassional stuff happening in between. Sometimes that stuff was cool and interesting, sometimes not. Often it was overly emotional and very stereotypical Hollywood.

Spoiler

The end scene were he finds the brother had me rolling my eyes. The moment he walked inside the wounded area the entire scene played out in my head, even including the freaking musical cue when Richard Madden shows up.

In the end, it's a very by the numbers war story, with an unusual editing style IMO. Nothing all that special.

That said, I didn't dislike it and there was some stuff I really enjoyed. Like the death scene mentioned earlier in the thread and the direct followup, that was amazing. And of course there was some beautiful cinematography going on in here, which is standard with Deakins.

Spoiler

I especially loved the scene where he walks through the town and there's this big fire with the shadowy soldier standing in front of it and we're not quite sure whether the soldier is friendly or not. That was just an fantastic visual.

 

[BrutalInsane]

Walking out of the theatre, I thought this was the most 'ok' movie I've seen in my entire life. Technically it was an accomplishment, but I think the 1-take aspect of it really hurt it. The highs were high, but the lull's in the movie really dragged it down into almost tedium, especially after the farm sequence. The movie didn't get its emotional hooks into me, but it was worth seeing. It's an ok movie!

I also felt it didn't convey the carnage and horror of WW1 enough, but I read a lot of WW1 non-fiction, and that definitely shaped my opinion. The no-mans land scene was almost there, but everything after it felt like the same problem I had with Dunkirk, it was a little too 'clean.'

I was comparing this movie the whole way through with the old film 'Gallipoli.' The entire last half of that film felt like a gut-punch, this did not.

Finally, I recommend everyone see 'Come and See.' That's how you convey the horrors of war.

 

[Merrill]

Seen it last night. It really isn't that great. The pace isn't great, the dialog isn't great, the action isn't great, the movie isn't great. It's just okay

Modern movies have a lack or re-watch-ability to them. .

Not even close to top 10 war movies.

 

[Jegriva]

After seeing Spectre, I am expecting at the end Wilhelm II saying that HE orchestrated the assassination of Franz Ferdinand.

God, I disliked Spectre so much...

 

[BrutalInsane]

Seen it last night. It really isn't that great. The pace isn't great, the dialog isn't great, the action isn't great, the movie isn't great. It's just okay

Modern movies have a lack or re-watch-ability to them. .

Not even close to top 10 war movies.

Click to shrink...

My friend and I both agreed on the fact that we're happy we saw it, but would both probably never watch it again. It's a weird movie, it's so close to being great and it's almost there, but it's just kind of ok.

 

[Ronnie Poncho]

Spoiler: Major plot detail

I felt that Blake's death was more impactful and fucked up than many other death scenes I've seen in a lot of war movies. It just...happens, a kind of usually inconsequential wound we've seen character take in dozens of movies, and then the suffering and struggling to survive goes on for what felt like many long minutes. Him suddenly being so pale was really shocking. It happens so fast

I couldn't believe he actually died too. That was a legitimately surprising turn

Click to shrink...

Spoiler

After Blake dies, I realised that Will was the main character all along - the camera follows him the whole time, not Blake. He's in the foreground in the first shot. The only part I can think that breaks that is during the bunker collapse when Will is buried, but even then it might still be aimed towards him.

 

[Kewlmyc]

I ultimately liked it, but not as much as I was anticipating. Still probably in my top 10 of (last) year though.

 

[golem]

I thought the attitude of the general was well done.

Spoiler

You expect him to just be some posh arsehole who wants to fling his men at the enemy to get himself a promotion and that is there but you can also sense his frustration. He knows that they will have to attack at some point. They can't just sit there forever. He thought he could see a glimmer of hope, a way through the German line and an end to the purgatory but it's all snatched away. And chances are that the next push won't be in anything like as favourable conditions as the one he thought he had.

Click to shrink...

Yeah

Spoiler

BC's acting in that scene was excellent especially as theyve been hinting the whole time he's some kind of war addict. Really tense scene and his expressions walk you through the whole of his thought process.

