1917 Thread

[Кот Бегемот]

the whole premise of a British officer caring about lives of 1600 men seem a bit of a stretch, considering what a total, royal and absofuckinglutely needless losses took place by commanding officers in borderline criminal actions. I am not saying that it never took place, but on average your Tommy was a meatbag cannon fodder who was thrown again mgs charge after needless charge.

Yeah, I don't know why it's so hard to get those details right considering the money pissed away elsewhere. There are not many people who own and shoot an Enfield, but stupid gun mistakes in movies just completely ruin the experience for me.

 

[frozenrunner]

I just got out of seeing this. Really impressed me beyond my expectations. The story is simple, but everything about the execution was impressive.

It's early in the year, but this needs to be nominated for something.

EDIT: Oh, this came out late last year, didn't it? It's definitely one of 2019's best films.

 

[millais]

the whole premise of a British officer caring about lives of 1600 men seem a bit of a stretch, considering what a total, royal and absofuckinglutely needless losses took place by commanding officers in borderline criminal actions. I am not saying that it never took place, but on average your Tommy was a meatbag cannon fodder who was thrown again mgs charge after needless charge.

Yeah, I don't know why it's so hard to get those details right considering the money pissed away elsewhere. There are not many people who own and shoot an Enfield, but stupid gun mistakes in movies just completely ruin the experience for me.

By 1917, nearly all the European armies had been through the meatgrinder and were much more concerned about reducing needless casualties due to the shift to attrition warfare. The French couldn't even commit their armies to the offensive for fear of mass mutiny, and the British similarly were conserving their forces while waiting for the arrival of the Americans.

 

[EmpireOfTheClouds]

It wasn't really meant to be about the story, more the experience and the two main characters more than the overall plot.

Neither was Dunkirk, and that ended up being my favourite movie of 2017.

 

[Suburban Bastard]

I saw it yesterday and really enjoyed it. In fact, that was probably one of the best war movies I have ever seen, I would even rate it higher than Dunkirk. I'm happy I decided to not read the plot before seeing because the film was giving mini-heart attacks the whole time. 10/10 will gladly watch it again.

 

[Patty Hitler]

I also saw 1917- the plot is simple and I guess you can pick that apart, but it's hard to not be impressed by the technical skill that went into this film. The scene where the Schofield has to make it through the bombed out city was intense. There's something about the way it was lit, especially after he emerges from the tower building, that made it absolutely terrifying. I don't think I've ever seen anything quite like it. Have my 10/10 also.

 

[Clown College]

I also saw 1917- the plot is simple and I guess you can pick that apart, but it's hard to not be impressed by the technical skill that went into this film. The scene where the Schofield has to make it through the bombed out city was intense. There's something about the way it was lit, especially after he emerges from the tower building, that made it absolutely terrifying. I don't think I've ever seen anything quite like it. Have my 10/10 also.

That part was also my favorite part of the whole movie, I don't think I've ever seen anything like that in any movie either. I would highly recommend this movie if just for the experience it gives you.

 

[Next Task]

Thought it was terrific. The long take makes everything feel more intimate and tense, the whole feel of the movie was compelling and often nerve-wracking, and I thought it earned its few moments of grace and peace. The amount of horrific things these ordinary men were expected to both endure and perform boggles my mind, especially in a time of claimed PTSD from mean tweets.

Definitely worth watching on a big screen, and is in the top tier of war films, I think.

 

[Idiotron]

Here's a short "review":
The long shot presentation is well made although it's fake and I've noticed a lot of hidden cuts throughout the movie.
The pacing, the way it looks and the music reminded me of a fantasy movie, it has the "2 hobbits going on a quest" thing going on. I like that, never seen a war movie like that.
The very limited dialogue and sparse action is nice as well, feels refreshing.
Also, despite the movie being about one of the biggest military conflicts in human history, it's less political than an average episode of Supergirl. That's a major plus.
It's a unique experience, I highly recommend it.

I bet money that this will take the Oscars for cinematography and editing, maybe a few other technical ones.
It didn't do too well opening weekend but it's still going strong, it will make a profit, especially since it hasn't been released in East Asia yet.

More like this one, please, Hollywood.

 

[Cyril Sneer]

The pacing, the way it looks and the music reminded me of a fantasy movie, it has the "2 hobbits going on a quest" thing going on. I like that, never seen a war movie like that.

