I really enjoyed this. I saw it on a normal big screen with D-box and the d-box was well done IMO especially when he was in gunfights.

My criticisms:


They never seemed to figure out that the Germans are not nice fellas! I mean when he didn't just off that young dude in the city in the end-- how many times does try to be merciful before figuring it out?

I agree with the above mention about planes & leaflets. Maybe the Germans had too many AA batteries nearby? Not sure why that wouldn't have worked.

It seems like the Germans went to the Stormtrooper academy with their gunfire. Especially with the sniper on the bridge section-- how many damn times did he miss then the hero nails him with a pop up shot.

Why was that one cow left alive? Was it just so he could get milk for the baby? Also that baby looked old enough to be eating solids and cow milk is not adequate for an infant anyway but I digress!

Just saw it today, and it shot to #1 overall for me in 2019. It's an amazing visual and emotional experience.

I would counter the complaints about the relative depth of the plot by reminding everyone that the film covers only about 12 hours of total time. SPR covers about a week of WWII by comparison. Big difference.

KidDoc said:

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I really enjoyed this. I saw it on a normal big screen with D-box and the d-box was well done IMO especially when he was in gunfights.

My criticisms:


They never seemed to figure out that the Germans are not nice fellas! I mean when he didn't just off that young dude in the city in the end-- how many times does try to be merciful before figuring it out?

I agree with the above mention about planes & leaflets. Maybe the Germans had too many AA batteries nearby? Not sure why that wouldn't have worked.

It seems like the Germans went to the Stormtrooper academy with their gunfire. Especially with the sniper on the bridge section-- how many damn times did he miss then the hero nails him with a pop up shot.

Why was that one cow left alive? Was it just so he could get milk for the baby? Also that baby looked old enough to be eating solids and cow milk is not adequate for an infant anyway but I digress!

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I guess it was the lighting, but the scene with the young one with the drunk, when he dashed in at first, it almost looked like he was wearing Allied khaki and someone also hiding--- and he was urging him to be silent since enemy nearby. In other words suddenly revealed as an infiltrator. If I had picked up he was a German straight up that would have looked even more foolish. Hmm.

Also I half expected they were going to say the milk was poisoned and the cow left because it was part of the setup. It wasn't explained. But still don't really buy the scene with the aviator. The one least likely to reward their chivalry that way. It did have the virtue of achieving total surprise ---I half-way thought the German pilot was going to be `drafted' into helping them part of the way, and then would more naturally make a move.

Just got out from watching it. Great film, the single shot with the one break about halfway worked really well.

I do wonder, other than the one time jump, is everything happening in real time? In other words, did everything we saw in the movie actually take place in 2 hours?

You have to think it did, considering the way it was shot. Unless you're just meant to suspend your disbelief that it's not in real time in the same way an open-world videogame is not actually 1:1 with the real world in order to traverse those maps in minutes instead of hours.

That was incredible. One of the best war movie's I've ever seen. Gripping from beginning to end.

Brian Earl Spilner said:

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I do wonder, other than the one time jump, is everything happening in real time? In other words, did everything we saw in the movie actually take place in 2 hours?

You have to think it did, considering the way it was shot. Unless you're just meant to suspend your disbelief that it's not in real time in the same way an open-world videogame is not actually 1:1 with the real world in order to traverse those maps in minutes instead of hours.

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Can't be just two hours the change of night to light again is too overt. 12 hours maybe at the least? You go from day to dark, to day again --or at least pre-dawn day.

Yeah that's the main reason I thought it couldn't be. I guess unless he was out for like 10 hours.

Right. He's saying outside of the of time cut. Schofield would have to have been unconscious in that stairwell for 10 hours - all at night - for the "real time"-ness of the movie to add up. Maybe he was, but yeah, it appears as if the filmmakers "cheated" elsewhere a bit.

Yep, exactly.

Also, I probably missed this but he wasn't actually shot right? It looked like he was, but it was just the hit to his head that knocked him out? He seemed to be fine other than his head.

In the moment I thought he was actually shot, but then when he woke up I was like, "Guess not." Wasn't 100% sure.

TCTTS said:

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Right. He's saying outside of the of time cut. Schofield would have to have been unconscious in that stairwell for 10 hours - all at night - for the "real time"-ness of the movie to add up. Maybe he was, but yeah, it appears as if the filmmakers "cheated" elsewhere a bit.

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Agree. When he engages the sniper, its plenty light and the view beyond the window clear. When he wakes up after having been out on the staircase for what seems a long time, it is very dark and has an about an hour after dusk feel to it. The sniper is clearly dead and barely glimpsed, but in same place you saw him, and it is dark apart from fires outside the window. Then it is definitely not exactly real time, because you make a natural cut and he is walking down the street -- you don't see him go the full distance to exit the building. He clearly spends time with the French lady long enough that it is somewhat pre-dawn campfire those Germans are having (unless very later that same night. But no matter what, its not real-time

I'd love to know what the longest continuous shot in the movie actually was. Wonder if that'll come out due to all the positive reactions to the technique.

KidDoc said:

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I really enjoyed this. I saw it on a normal big screen with D-box and the d-box was well done IMO especially when he was in gunfights.

My criticisms:


They never seemed to figure out that the Germans are not nice fellas! I mean when he didn't just off that young dude in the city in the end-- how many times does try to be merciful before figuring it out?

I agree with the above mention about planes & leaflets. Maybe the Germans had too many AA batteries nearby? Not sure why that wouldn't have worked.

It seems like the Germans went to the Stormtrooper academy with their gunfire. Especially with the sniper on the bridge section-- how many damn times did he miss then the hero nails him with a pop up shot.

