1917 (WWI movie)

[Adam.]

I think at some point you have to accept it’s a piece of entertainment and enjoy the cinematography and acting. And no focus so much on the historical accuracy

[Cobnapint]

What ruined it for me were the manicured-by-excavator trenches in the closing scenes, complete with immaculate, unshelled, no man's land running surface when they went over the top.
About as convincing as Nolan's 'Dunkirk'.

[coppice]

AC43 said:

Fundoreen said:

A good and memorable film. The people that dont like it prefer the sort of John Wayne effort with him saying something tough every few minutes and never looking like he is under any threat of death.

This one doesn't . John Wayne war films are often borderline absurd, gung ho nonsense . I didn't like 1917 because it was wildly implausible, sanitised and inauthentic in just about every important respect .War- lite , just like the terrible film (but not the play ) of Warhorse and the risible Dunkirk.

[Piginapoke]

Cobnapint said:

What ruined it for me were the manicured-by-excavator trenches in the closing scenes, complete with immaculate, unshelled, no man's land running surface when they went over the top.
About as convincing as Nolan's 'Dunkirk'.

Yep, fully agree. Or the booby-trapped german hospital that took 10 mins to collapse on them, leaving them with a bit of dust in their eyes.

[AlexC1981]

coppice said:

This one doesn't . John Wayne war films are often borderline absurd, gung ho nonsense . I didn't like 1917 because it was wildly implausible, sanitised and inauthentic in just about every important respect .War- lite , just like the terrible film (but not the play ) of Warhorse and the risible Dunkirk.

Many films are sanitised to avoid an 18 certificate as they would not be profitable.

[Cobnapint]

If there was a 'Most overrated Director' award at the Oscars, Nolan's trophy cabinet would surely be overflowing.

[phazed]

Piginapoke said:

Cobnapint said:

What ruined it for me were the manicured-by-excavator trenches in the closing scenes, complete with immaculate, unshelled, no man's land running surface when they went over the top.
About as convincing as Nolan's 'Dunkirk'.

Yep, fully agree. Or the booby-trapped german hospital that took 10 mins to collapse on them, leaving them with a bit of dust in their eyes.

Are you guys being a little picky?

At the end of the day a film is all about entertainment surely. You can pick holes a mile wide in some films but does it matter, they are entertainment not documentaries.

Next we’ll be saying that Top Gear isn’t a proper car programme as it rarely features anything realistic…

[coppice]

I am not sure. Films like Dunkirk and 1917 are very happy to exploit and feed off some national preoccupations ( some might say unhealthy obsessions ) and if they wish to bathe in the reflected glory and free publicity this involves , they need to pay more than lip service to historical accuracy. Some folk take these films as gospel - and that is unfortunate as it creates utterly false narratives , such as the silly scene in Churchill where he seeks the views of Joe Soap on the street.

[Ayahuasca]

All Quiet on the Western Front is much grimmer and makes 1917 look a bit light imho.

[Adam.]

coppice said:

This one doesn't . John Wayne war films are often borderline absurd, gung ho nonsense . I didn't like 1917 because it was wildly implausible, sanitised and inauthentic in just about every important respect .War- lite , just like the terrible film (but not the play ) of Warhorse and the risible Dunkirk.

Which war films do you like?

[Cobnapint]

phazed said:

Are you guys being a little picky?

At the end of the day a film is all about entertainment surely. You can pick holes a mile wide in some films but does it matter, they are entertainment not documentaries.

Next we’ll be saying that Top Gear isn’t a proper car programme as it rarely features anything realistic…

It's a war film.
It's a war film called 1917.
It's a war film called 1917 presented as an epic.
It's a war film called 1917, presented as an epic that is supposed represent a story set in the first world war.
It therefore is expected to be realistic and convincing.

Dad's Army is set in the second world war. THAT is correctly regarded as entertainment.

[Ayahuasca]

All Quiet on the Western Front is much grimmer and makes 1917 look a bit light imho.

[Sebring440]

Ayahuasca said:

All Quiet on the Western Front is much grimmer and makes 1917 look a bit light imho.

You can say that again.

[Punctilio]

God save us from folk complaining about lack of authenticity.

If you want untrammelled WW1 authenticity then how about a 2 hour film about
soldiers in a trench digging latrines, repairing walkboards, sewing socks and
ridding their pubes of lice.

Rather than bombardments, raids and a deluge of splintered body parts
this routine was the squaddies' normal humdrum trench life.

Wouldn't really make great fillum.

[phazed]

You don’t see that emoji very often.

[A500leroy]

How big was that set though being shot in (virtually) one take?

[Fundoreen]

People like marvel comix films now. They all end with some swirling energy portal that has to be closed as the universe will end!
Some geezer delivering a message seems slight I guess.

[coppice]

Adam. said:

Which war films do you like?

All Quiet , Das Boot , Downfall , Life is Beautiful, Grave of the Fireflies come to mind , . Long time since I saw it, but despite the John Wayne content , D Day was terrific , thanks to lots of archive footage . Slightly more left field, Catch 22 and the wonderful JoJo Rabbit . As a kid I loved Battle of Britain , but it may have been Susannah York in uniform related

[Cobnapint]

The BoB, a true epic from start to finish

[thegreenhell]

Cobnapint said:

What ruined it for me were the manicured-by-excavator trenches in the closing scenes, complete with immaculate, unshelled, no man's land running surface when they went over the top.
About as convincing as Nolan's 'Dunkirk'.

I thought the point was that it was meant to be a brand new front line as the Germans had just retreated 9 miles behind the old font line over the preceding couple of days, and this was meant to be the first attack on the new position.