Everyone in the world should watch this film. It's absolutely incredible. The work that has gone into restoring the footage and putting together the sound effects and voices is absolutely remarkable. It's always fascinating to hear information from the people who were actually there fighting this horrific war. I think it speaks volumes that they all hate the glorification of war, and that when it was over, they didn't really care who won - They were ALL just glad it was over, on all sides. One of them stated that we must all make sure it will never happen again. These are the people who were there; these are the people we need to listen to. Never underestimate the devastation, the trauma, and the absolute hell that war is. This film should be played in schools every single year. Don't just stick a flag up on Facebook every November and say "Lest We Forget"... It means absolutely nothing! Actually remember what soldiers, medics, animals, and civilians really went through. Remember the true gore that war creates and all the people that suffer because of the stupidity of politics.
Incredible viewing. Really adds a certain realism to the brutality of war. In parts it's terrifying and it doesn't make for comfortable viewing - but then that's the point isn't it? War was terrible and this film really gives you a sense of that. Even though it's harrowing, any school kid taking history should watch this.
The colorization is superb and really brings this piece to life, amongst all death. The destruction of war is overwhelming. Disgusting.
For the last few years, I've become a bit obsessed with the insanity that was World War I. The way that the fighting escalated to such terrific levels is impossible to grasp. WWI appeared to be as horrific and as close to Hell on Earth as there has ever been.
If Peter Jackson's restoration (or perhaps his re-imagination) of old WWI footage accomplishes anything, it will make you think about the horrors of war. This is not a documentary that covers the specific battles of the Great War. Instead, it focuses on the men and boys that lived and died. The entire film is narrated with commentary from men who were there. It's mostly heartbreaking and left me with questions about blind loyalty to a country or a cause.
This film contains real photographs and footage of horrifically slaughtered people and animals. There are a number of documentaries that cover the history of WWI better than this, though. If you're interested in an amazing historical reference, listen to Dan Carlin's Hardcore History podcast, specifically the six-part "Blueprint for Armageddon" series.
The voice over of actual survivors paired with these old images makes it feel real. Only point is that they only interviewed one side, but I guess that's fair
I might be the odd one out, because most people seem to be in awe of this movie/project, but I ultimately found it to be fairly unsatisfying.
The technical achievement of restoring WW1 film footage to a somewhat modern looking film is impressive, but wasn't good enough to really work for me - the outcomes of the technology employed are generally so wonky, noticeable, and artefact heavy that I found it more distracting than impressive.
In terms of showing us the lived experiences of trench warfare in WW1, this didn't really add to my appreciation of the horror that was (the first) war to end all wars. We know conditions were brutal. This just shows us in colour. In my case, that didn't add enough to make it required watching.
Compiled to be personal. Brilliant. Peter Jackson turned 100 hours of documentary film and over 600 hours of audio interviews, of those who served, into a very personal encounter with the First World War. The post credit 30 minute featurette, about the process of making the documentary, is not to be missed. I was startled by the packed afternoon showing (I heard the manager of the cineplex say that when he saw the ticket sales he had to move the film out of the events theatre and into the largest auditorium they had). This is a really fine production - emotional and educational. I give this a 10 (brilliant film making) out of 10. [Historical War Documentary]
I understand that they really had no story and that they created a dramatic impact out of nowhere, but the first half is kind of boring. The second half is really interesting and the final is devastating.
Fantastic World War I documentary. The restored and colourized footage from the actual battlefields is absolutely mesmerizing. Highly recommended.
Cutting edge technology highlights cutting testimony and edgy footage.
Peter Jackson uses tech to restore and colourise World War I reels in order to illustrate interviews by British soldiers who fought on the Western Front. The work done to treat the film sometimes distracts from the images themselves and the heroes speaking about them, but the lack of narrator or info cards guarantees the focus is on those brave souls telling their stories.
It was an outstanding display of technology and restoration with even funny and thoughtful moments... and yet a bit unsatisfying. It somehow feels weird going out of the cinema, whistling quite cheerful the tune from the credits.
An outstanding effort from legendary director Peter Jackson, the only disappointment that I had was finding out that the restoration process was still very expensive; a big part of me was hoping that he would invent some modern technology could somehow democratize it and bring it to a PBS style multi hour documentary.
One of my favorite lines from any movie or tv show came from an episode of MASH. Colonel Potter was contemplating his life as a military man in front of the group. He referenced that he had taken part in "the war to end all wars and then the war after that one". This is a documentary that is unlike any that I have ever seen. I've seen a ton of war documentaries - they usually cover the various battles, strategies, victors and loss. This film had none of any of this. It instead captured the mindset of very young men as they headed off to war as an escape from their plight at home. What really stunned me throughout the documentary is just how casual they were about the whole war. They had no problems going to the war, they didn't mind it when they were there and many didn't want it to end. The doc didn't directly touch on this but this war was definitely part of the transformation of war in modern society.
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Brilliant.
If I hadn't been in a state of shock throughout most it I most likely would have cried.
Shout by smallcloneBlockedParent2018-11-12T09:52:57Z
Superb. This was exceptional. Peter Jackson and his team painstakingly took 100 year old archive footage and somehow rendered it into HD. An absolute triumph. Very emotional to hear what the soldiers were going through. Should be compulsory viewing in schools or something. 9/10