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15 minutes ago, Vergeltungswaffe said:

Appreciate the endorsement @Aragorn2002.

I was going to see it anyway, but I hoped it would be good.

Was it truly one uninterrupted shot?

You're welcome,Vergeltungswaffe. Difficult to say. Not sure how one uninterrupted shot would be possible.  It is quite a sober, tense movie, with great acting and scenery. Bit of a mix between Dunkirk and Atonement, but better, i think. Very atmospheric. Especially if WW 1 intrigues you, as it does me.

Edited by Aragorn2002
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22 minutes ago, DougPhresh said:

I've heard 1917 is amazing and I want to see it, but from the people who have seen it - do you think it is watchable for veterans?

I know we have some other vets on the forum, and I remember how seeing Dunkirk in IMAX was just about the worst thing I could have done for my PTSD.

Well, it's in some ways comparable to Dunkirk. Full of stress, tension and sometimes drama, so if Dunkirk in IMAX wasn't a pleasant experience for you, I personally would be very careful watching 1917. It's simplicity makes it even more penetrating. The music is somewhat more relaxing than the music in Dunkirk, which i found very stressfull. But better to skip 1917 in your condition, i would say. Not worth the agony. That's why i never take my wife to such movies. She has also seen enough of war.

Edited by Aragorn2002
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Hi Doug:  Any film scored by the highly talented Hans Zimmer can raise the hairs on the back of your neck.  In addition, if you are troubled by loud sudden sounds films like Dunkirk may be troubling.  

Do you have the same aversion to horror films btw?  Most of their effect is through sudden, unexpected loud sounds.

A suggestion is to wait to get the DVD and watch with the volume turned down.

Speaking of war films I just saw "Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan".  Not nearly as good as Apocalypse Now or Platoon etc. but good enuff and interesting as it deals with an ANZAC action similar to "We were soldiers once, and young..."

Edited by Erwin
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Thank you both!

9 minutes ago, Aragorn2002 said:

Not worth the agony. That's why i never take my wife to such movies. She has also seen enough of war.

I appreciate your understanding. I'm sure she appreciates it too.

3 minutes ago, Erwin said:

Do you have the same aversion to horror films btw?  Most of their effect is through sudden, unexpected loud sounds.

I actually really like horror movies. It's more hearing machine guns rattle in movie theater surround sound puts me back in a mental place I don't want to linger in. It's hard to distance myself from the experience. When I saw Krampus and Crimson Peak back-to-back a few Christmases ago, it was a fun and scary movie theater experience but I always felt like I was watching a movie.

I remember reading that when Saving Private Ryan came out some well-meaning people arranged for groups of Normandy veterans to go see the movie. I can't imagine what that was like for them. Those first 20 minutes of the film must have been so painful for those guys.

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11 hours ago, DougPhresh said:

When I saw Krampus and Crimson Peak back-to-back a few Christmases ago, it was a fun and scary movie theater experience but I always felt like I was watching a movie.

That's interesting.  I don't go to horror movies (in a theatre) any more as I had to cover my ears most of the time due to the sudden loud effects.  Glad you are able to distinguish the genres.

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On 1/10/2020 at 9:49 AM, DougPhresh said:

I've heard 1917 is amazing and I want to see it, but from the people who have seen it - do you think it is watchable for veterans?

I know we have some other vets on the forum, and I remember how seeing Dunkirk in IMAX was just about the worst thing I could have done for my PTSD.

You'll be fine Doug. Just got back from seeing it with the family. Wife jumped a couple times. While there's destruction everywhere there is very little killing.

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10 hours ago, Attilaforfun said:

While there's destruction everywhere there is very little killing.

True...  Was lucky to see Dunkirk in IMAX so the music and sound FX were intense, but IIRC there is very little actual fighting on the ground.  Mostly air combat and bombing of ships.  Trying to escape sinking ships was the most intense (IIRC).  Opening of Saving Private Ryan was much more numbing.

 

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Just got back from screening:

1917 is a good quality and entertaining movie and well worth seeing.  But, really nothing particularly to do with WW1.  

Basically a couple soldiers sent off to locate a lost unit (communications broken down) in order to stop them from making a suicidal attack.  Could have been set in WW2, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, or a pure sci fi location.  Broken communications could be cut telephone wire to cyberwar to a solar flare etc.

It often feels like cut scenes from a first person shooter computer game.  Not particularly violent -  a lot less violent than Saving Private Ryan or (the even more violent and gruesome) Hacksaw Ridge.  In fact most of the shocks in 1917 come from horror film techniques rather than the violence of (say) the Private Ryan beginning Normandy sequence.

I would say, 1917 is milder and easier to take than Dunkirk.  Mind you I saw Dunkirk in IMAX and left quite dazed.

Edited by Erwin
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22 hours ago, StieliAlpha said:

and wonder already, how it compares to “Im Westen nichts neues”,

The Remarque book is, as far as I remember, all about the trenches and sometimes even behind the trenches while the film 1917 is more like Frodo and Sam going on an adventure away from their own trenches into unknown territory. It containes a bit of the usual clichés you find in war films but apart from that a film to watch if you have nothing else to do.

Edited by BornGinger
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As I mentioned earlier, 1917 is not really about the experience of WW1 as other same era historical movies have been.  1917 is a good story shot in a beautiful and stylish manner by Roger Deakins (full disclosure - he was a tutor of mine back in the dark ages when I was trying to make it in movies) but it could have been set in many different eras and locations.  

 

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For those interested in WW1 I can recommend "Our World War" on BBC iplayer. Three episodes based on interviews with veterans in the 70s I think.

It's available for about 10 more days.

Saw "1917" last week. One of the actors was a bit flat but good movie otherwise. Have to say I preferred "Dunkirk".

Cheers JTF.

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***could be a bit spoiler***

I saw the movie few days ago and it's ok,thecnically very well done.But there are some things that I found a bit disappointing.

The first is the way the Germans are portrayed,like blood-thirsty zombies,exactly the same point of view of the war-time Allied propaganda.The other thing it's that final scene with the main character in an epic and unrealistic run  through shell explosions without being wounded by a single bit of schrapnel just to meet the sweet happy end ( so Spilberg to me 😒).It lacks the punch and the clever dialogues, the way of  bitterness  the absurdity and the hopless of war is portrayed,just you can find in other movies like Kubrik's Footpaths of glory  or Lewis Milestone's(1930) All quiet in the western front that  are much better than 1917 to me in many aspects.

Edited by arpella72
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2 hours ago, arpella72 said:

...bitterness  the absurdity and the hopless of war

To give a contrarian view, was thinking that the above has become an accepted "politically correct" cliche spouted by everybody these days.  Maybe it's time for a film to promote the "joyful, fun and positive" aspects like "comradeship, and opportunities for advancement" (for the sake of balance etc.)?

:ph34r:

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