 

[ShutterMunster]

I thought this was fine. I appreciate it more as a technical achievement than anything else. Roger continues to impress 43 years into his career.

 

[Hampig]

My friend and I both agreed on the fact that we're happy we saw it, but would both probably never watch it again. It's a weird movie, it's so close to being great and it's almost there, but it's just kind of ok.

Click to shrink...

It's so strange to see this specifically brought up, because I never re-watch movies, but one of my first thoughts walking out of the theater was that I felt like this movie would be extremely re-watchable for me. I also absolutely loved it though. Had no real expectations going in and realized maybe a fourth of the way through that it could potentially end up being one of my favorite movies.

 

[Mr.Awesome]

I didnt love it. The lack of scale bothered me a lot, especially for a war movie.everything was way too close together when it should not have been. I think the camera work contributed to that. But everything seemed way too close together to the point where you could not help but notice.

 

[Temtastic Muns]

Fuuuuck, biggest jump scare in recent memory when..... the rat hit that tripwire.

My nerves were rattled from that point on.

 

[DetectiveKenobi]

So good. Man that scene at night with the flares shooting up. So good. I'm pretty sure Deakins going to win his 2nd Oscar. And it was well deserved.

 

[More_Badass]

I didnt love it. The lack of scale bothered me a lot, especially for a war movie.everything was way too close together when it should not have been. I think the camera work contributed to that. But everything seemed way too close together to the point where you could not help but notice.

Click to shrink...

Personally I found that claustrophobic camerawork was a strength. The scale was felt in the periphery; keeping the scope confined to the two men made everything more impactful. It wasn't a traditional massive-battle war movie and I loved that.

 

[Grimm Fandango]

Oh man what an experience. Probably the most technically impressive movie I've ever seen. Glad I saw it on the big screen.

So good. Man that scene at night with the flares shooting up. So good. I'm pretty sure Deakins going to win his 2nd Oscar. And it was well deserved.

Click to shrink...

That was incredible, took my breath away.
The soundtrack was also excellent, I may have to buy it.

 

[thediamondage]

Oh man what an experience. Probably the most technically impressive movie I've ever seen. Glad I saw it on the big screen.

Click to shrink...

That mirrors my feelings as well, very impressive movie especially when you think about how each scene must have been setup and how much effort and planning must have gone into the cinematography to seamlessly go from spot to spot, the way they handle camera movement and blocking and using objects to temporarily move cameras around, etc. Just thinking about it as you view the movie makes you realize the sheer effort and artistry involved.

Sadly I found the story not quite as good. The first half is great and feels like a great war travel "into the gates of hell" kind of story, but then there's a 30 minute video game single player campaign level and a pretty weak ending. It wasn't just one single thing but a few things kept happening that sorta broke the immersion of the setting for me over and over. Its not really based on a true story either, which is what I thought maybe while watching it, but rather broad strokes of different stories the directors grandfather would tell him. I found the little cameos by famous actors a little distracting too.

Definitely worth a watch in theaters if you like war movies.

 

[Pyccko]

called the death twist when I saw the first trailer, but I definitely enjoyed the flick. A few of the more sentimental scenes dragged on a bit too long, but it was evened out by the sheer gnarliness of some of the other junk that happens. That bit with the hand was something else, woof.

 

[ThereAreFourNaan]

The main weakness of the one-cut stuff was that there were a huge number of long pans that were exceedingly blurry.

 

[Biske]

Damn what a tense movie. Say what you will for those that didn't like it, and I can see it, I LOVED it, but the one take feel fills every moment with fucking dread.

 

[WrenchNinja]

This movie is fucking legit. Just an incredible experience all around.

 

[Deleted member 21411]

It's a rollercoaster but it's not a movie of substance or of anything to say. I highly recommend it for one viewing for sure tho

 

[FeD]

Just came out of it. What an incredible experience, and some fantastic filmmaking. Cannot wait to go for a second time, might have to find some time tomorrow. In the back of my mind I had the idea the single shot feeling might be a bit of a gimmick. But it's not, it's so masterfully used in this film, truly the primary storytelling device.

