""They Shall Not Grow Old," is great!" Topic

Today it the first time I can recall looking into the First World War on this site, for I prefer almost any other period with firearms. No ancients; no post WWII.

But last night my wife's brother and his son took me to see this movie. I had read a great deal about the War when I was 8 to 12 years old, and much more about WWII. I enlisted in the US Army in 1955 at 18, and this movie brought all the train ride from enlistment to partial uniforming at Ft. Jackson, SC, then completion of uniform, and basic Camp Gorgon, GA.

It was followed by a 30 minute attachment showing how they had produced the film, and I found that really helpful. During the main show, I was amazed that these were not modern-day reenactors! But where did they get those fully-functioning howitzers and 18 pdr hose guns with full teams?

They accessed 100 hours of WWII film, and found that the film that was almost totally black could be brought "to life," showing us shots never before seen. There was a great sequence of what seemed to be heavy 15.5 cm field howitzer firing, bring slate roofing raining to the ground!

Almost 100% British units, some Scots (the best marching shot was the Scots), Kiwi's, Australians, Indians.

I really enjoyed the faces of those men during the run-up to the battle scenes, but then felt the sadness as they showed them again, with a dead man in the next scene.

Especially poignant was a unit of ?the Lancashire Fusiliers? waiting in a sunken road to go over the embankment to attack the Germans. One lad looked frozen in fear. The narrator suggested that the whole unit was destroyed in that attack.

at 82, An experience "I shall not forget" just as they shall not grow old.

GdeP

I have seen the movie twice in the Denver, CO area. At the AMC theater, the 30 minute section about how the film was made was fascinating to see. The Regal theater did not have that extra 30 minutes, so beware which theater you go to.
John

I saw it with a friend before Christmas. It was fantastic! The work put into recreating the film was wonderful. Worth seeing if you're a WW1 fan.

I saw the movie and loved it, but did not see the 'making of' segment. Hopefully it will be included on a DVD release in the future or youtube.

It is an excellent film – my father recorded a copy from somewhere and gave it to me last week.

Hope it gets a formal release along with the making of stuff.

Very sobering.

I saw it on MLK Day and loved it. My Grandfather was an Old Contemptible in the Royal Artillery and he would have appreciated it.

I thought it was great for a non-military history viewer, didn't get bogged down in too much where and what, and did a super job of telling the story of a soldier from enlistment to the end.

Great photos of 4.5 inch howitzers firing, which was the gun type in my grandfather's battery.

Saw it the first round showing, was quite impressed in it.
Just thought it would be awesome to have a sequel, maybe airwar ( my dad missed having the air war covered).

I'm the odd man out thinking that parts of it were great. The modernization of the WW1 footage, the particular stories being told by the participants, and the lip reading/synching. I don't think the whole added up to the sum of its parts however. The overall narrative was near bog standard for a documentary of the type, war is hell but some liked it and many looked back on it as the most intense friendships of their life. Combine that with the use of pictures and very little actual combat footage (understandable since the cameras at the time would not have worked for actual front line footage other then the ones that could be setup from friendly trenches) and I was wishing more time was spent going into detail of where each bit was filmed instead of trying to force it into a single narrative.

All that said the sound of the shingles falling off the roof still sticks with me. That kind of attention to detail in the restoration/modernization of the footage was incredible.

We had two midday showings last year. Neither was practical to get to. The DVD is non-US format only.

I imagine we poor beknighted Yanks will get a better shot at this, but, so far, not so much.

Any comments on 3D versus digital versions? Both are being offered locally.

I saw it in 3D, didn't put on the glasses during the b&w but as soon as color came on put them on. Shortly later wondered what the glasses did ( more like grey neutral filters) and thought it was degraded a bit so wore them the rest of the movie. If it costs extra couldn't really say if its worth it.

Thanks for your input, 14Bore. It's $2 USD more for 3-D, but I'm not really concerned with the extra cost, just whether others think it improved the experience or not.

I really known little about the vision technology, but the film runs for quite a while, until they actually get into the trench area. Then is amazingly transforms to color, and to a normal number of frames per second, bringing the soldiers to life as almost reeneactors today.

Actual combat scenes could not be managed at the time, for the cameras were truly primitive, had to remain stationary and on tri-pods. The used magazine cover art-work of the day, of which Peter found he had many!

GdeP

DEFINITELY, if you can see it in a theater (ideally in 3D and with Jackson's commentary afterward), SEE IT.

It's not about the history, it's about the experience, and as such, it can't be touched by anything before this.

I also hope that more of the restored footage of the Air and Naval aspects, as well as footage shot in other theaters, will eventually get the same general treatment and release.

Indeed, since this was a joint project of the Imperial War Museum and other interests, I can also hope that other surviving film archives will now be moved to do the same for their priceless images.

TVAG

I'm not sure if IMAX and 3D are the same thing. I saw parts of both versions yesterday at the theater and the IMAX sound presentation was MUCH more powerful than the Standard. The firing of the 6" Howitzers make an awful racket in both presentations, but in IMAX the theater literally shook. I literally flinched.

I saw it yesterday on DVD – Amazing! Kinda sad it was dubbed and foleyed but I understand.

Movies don't capture exploding shell well at all – Jackson et al made it quite visceral and scary to be on the receiving end of that, as it should be.

Further, it was hard not to notice that we were in a pre-orthodontia era then – and that's apart from whatever hygiene habits existed, or not, under such circumstances.

Yes its a great movie
Well done to Peter Jackson (it was a real labour of love for him)
Makes me proud to be British and now a kiwi.
Both of my grandfathers fought in France, and they both came back alive and well.
I love the way all the men look at the cameras, because they had probably not seen many film cameras before and maybe the idea of being filmed was interesting to them.
Yes, please do try to see the DVD version which has the making of it, the technology used is amazing, as is the attention to detail.