Why was that one cow left alive? Was it just so he could get milk for the baby? Also that baby looked old enough to be eating solids and cow milk is not adequate for an infant anyway but I digress!

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I saw today and agree with your first point as well. I would've not been as hesitant.

Brian Earl Spilner said:

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Yep, exactly.

Also, I probably missed this but he wasn't actually shot right? It looked like he was, but it was just the hit to his head that knocked him out? He seemed to be fine other than his head.

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Grazed I believe.

KidDoc said:

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I really enjoyed this. I saw it on a normal big screen with D-box and the d-box was well done IMO especially when he was in gunfights.

My criticisms:


They never seemed to figure out that the Germans are not nice fellas! I mean when he didn't just off that young dude in the city in the end-- how many times does try to be merciful before figuring it out?

I agree with the above mention about planes & leaflets. Maybe the Germans had too many AA batteries nearby? Not sure why that wouldn't have worked.

It seems like the Germans went to the Stormtrooper academy with their gunfire. Especially with the sniper on the bridge section-- how many damn times did he miss then the hero nails him with a pop up shot.

Why was that one cow left alive? Was it just so he could get milk for the baby? Also that baby looked old enough to be eating solids and cow milk is not adequate for an infant anyway but I digress!

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To your first point

the German soldiers and especially the pilots of WWI WERE as nice as any British or French fella. If you haven't seen They Shall Not Grow Old (which incidentally was better than this movie) listen to how the British veterans described the Germans they encountered. Obviously in the heat of close quarter combat everyone is just trying not to die, so I wouldn't have blamed him for dispatching that one dude, but a downed German pilot having been helped out of his wrecked plane would absolutely not have randomly shanked a British soldier. That was nonsense and honestly kind of pissed me off as it shed the wrong light on what those men were like.

Some cool behind the scenes stuff here.

Just saw it . Very average. The usual ...every German is a bad shot and somehow misses the main character throughout. If saving private Ryan is the bar....this movie didn't even come close.

They Shall Not Grow Old >>>>>1917.

O'Doyle Rules said:

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Just saw it . Very average. The usual ...every German is a bad shot and somehow misses the main character throughout. If saving private Ryan is the bar....this movie didn't even come close.

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Germans are bad shots, stormtroopers were terrible shots like their fathers...

I agree with this. Let's not forget that this was not the Third Reich yet.

Quote:

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They Shall Not Grow Old >>>>>1917.

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All day.

O'Doyle Rules said:

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Just saw it . Very average. The usual ...every German is a bad shot and somehow misses the main character throughout. If saving private Ryan is the bar....this movie didn't even come close.

They Shall Not Grow Old >>>>>1917.

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I missed They Shall Not Grow Old- just set DVR to record it on HBO Wednesday thanks.

Apples and oranges. One is a documentary and one is a movie. Two very different things.

Brian Earl Spilner said:

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Apples and oranges. One is a documentary and one is a movie. Two very different things.

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Im coming from a perspective of which one kept me more entertained? Genre aside.

^ yep. With TSNGO I found myself not only stunned by the technical work but also by the stories being told and the emotional weight. In 1917 I felt stunned by the technical work but also that I was seeing a story arbitrarily shoehorned into an idea for a directing technique.

Quad Dog,

That scene is so damn poignant and moving--the mix of the movie and soundtrack and what is happening there. Especially to historian perspective because we know how many died so futile in just that way, so brave and doomed, entire generation of Europe - -whole towns of men of fighting age. And for so few miles. Pickett's charge in the Civil War and the average Japanese banzai charge was far less certain to fail, but WW I trench warfare devolved into a series of just the most in vain efforts. This adds an extra poignancy to the film.

Sometimes it was resisted -- elements of the French army mutinied at the time of the Chalk cliffs.

Quote:

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entire generation of Europe

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The toll it took on the French Army left it unprepared to resist the Third Reich just 20 years later.

Belton Ag said:

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Quote:

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entire generation of Europe

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The toll it took on the French Army left it unprepared to resist the Third Reich just 20 years later.

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Really? Not to derail the thread, but I thought France's failure 20 years later had much more to do with their Maginot Line, which was designed based on the last war, not the latest war. The Germans saw their defenses, said "hold my beer", hopped in their tanks and mech vehicles, and that was that.

If youre thinkin about watching this, go watch it.

O'Doyle Rules said:

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Just saw it . Very average. The usual ...every German is a bad shot and somehow misses the main character throughout. If saving private Ryan is the bar....this movie didn't even come close.

They Shall Not Grow Old >>>>>1917.

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The enemy having terrible aim is definitely an annoying movie cliche, but man... average? This movie was beautifully made.

TSNGO was fantastic but I wouldn't compare these movies. Documentaries are in a totally different category.

Beautifully shot with a lot of attention to detail. I really enjoyed it.

I did think the story was weak and a lot of things may be criticized but I would love to have seen Paths of Glory filmed on these sets and with this cinematography-- that would have been awesome.

Someone feels attacked

The nature of this board is hype. "Get excited! We are finally going to get a new Ghostbusters! Its gonna be Bridesmaids with GHOSTS! Even Hemsworth is gonna be in it, he's got great comedic timing. CANT WAIT!!!!"

The Debt said:

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The nature of this board is hype. "Get excited! We are finally going to get a new Ghostbusters! Its gonna be Bridesmaids with GHOSTS! Even Hemsworth is gonna be in it, he's got great comedic timing. CANT WAIT!!!!"

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Uh, maybe I'm wrong, but I feel like the overwhelming sentiment about that movie on this board was literally the exact opposite. I don't think anybody on here was on the edge of their seat waiting for that movie. Regardless, a little hyperbolic with your painting of this board.

Excellent movie. Very intense. Hard to watch.