"They Shall Not Grow Old" Peter Jackson's WWI film

[Lucas Ayde]

over_the_hill said:

Clearly the technology of the day and reporting was somewhat lacking compared to modern times. It would likely take a week or more to get a report back from somewhere near the front lines to London and into print.

For most of the population unless they had someone directly involved in the fighting, life went on much the same as usual. Certainly some things were in shorter supply but as far as I am aware there was no organised rationing. Other than the odd Zeplin raid they weren't over here every night bombing our chip shops, so unsurprisingly the majority back at home were completely detached from the reality of what was happening.
The concept of the British soldier in a red jacket and white helmet was still a common view and few had any idea of what a "modern war" was all about.


Brilliant production - absolutely riveting.

First World War was mostly about massive military clashes on the battlefield because it just ended up in trench warfare.

Second World War also introduced massive civilian casualties as armies swept across wide geographic areas and outright directed attacks on the civilian populace (from the Allies and the Axis powers) typically in the form of aerial bombing.

[coppice]

Schmed said:

coppice said:

The same tired, Anglocentric narrative which gives such a skewed perception of history for so many of us .

What utter drivel. (Above comment, not the masterpiece of film restoration).

The comment was not about the film , but about the single dimensional reportage of the centenary.Eastern front ? Gallipoli ? The appalling carnage of Verdun(one of the the most horrific WW1 sites of those I have visited)? Based on what I have seen the only nations involved in WW1 were Germany and Britain( including the commonwealth)on the western front . Up to you whether you dismiss inconvenient facts as drivel.

[ZymoTech]

As already mentioned by many an absolutely awe-inspiring film. There were two segments in the narration which lodged in my head. The first was towards the beginning of the film with the recruitment and the issuing of kit: a soldier in a Scottish regiment had been issued his kilt but no underpants to go with it, so he had been given a piece of paper to say that this soldier had not been issued with underpants and under no circumstances was he to go up the stairs to the top deck of buses.

The second was at the very end, with a soldier recounting the reaction on his return to his old job at a works stores. IIRC it was "Where've you been ? On nights ?"

[croyde]

MYOB said:

I'm confused. I was led to believe there was some ground-breaking features in this programme but yet I couldn't identify any. I have seen other WW1 programmes in colour and other stories from the veterans.

This was no better than anything I have seen previously.

It was not so much the colour but the bringing the old film that could be anywhere between 12 to 17 frames per second (hence the Charlie Chaplin look to movement) up to a modern 24 frames per second to get the smooth realistic movement we get now.

Plus the addition of proper sound ie the explosions and the sound of the soldiers voices.

[baldy1926]

Lucas Ayde said:

over_the_hill said:

Clearly the technology of the day and reporting was somewhat lacking compared to modern times. It would likely take a week or more to get a report back from somewhere near the front lines to London and into print.

For most of the population unless they had someone directly involved in the fighting, life went on much the same as usual. Certainly some things were in shorter supply but as far as I am aware there was no organised rationing. Other than the odd Zeplin raid they weren't over here every night bombing our chip shops, so unsurprisingly the majority back at home were completely detached from the reality of what was happening.
The concept of the British soldier in a red jacket and white helmet was still a common view and few had any idea of what a "modern war" was all about.


Brilliant production - absolutely riveting.

First World War was mostly about massive military clashes on the battlefield because it just ended up in trench warfare.

Second World War also introduced massive civilian casualties as armies swept across wide geographic areas and outright directed attacks on the civilian populace (from the Allies and the Axis powers) typically in the form of aerial bombing.

There was rationing from 1918 and big shortages before then.
The postal system was probably better than today so the press could get copy back to London fairly quickly.

Its a shame that no credit was given to the cameramen who recorded the initial footage.

[anonymous-user]

Probably the best film experience ive had in years,

Peter j has done a sterling job in bringing home something that happened 100 plus years ago to a viewer and getting a connection.

Amazing job some of the colourised clips are amazing. I do hope a companion book is released.

[NDA]

A terrible war and full of individual tragedies. Most of our forefathers were there in the middle of the slaughter. The colour footage made it so much more powerful - less like ancient history.

It should be watched.

[MYOB]

croyde said:

MYOB said:

I'm confused. I was led to believe there was some ground-breaking features in this programme but yet I couldn't identify any. I have seen other WW1 programmes in colour and other stories from the veterans.

This was no better than anything I have seen previously.

It was not so much the colour but the bringing the old film that could be anywhere between 12 to 17 frames per second (hence the Charlie Chaplin look to movement) up to a modern 24 frames per second to get the smooth realistic movement we get now.

Plus the addition of proper sound ie the explosions and the sound of the soldiers voices.

Ta, I get the point about the frame rate. It was def smoother, for want of a better word.

As for the sound, apart from the narrative, these were simply added on.

[FourWheelDrift]

MYOB said:

As for the sound, apart from the narrative, these were simply added on.

A lot of lip reading work was carried out to have the right words said by the voice actors for the soldiers on screen.

[Lynchie999]

... theres a making of type programme on BBC4 tonight.... 7:30 in fact!