Like very early on in the film, when the dialogue shifts from Blake to Schofield and the transition from Blake in front to Schofield in front since he's the leading subject in this bit of dialogue is just so well done. The camera swerving around them, Blake bumping into someone and then when the camera movement steady's and you now have Schofield in front. It's so natural but I can't imagine the amount of prep to make something so simple look so natural. And there are many things like this.

Spoiler: regarding the end and final thoughts.

When Schofield drifts into the pile of bodies and the camera just gets close enough to feel how uncomfortable he feels, the desperation. But my favourite bit is when he runs out of the trench to deliver the message and the push begins. Up until then the gunshots have been some of the loudest sounds effects, and there just the music as the main drive, the gunshots are mute and the explosions are not even half the volume they just were. You're really there in his head. His determination. Absolutely incredible what they accomplished with it. Like I said, cannot wait to go again.

 

[oatmeal]

Pretty cool film. I prefer Dunkirk. First half was much better than the second.

Hated that Dr. Strange was in it.

 

[metalslimer]

Overall masterpiece in terms of cinematography. But i can agree that the movie loses itself storywise pretty much after the blackout. The sequences were still great but it lost a little something there

 

[Emwitus]

Best movie i've watched this year. And yes, it is a technical and cinematic achievement. Pretty much why i go to the big screen and why it's my favorite movie of 2019/2020?

 

[Halbrand]

Woah, I was annoyed that the TV spots were only showing the same couple of clips but that trailer gives a lot away. I'm happy I didn't watch it.

 

[GS_Dan]

I didnt love it. The lack of scale bothered me a lot, especially for a war movie.everything was way too close together when it should not have been. I think the camera work contributed to that. But everything seemed way too close together to the point where you could not help but notice.

Click to shrink...

The scale seemed about right to me? The opposing trenches in some places on the front were so close that the two sides could talk to each other

 

[Smelck]

Amazing film....best for me in a while. The camera work and cinematography is masterful.. and major feels. The movie bookends itself in such a profound way. Powerful stuff, going again.

 

[hidys]

This is an astounding movie. It felt like a horror movie at times. I imagine there are going to be many more films which feel like one continuous take. I will say that for anyone who is curious you need to see this in cinema.

 

[NightOnyx]

I saw it today and I loved it! Some incredible camera work and cinematography. Certain parts like the night time scene were jaw-dropping. I'm so happy I saw in a theater too, it was such an amazing experience seeing it on a big screen with the theater sound system. There are a few things here and there that bugged me, mainly how close together everything felt, but all and all I loved everything about the movie. Some awesome performances too out of the two main actors. Also, I was wondering the whole time where I have seen the actor who played Blake before and it blew my mind when I imdb him and saw he was Tommen Baratheon.

Spoiler: Spoilers

The way everything felt so close did bother me a lot. Like he had just got out of the truck and like a minute later he was getting shot out, did nobody in the truck see or hear anything, they couldn't have been that far away? The same goes for the camp of soldiers after the river scene, they were not that far from the town, did they not hear any of the gunshots or explosions? I know because it was filmed the way it was to make it look like a one-shot, that certain things like the truck ride and the river scene are probably supposed to signify a longer passage of time and land traveled, but those things did kind of bug me a bit.

 

[Deleted member 42055]

I believe sure, youd pull a clearly still capable enemy combatant out of danger but I don't for a second believe he's just .. chilling right next to him with his guard down enough to get stabbed? Ehhhhhhhhh. Besides that it was an absolutely marvelous technical achievement but there was not enough here to move me as emotionally I would have liked although the lead actor did a fantastic job.

 

[ElephantShell]

Just saw this, what a great movie. From the moment it started I was just totally into it and it felt like I didn't blink until it was over. Very well done, some of the emotional bits got me too.

