Peter Jackson's They Shall Not Grow Old
- Thread starter Vivek
- Start date
Plucks at lots of heartstrings. This thing is so worth seeing, but it’s going to hurt.
And then there was the couple to the left of us. The man felt the movie (99 minutes) lasted longer than the actual war and his wife was sooo happy when it ‘finally’ ended. I think they expected a rah rah war flick, not a story of the common soldier. I presume he didn’t serve in the military himself and had a harder time relating.
And then there was the couple to the left of us. The man felt the movie (99 minutes) lasted longer than the actual war and his wife was sooo happy when it ‘finally’ ended. I think they expected a rah rah war flick, not a story of the common soldier. I presume he didn’t serve in the military himself and had a harder time relating.
Anyone in the UK wanting to watch this, it is on the BBC i Player this morning. I recorded it last night.
I had a personal interest in watching this, my paternal Grandfather was gassed in the trenches, and married the nurse that helped care for him. Unfortunately I never met him as he died before I was born. My father was also badly shot up by machine gun fire in WWII but saved by German soldiers who bandaged him up and stopped him bleeding out.
If there was ever a hell on Earth ever deliberately created then the trench battles of the WWI were probably it.
This is a brilliant piece of historical restoration that makes that conflict feel utterly contemporary. The vibrant colour restoration of the film clips, coupled with the voices of the survivors made this an often terribly poignant piece, and the recollections sharp and vivid.
It is a hard watch, no doubt about that.Some of the stories will simply leave you stunned as warfare, death and the consequences of being involved in it are so casually remarked upon.
"The longest and shortest hours of my life" as one veteran noted.
The film pulls the entire war more sharply into focus from beginning to end. But wierdly , watching this ,I found myself often noting all those weapons of war that were then used as props in Star Wars. Like the rifle grenade (at 53 minutes in )that was used on Obiwans lightsabre. I don't know if it was a deliberate displacement activity because of some of the content, but some of those horrific shots do linger in the mind.
But its still a piece I would recommend , if only to help appreciate the sacrifices made for us, so we can live the way we do today.
I had a personal interest in watching this, my paternal Grandfather was gassed in the trenches, and married the nurse that helped care for him. Unfortunately I never met him as he died before I was born. My father was also badly shot up by machine gun fire in WWII but saved by German soldiers who bandaged him up and stopped him bleeding out.
If there was ever a hell on Earth ever deliberately created then the trench battles of the WWI were probably it.
This is a brilliant piece of historical restoration that makes that conflict feel utterly contemporary. The vibrant colour restoration of the film clips, coupled with the voices of the survivors made this an often terribly poignant piece, and the recollections sharp and vivid.
It is a hard watch, no doubt about that.Some of the stories will simply leave you stunned as warfare, death and the consequences of being involved in it are so casually remarked upon.
"The longest and shortest hours of my life" as one veteran noted.
The film pulls the entire war more sharply into focus from beginning to end. But wierdly , watching this ,I found myself often noting all those weapons of war that were then used as props in Star Wars. Like the rifle grenade (at 53 minutes in )that was used on Obiwans lightsabre. I don't know if it was a deliberate displacement activity because of some of the content, but some of those horrific shots do linger in the mind.
But its still a piece I would recommend , if only to help appreciate the sacrifices made for us, so we can live the way we do today.
Similar threads
