1917 [4K UHD]

I've been putting this off for too long. Let me just start by saying that if you have any interest in seeing this film, purchase it now and watch it immediately. I have been blown away by the quality of this film, so much so that it's led me to just keep analyzing frames and shots and dialogue throughout the movie. Yes, it's just a WWI movie that takes place on one day in 1917, but it's a movie so packed with purpose and intention behind every little thing. It's astounding how much thought and time was put into making this film. It's truly a beautiful work of art that I may now regard as my favorite war film of all-time. You're immediately thinking of other, better war movies, and I'll agree that those are all great too, but 1917 is a true masterpiece of a film. Sam Mendes has done what you would think had already been done before in blockbuster war films, and that's to create an artificially "one shot" movie that follows our characters through the trenches of WWI without ever leaving them. It literally starts from the first frame and doesn't let you go, as you walk through trenches of mud and guts with these young men. The camera work is extraordinary, and whether or not you notice that there are no "cuts" or very deliberate shots, you'll see yourself mesmerized with the storytelling that this technique creates throughout the movie. There's so much to be said about the way this film is framed, and it helps to guide the viewer along on their journey with the main characters. I found so much purpose and meaning in things that weren't words being said by characters, and not even actions so much as the way things were being shown on the screen. I can't do this film any justice by talking about what it is about and the story and how it happens. It's just true beauty, it's outstanding work. I gave this movie a 9/10, and would have given it a perfect 10 had it made me cry at the end. This isn't a knock on the film, so much as a testament to the suspense it wrangles you with. The actors are phenomenal, and I love that we get to see 3 well-traveled actors make cameos throughout the film to give it some Hollywood weight. Do yourself a favor, buy the film and watch it. If you're blown away by the nerdy film stuff, watch the commentaries and you will be even more so enlightened. Though they will ruin where all of the cuts in the film are for you, they will highlight the technique of the film as you continue to wonder how a story could be so perfectly told on film through visuals in this way. This movie is not overrated and despite knowing that the visuals were the strength of the movie, I was still worried it would be over hyped and I'd be disappointed. I wasn't, and this is now one of my favorite films. It's truly a masterpiece, and one of the best war films ever made. The details of war are on full display and they never shy away from a shot. For all of the horror within, there is so much beauty in the story and just... WOW, watch the movie already!

An amazing movie about WWI that depicts the front lines of a war.

Good film, but not remotely a great film. Mostly the plot is just so unbelievable. Mendes throws in everything but the kitchen sink...more a "Serious" Indiana Jones film than "Serious" film. Way too many things happen to one person...whose every shot is accurate, while everyone shooting at him manages to miss. I'm sorry, it's NOT a SERIOUS plot. It's all made up, with too much absurd action in mind. And the worst part, is that leads up to action just take so much time, while providing little more than "LEAD-UP" into the action.

In 1917 Director Sam Mendes has left us with more than just another film of war. A clue lies with the term “Gehenna” (aka - hell, hades, limbo, catabasis) used for the title of a movement in the film’s music score – he is clearly alluding to the layered meanings of this remarkable film. 1917 is an allegory of yet another allegory nearly 3,000 years old. It demands repeated viewing to absorb its nuanced and symbolic iconography. The landscapes of dark beauty, the liturgical score and most of all the unbroken camera flow that rarely breaks from the protagonists every step work subliminally much as a dream. Veterans who have survived combat might cast a memory of war beneath shut eyes this way. It connects you to the experience of a soldier at his own level. Few other films of this genre compare. The ancient Greeks believed we come here with “sealed orders.” Lance Corporal Schofield and Corporal Blake are ordered to deliver an army command message that would save 1,600 men from annihilation. It’s a race against time. The first hour of 1917 could be entitled “catabasis” from the epics of Homer – a term we can apply appropriately here to describe the sacrifice of a nation’s children in war. The graphic depiction of “no man’s land” separating the British and German front lines leaves little to your worst imaginings. In the second hour, when Schofield awakens from a fall, he discovers his watch has stopped. Is he therefore even still alive? As he steps into Ecoust, a city of burning rubble, we enter the underworld with him. His solitary journey here is now so much that of book 6 from Virgil’s “Aeneid.” For Schofield to “go over” he must first complete his task. He must kill to survive, shun the pleas for an orphaned infant, nearly drown in a river (the Styx?) near Crosillies, climb over an island of dead civilians, and only then in a quiet forest find the Devon Rifle Company he was seeking. A soldier can be heard singing “I Am A Lonely Wayfaring Wanderer” - a hymn of warriors free of woe, crossing "the Jordan" to return to their parents in death. It is one of many carefully engineered symbols throughout the film, each of them a paradox. In the suspenseful and relentless race against time that governs the final 20 minutes of the film Schofield staggers, exhausted, shell shocked, dogging a rain of shrapnel through the surreal chalk trenches to reach his destination and deliver the message. And also deliver another more personal message of his own. Shall all these phantom warriors yet find their way to “Elysium” in the tender green fields of Belgium? Schofield carried with him a photo of his wife. On the reverse she had written “come back to us.” Virgil's Aeneid was a poem of the Trojan wars. It addressed war with the subliminal aesthetics of that time as civilization’s great nightmare, and mankind’s greatest test. It remains relevant today and going forward. That aesthetics rather than reality can leave an emotional and not only an intellectual comment is the truest definition of art