The whole "one shot" thing could get annoying if it's over done or just not done well but when it looks this beautiful, is paced this well and has this kind of tension it really, really works.

 

[take_marsh]

It's a rollercoaster but it's not a movie of substance or of anything to say. I highly recommend it for one viewing for sure tho

Click to shrink...

Pretty much where I'm at too. Generally speaking, a great movie to sit and watch once. Unfortunately, it's not a deep movie in the sense of characters or narrative. No message that hasn't been already told, but certainly a message that needs to be told again and again and again.

The only reason I can imagine for another viewing is to simply admire the way the movie looks. I thought it was really beautifully shot. I really enjoyed the movie from a technical angle, but the trailers spoiled so much of the film that a large chunk of the narrative was left emptied of almost any suspense.

 

[Phabh]

Really impressive technically but lacking in emotion and human drama. I wasn't invested enough in the characters. Felt the same about Dunkirk. Plot armor is a tension killer in a war movie.

 

[trioptimum24601]

Didn't care for it. Felt like a fairly rote war heroics film converted into an on-rails theme park ride, to no discernible advantage. Schofield was pretty much the only character I got anything out of, emotionally speaking, and even then there were only fleeting moments of good material for him to play off. That sequence with the flares was oddly powerful, though... the score suddenly sounded like it had something important to do, which helped.

 

[Tricky I Shadow]

I finally saw this the other day.

It gets a big fat meh from me.

 

[Deleted member 9241]

The movie gave me the same feeling as when I saw Gravity in IMAX 3D. It is "out of the frying pan, into the fire" for almost the entire runtime.

You'll pay full price for your seat, but you'll only need the edge!

 

[Zelas]

Spoiler: Spoilers

The way everything felt so close did bother me a lot. Like he had just got out of the truck and like a minute later he was getting shot out, did nobody in the truck see or hear anything, they couldn't have been that far away? The same goes for the camp of soldiers after the river scene, they were not that far from the town, did they not hear any of the gunshots or explosions? I know because it was filmed the way it was to make it look like a one-shot, that certain things like the truck ride and the river scene are probably supposed to signify a longer passage of time and land traveled, but those things did kind of bug me a bit.

Click to shrink...

They were in a convoy of loud trucks so probably not. And the river did carry him pretty far. Plus in war zones you hear a lot of random gunfire around you that has travel large distances already.

 

[ItIsOkBro]

chalk me up as another person who felt like things were too close, he would move a few meters and be in an entirely new location, and that the things behind him were constantly despawning like a video game

most jarring moments:

Spoiler

the whole ass battalion of soldiers being behind the house shortly after the stabbing.

expounding all that energy to push the vehicle, and only few moments later we're at the bridge which is out. we're still so awkwardly close to the barn at this point.

getting shot at crossing the broken bridge with no assistance from the whole ass battalion that was right there unable to cross

diving into the girl's house in plain sight of someone that was shooting at him and not getting followed into the house

washing up from the river right nearby the people he is looking for in nathan drake levels of convenience

 

[Kaswa101]

This was a pretty great film imo, especially from a technical point of view, but I don't wanna watch it again. The "one shot" idea was amazingly executed, but also resulted in some jarring stuff (as a few previous posts have mentioned).

Personally I also wasn't all that into the score or cinematography, aside from how well they pulled off the lack of camera cuts; the colour grading and shot composition felt kinda... bland to me? I expected something a bit more after all the hype, I suppose. In terms of award discussion, I'd say that Direction and Production Design stood out the most for me.

 

[sapien85]

Really impressive technically but lacking in emotion and human drama. I wasn't invested enough in the characters. Felt the same about Dunkirk. Plot armor is a tension killer in a war movie.

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Completely opposite reaction from me. Dunkirk felt like a boring, forgettable movie but this got me heavily invested and emotional.

 

[sapien85]

Saw this movie with my wife, really liked it and it felt like a non stop ride. No dull moments. She hates war movies but loved this one, I think it's her movie of 2019.