The hype is real.

I saw it this morning in a full theater in Plano with my dad and my son. It's a masterpiece. I cheered I laughed and I cried. I cringed at the devastation and stared in awe at the visuals. The action scenes were tense as it was all focused on the POV of the main characters

It's a mix of saving private Ryan without the large scale battle scenes and Gallipoli. I've never seen a better depiction of the trenches and devastation of the French countryside. It would move from extreme tension to touching emotion and humanity. This is the World War One movie I've been waiting for. Instant classic.

It just throws you right into the action but you quickly bond with the main characters. I knew going in that it was a single tracking shot style all the way through and that really worked as well. He pulled it off.

I'll need to see it with captions because I couldn't understand half of what they were saying but it had zero effect on my enjoyment.

InternetFan02 said:

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The hype is real.

I saw it this morning in a full theater in Plano with my dad and my son. It's a masterpiece. I cheered I laughed and I cried. I cringed at the devastation and stared in awe at the visuals. The action scenes were tense as it was all focused on the POV of the main characters

It's a mix of saving private Ryan without the large scale battle scenes and Gallipoli. I've never seen a better depiction of the trenches and devastation of the French countryside. It would move from extreme tension to touching emotion and humanity. This is the World War One movie I've been waiting for. Instant classic.

It just throws you right into the action but you quickly bond with the main characters. I knew going in that it was a single tracking shot style all the way through and that really worked as well. He pulled it off.

I'll need to see it with captions because I couldn't understand half of what they were saying but it had zero effect on my enjoyment.

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I second this and can't add much. The word "masterpiece" is not hyperbole. This is one of the most intense, emotionally draining film experiences I have ever had.

This movie is easily the best film of 2019 and belongs with the greats.

2019. A movie has to release in at least one LA County theater for one week in a calendar year to qualify for that year's Oscars, which this one will have done as of tomorrow.

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It's a mix of saving private Ryan without the large scale battle scenes and Gallipoli.

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That's a hefty compliment.

Phenomenal - I would say perfect, even, and yes, "masterpiece" is apt here - but I'd still put Saving Private Ryan number one in terms of war movies, with this one somewhere in the top five or so. Not that it's a competition, and granted, I haven't seen a ton of war movies released pre-'90s, but I can't think of many better. In that regard, I would say its strength is also its "weakness," if you can call it that, in that it's missing the one ingredient crucial to so many war movies and that's the Band of Brothers group camaraderie vibe, where the focus is usually on an ensemble who fight and bond together over the course of the runtime, whereas 1917 is very much a single (or double, rather)-player video game. Again, that's absolutely its strength in many ways and what makes it stand apart, but also the reason I can't quite declare it the undisputed champ. That, and it's very much a spiritual cousin to Saving Private Ryan in more ways than one, to the point where you can't help but compare the two.

Re: the single-take approach, there's only one, blatant edit/time jump of a few hours. Outside of that, I counted three sly edits, where it was relatively obvious that sets/camera tricks were used to seamlessly bind sequences to appear as a continuous take, though I'm sure there were a couple of more. Regardless, it really is a remarkable achievement. The movie basically plays as two single takes, and with a two-hour runtime, it's just an incredibly unique and jaw-dropping experience. There's one sequence, in particular - at night, with flares - that is literally some of the most stunning cinematography I've ever seen (and yes, Roger Deakins has his second Oscar in the bag). The same sequence also features the best track from the score, IMO, and man, it all makes for such a hauntingly beautiful and tense sequence.

Overall, I can't imagine anyone being even remotely disappointed in this. With the strong word of mouth and the abundance of advertising I've seen during bowl season and everywhere else, I think this is going to be a massive hit come January 10th.

Thanks TCTTS.

Look forward to seeing it.

British. There's not a single American in the movie and only one (or two, technically) French.

This strategy most famously happened with American Sniper, which came out in limited release on December 25, 2014 and then went wide on January 16, 2015, pulling in over $90M that opening wide weekend. But yeah, this happens all the time, multiple times a year, and has been happening since at least the '90s (the first time I remember seeing it first-hand was for Good Will Hunting in '97/'98, though I know it happened well before then). The limited initial release is four-fold...

1) to qualify for an Oscar run (in at least one LA county theater for at least one week in the calendar year)
2) to be as fresh as possible on Oscar voter's minds (voting begins in January)
3) to build strong word of mouth before the wide release
4) to avoid the mid-December blockbuster hype/push (from the likes of Star Wars and Jumanji this year, in particular)

It also depends on the studio. Smaller studios simply can't release wide until they know there will be an audience, based on word of mouth and limited release box office numbers. For bigger studios, though (like with Universal releasing 1917), it's pure strategy based mostly on the reasons listed above.

Just got out of a showing. Absolutely incredible. Wherever I read that it's like a blend of Revenant and Saving Private Ryan...that is spot on.

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I saw it this morning in a full theater in Plano with my dad and my son. It's a masterpiece. I cheered I laughed and I cried. I cringed at the devastation and stared in awe at the visuals. The action scenes were tense as it was all focused on the POV of the main characters

It's a mix of saving private Ryan without the large scale battle scenes and Gallipoli. I've never seen a better depiction of the trenches and devastation of the French countryside. It would move from extreme tension to touching emotion and humanity. This is the World War One movie I've been waiting for. Instant classic.

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It is indeed all of these. Just got back from seeing it. Phenomenal. The comparisons to Saving Private Ryan are valid. There are indeed echoes of Lord of the Rings also, trek across Mordor, but considering Tokien's past that just full circle. Main release not being out yet till the 10th, will avoid any great details that might be spoilers. Just pay close attention to some of the background elements as there are a lot of neat touches in it. The incredible workmanship and in-depth nature of the trench reinforcements and design are captured exactly. You have a tremendous set of scale from a foot soldiers point of view. Like Private Ryan, this is not the kind of movie that shows high level staff decisions being made or characters from the enemy. You see them as the troops did--threatening, invisible menace -- until suddenly they are not, and right there either as soldiers or shell fire and flares. A nice touch was the mention of the already emerging important role of aerial reconnaissance.

The so called tracking way of shooting never really gets in your way --- you are too focused living the tensions of the main cast. Its hard to think of any moment it really intruded in a way that took you out of it. If it has any limits it will be the very tight storyline and progression. Its only weakness would be what that confines you to. If you imagine Private Ryan shorn of some of its sidetrack from main story parts, you get an idea. The movie just starts and just goes.....until its end. The No-Man's Land aspect of the battlefields even after guns are silent is graphically portrayed.

On a historical note, Tokien's work and its connection to WW I has been mentioned. Its interesting to reflect that the characters in this is messenger is doing exactly what Hitler did in WW I that won him the iron cross. It gives a bit of perspective on how it might have distorted a worldview to say the least. What you have to do on the missions, to get to the destination, and the wastefulness of many of the tactics and orders. What makes this movie so interesting is as have many have rightly said also, is WW I holds the key to so much of the dysfunction that will shape the latter part of the 20th C. When you see how they fought and died in that war, and what had to endure--- and for so damn little to show for it --- the land and cities wrecked - etc, you really reflect.

If anyone wants great background on WWI, make Dan Carlin's Blueprint to Armageddon your podcast this week. 3 segments (3 hours or so each).

Great in depth discussion of what is likely the most horrific of all time.

investorAg83 said:

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Just got out of a showing. Absolutely incredible. Wherever I read that it's like a blend of Revenant and Saving Private Ryan...that is spot on.

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It was awesome. Two thumbs up. Very intense from beginning to end.