That seems a very appropriate reaction, considering that J.R.R. Tolkien very consciously modeled the character of Sam Gamgee on the ordinary, working-class British soldiers whom he served alongside in the war.

 

[Duncan Hills Coffee]

Did anyone else think that Scofield was gonna get gangrene from that barbed wire at the beginning? Especially after he accidentally stuck his hand in the corpse? I watched his hand throughout the whole movie and I was anticipating maybe a scene where his hand is rotting or he has to amputate it. Of course, given that it takes place over like a day it would be unrealistic for the hand to rot that quickly, but it did make me expect him to die and I was thrown off when Blake died so early in the movie.

Fantastic movie, definitely one of the best films of last year.

 

[MrJokerRager]

Is it like a movie version of Battlefield 1?

 

[millais]

I know I complained earlier about the inexplicable underloading of the rifles, but one of the things I appreciated about the film was the historically accurate way in which all the actors were carrying their rifles. A lot of the war movies made in the 21st century have modern 21st century soldiers as military advisers, so they unwittingly coach the actors into using anachronistic 21st century firearms handling techniques like the "low ready" position for carrying rifles and pistols.

In historical actuality, from the photos and training/drill manuals of the day, we know that through the end of WW2 and even later, the default carry position for rifles in combat was a kind of "low port" carry. This is kept consistent throughout the entire 1917 movie, so they should definitely get some credit for doing the research on that.

This video explains the anachronistic "carry position" phenomenon much better with visual examples:

 

[Cyril Sneer]

I know I complained earlier about the inexplicable underloading of the rifles...

If memory serves, WWI-era Tommies never loaded the Lee-Enfield rifle to magazine capacity unless they were actually in the middle of a firefight at that moment. Something to do with not over-stressing the magazine spring.

 

[Starscreams Cape]

Just saw this yesterday and it's a wonderful movie. I really would encourage anyone who wants to see it but hasn't to go while it's in the theaters.

These are definitely the movies that you should support financially.

 

[Looney Troons]

Glad to have read the positive marks here. I don’t get out to the cinema much, but I’ve a nice setup at home and am excited to make an afternoon of 1917 and Dunkirk upon its release.

 

[Muttnik]

I...I honestly thought it was extraordinary. The one-shot thing is cool af but the cinematography, acting, score, effects, etc. All fantastic. I didn't think something would knock Joker off my #1 spot but here we are.

 

[CivilianOfTheFandomWars]

This movie was probably one of the best films I've recently seen in theaters. If it's in theaters around you, go watch it. I cannot recommend it enough, it's a pure work of art.
The score is great, the story is basic yet enthralling, I was actually shook by some of the scenes, and I would happily watch it again.
The scene where he wakes up and sees the city burning was beautiful and haunting. Him running down the trench to get to the commander was terrifying in a way that's hard to describe. And when he finally makes it and we see the guy singing "Wayfaring Stranger" was probably one of the most melancholic scenes in the entire film.
It's one of those films that stick with you for a while.

 

[Furina]

Went to the cinema for the first time in about two years to see this. Was not disappointed. The theatre wasn't exactly crowded, but pretty mixed between couples, families, and single losers like me, as well as young and old. The story was pretty simple and straight-forward, which was good because it left more time to simply drink in the visuals and atmosphere while still maintaining that sense of urgency throughout. I'm not a huge military history nerd so I'm sure there were plenty of inaccuracies that just flew over my head, but I did pick up on some of the accurate details, such as the Germans having much nicer trenches than the British. Honestly, the worst part of the experience was eye-roll inducing trailer for Queen & Slim that played before the movie.

All in all, absolutely worth the price of admission and an afternoon well-spent. Now just to wait until Dune comes out before I have a reason to step foot in a cinema again.

 

[Next Task]

I was hoping this would win the Best Picture Oscar. Now Parasite was terrific - all the nominees I saw were actually really good - so I didn't mind it winning, and it certainly was a more interesting choice than if 1917 had won.

I didn't appreciate that numerous places, in celebrating Parasite, had to shit on 1917 in the process, though. You can like one film better without having to denigrate its competition, I think. But the wokensteins had to get a dig in at the putative front-runner losing, with all the implied 'straight old white men are bad' that came with it, and it bugged me.

I don't care how much the culture warriors try and force it, entertainment is not a zero-sum game. If 1917 had won, it would have been deserved, because it really was a magnificent bit of movie-making. Another film winning doesn't make that any less true, and I resented that they felt like they had to knock it down a peg for being seen as 'establishment'.