Tremendous movie

World War One was a monstrous loss of life and a horror for anyone involved. Mostly forgotten now. This film depicted the conflict and conditions fairly well. Especially the no man's land area filled with barbed wire, dead people and animals, mud, and rats. I thought the filmmakers did a fairly good job with this. I also thought the one long shot cinematography worked very well at depicting the conditions of the two main characters suffered through. I do need to point out some issues though: Firstly, is the unlikelihood of some commander sending two young enlisted men off an a long dangerous mission across enemy lines with a critical message when the same message could have easily been dropped from an aircraft safely and in much less time. Doesn't make much sense. Secondly, there is a scene where a troop transport truck in a convoy gets stuck in a muddy rut. Everybody in the truck has to get out and push like crazy to get the truck unstuck. What doesn't make any sense is that one of the other trucks could have easily towed the stuck truck out of the mudhole with very little effort. Only the Army can be that screwed up. One last criticism. During the scenes toward the end where the unit is just starting to go over the top into battle, the English Army is getting shelled by the Germans heavily. It is a well shot scene, but at one point when the young Lance Corporal finally finds the person he is looking for, the German shelling mysteriously stops for no reason. Apparently, when you need to have some spoken dialogue at a particular time, the Germans are kind enough to stop the artillery long enough for us to hear what is being said. I thought that was very polite of them. Despite these little flaws, I liked the film. I have studied WWI and thought that the filmmakers made an effort to get the men, equipment, and procedures just right. I'm still giving it 5 stars.

as someone familiar with the The Kings crown / G.R / LSA / 1917 /SHT L.E. / III (British Lee-Enfield 303 rifle carried in the film) no Lance Corporal in WWI would ever be so incompetent as the actor playing Schofield (George Mackay) as to enter the building with the wounded sniper after crossing the downed bridge with only 2 rounds left in his rifle. He'd fired 2 rounds killing the German pilot, ejecting the 2nd empty brass, having not reloaded before beginning the engagement with the sniper and then fired 6 rounds (the 3rd striking said sniper) leaving only the 2 rounds in his rifle (the LE 303 only held 10 rounds total) when entering the building. It's apparent there was no military advisor on this film at all - it may be a small issue but real no soldier using a bolt-action ever makes such a foolish mistake. He then after waking and leaving that same building while taking the prone position due to the flares ejects the 9 round of brass from the rifle and never once during the remainder of the film tops off his magazine (even though the rifle only had "one" round left). I generally like the film and perhaps many folks never noticed there was not even one reload in the entire film, but it's why I docked the film 2 stars here, 'cus real soldiers know how and when to reload and war movies should have a military advisor on set IMHO. Anyone remotely familiar with weapons of war notices these types of details immediately, they're glaring oversights and stick out like the sore thumb one gets from an errant M1 Garand loading.

Was a gift .That was enjoyed.

Enjoyed every moment as it was never boring. There are a lot smarter people making movies these days and so much more is known abou the craft than even 15 years ago. Movies before then were often dull - this one never.

Estupenda, las imágenes lo dicen todo.

En mi Samsung de 55 y amplificador Denon, la imagen es fenomenal y el sonido espectacular, en 4K V.O. 5.1. En otros idiomas no lo sé. Solo puedo decir que me gustó más que cuando la vi por primera vez en streaming (me la perdí en el cine) y creo que es por el sonido, hay una gran diferencia del streaming al formato físico, sobre todo en cuanto a sonido se refiere, de hecho, para mí, mucha.

Mi è piaciuto molto. L'avevo gia visto 2 volte. L'ho acquistato per la mia collezione e l'ho subito rivisto il giorno che mi è arrivato. Anche se ci sono film di guerra che preferisco, devo riconoscere che questo film è molto bello. Abbasso la guerra sempre.

1917 ist in seiner 4K-Auswertung eine absolute Referenz-Disc. Die Bild- und Tonqualität zeigen sehr deutlich, dass eine gute 4K-Produktion einer Blu-ray in vielen Bereichen klar überlegen sein kann, wenn das Ausgangsmaterial und die Umsetzung stimmen. Das Bild wirkt durchgehend detailreich, natürlich und sehr ausgewogen. Weder Lichter noch Schatten wirken überzogen oder künstlich. Gerade in dunkleren Szenen bleibt die Durchzeichnung stabil, während helle Sequenzen – etwa mit Feuer oder starker Beleuchtung – eine enorme Intensität entwickeln, die je nach Setup durchaus dazu führt, dass man unwillkürlich die Augen zusammenkneift. Auch der Surround-Mix ist sehr gelungen: druckvoll, präzise und mit einer starken räumlichen Wirkung, die das Geschehen gut unterstützt, ohne sich in den Vordergrund zu drängen. Einziger kritischer Punkt ist für mich das zentrale Stilmittel des Films, die scheinbar durchgehende Plansequenz. Dieses Konzept kann stellenweise eher wie ein bewusstes Gimmick wirken, das die Wahrnehmung des Films überlagert. Gerade beim ersten Sehen entsteht schnell der Eindruck, dass man ständig nach den versteckten Schnitten „sucht“, statt sich vollständig auf die Geschichte einzulassen. Beim zweiten oder dritten Ansehen verliert sich dieser Effekt allerdings deutlich, und dann kann der Film seine eigentliche Stärke viel besser entfalten und immersiv wirken. Unterm Strich bleibt 1917 technisch auf höchstem Niveau und als Heimkino-Erlebnis in 4K absolut empfehlenswert – auch wenn das Inszenierungskonzept nicht jeden gleichermaßen abholt.