[NDA]

turbomoped said:

Can we stop referencing this nonsense and skip forward to something like the Falklands which is a real epic tale to be proud of.

Bit harsh. Around 900 were killed in the Falklands and about 16 million in the First World War.... The Falklands war was 74 days, the First World War was over 1,500 days (4 years).

Hardly 'nonsense'.

[Patrick Bateman]

turbomoped said:

Technically impressive but doubt I would ever want to see it again.
Reminds me of that digital dinosaur craze the bbc had for a while which seems boring now.
The voices were so positive and upbeat in commentary that had little relevance to the filth and depravity on the screen.
Making tea with water from a puddle which may have had a dead body in it rivals any dark comedy from Black Adder
and to be honest you may as well watch that to get an accurate idea of the great war.
I imagine any genuine dissenting voices on the utter madness of it all were the ones put up againt the wall and shot.
Voices of those saying they missed it and would do it all again were no doubt voices of those 5 miles behind the trenches.
Can we stop referencing this nonsense and skip forward to something like the Falklands which is a real epic tale to be proud of.

[griffin dai]

turbomoped said:

Technically impressive but doubt I would ever want to see it again.
Reminds me of that digital dinosaur craze the bbc had for a while which seems boring now.
The voices were so positive and upbeat in commentary that had little relevance to the filth and depravity on the screen.
Making tea with water from a puddle which may have had a dead body in it rivals any dark comedy from Black Adder
and to be honest you may as well watch that to get an accurate idea of the great war.
I imagine any genuine dissenting voices on the utter madness of it all were the ones put up againt the wall and shot.
Voices of those saying they missed it and would do it all again were no doubt voices of those 5 miles behind the trenches.
Can we stop referencing this nonsense and skip forward to something like the Falklands which is a real epic tale to be proud of.

fk sakes, are you for real or what?

I’m guessing you’ve never served?

[marksx]

Lynchie999 said:

... theres a making of type programme on BBC4 tonight.... 7:30 in fact!

I read this just in time, thanks!

[Europa1]

NDA said:

turbomoped said:

Can we stop referencing this nonsense and skip forward to something like the Falklands which is a real epic tale to be proud of.

Bit harsh. Around 900 were killed in the Falklands and about 16 million in the First World War.... The Falklands war was 74 days, the First World War was over 1,500 days (4 years).

Hardly 'nonsense'.

Indeed. The First World War was the first industrial war, and arguably the first "modern" total war that involved society as a whole - for example, women in factories and other, previously male, roles (which was a stepping stone to female suffrage), and a concerted attempt by both sides to starve the other into submission (Germany by deploying submarines, still a new weapon, the British with the more traditional blockade). It saw ferocious advances in technology, for example aeroplanes moving from fragile machines that were playthings of the rich to an integral part of a modern battlefield (and again, carrying the war to the civilian population), the invention of the tank, the internal combustion becoming a much more reliable powerplant, and all the effects that has had on society. It saw early manifestations of WMDs (gas), it saw medical advances (such as early plastic surgery). It caused the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, a superpower. It enabled the Russian Revolution. And the peace terms imposed on Germany by the allies incensed an Austrian ex-corporal to the point where he joined the NSDAP political party.

Nonsense? Please, go and have a word with yourself.

[227bhp]

ZymoTech said:

As already mentioned by many an absolutely awe-inspiring film. There were two segments in the narration which lodged in my head. The first was towards the beginning of the film with the recruitment and the issuing of kit: a soldier in a Scottish regiment had been issued his kilt but no underpants to go with it, so he had been given a piece of paper to say that this soldier had not been issued with underpants and under no circumstances was he to go up the stairs to the top deck of buses.

The second was at the very end, with a soldier recounting the reaction on his return to his old job at a works stores. IIRC it was "Where've you been ? On nights ?"

That could have been a tongue in cheek comment or gallows humour.

[MYOB]

FourWheelDrift said:

A lot of lip reading work was carried out to have the right words said by the voice actors for the soldiers on screen.

I doubt anyone could have lip read from those old films. In fact, I would say it is impossible given the frame rate of the original recording. Still, I liked some of the jokes expressed, especially the one about the tall German! "we'll get you next time! ".

[227bhp]

Rogue86 said:

227bhp said:

It's irrelevant as to whether today's snowflakes would cope

What's your definition of a 'snowflake'? Plenty of young lads in conflict zones the world over taking names...

I was commenting on a previous posters snowflake reference, but yes, the youth of today, or even anyone from 15 to 40. Apart from people getting killed you can't make any comparison with modern warfare to that of WW1, not at all, it was completely different.

[Patrick Bateman]

227bhp said:

That could have been a tongue in cheek comment or gallows humour.

I read it as society as a whole being totally disconnected with the men on the front.

[Beati Dogu]

MYOB said:

FourWheelDrift said:

A lot of lip reading work was carried out to have the right words said by the voice actors for the soldiers on screen.

I doubt anyone could have lip read from those old films. In fact, I would say it is impossible given the frame rate of the original recording. Still, I liked some of the jokes expressed, especially the one about the tall German! "we'll get you next time! ".

There was a video about this a while ago:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=60&amp...