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Some of the best cinematography I have seen.

If you know anything about filmmaking you quickly realize this film was all about how to make a film in the vein of Saving Private Ryan, as cheaply as possible. For those hoping you’ll be getting a Private Ryan redux the WW 1 version you will be devastatingly disappointed. There is one battle scene (correction) a million extras rushing off the screen into an imagined battle. Besides that, there’s no combat scenes just a bunch of walking through hillsides with pointless dialog which doesn’t even at least add depth to the lead character. But the formula was simple, spend the whole budget in 10 million extras in WW1 uniforms, keep them in the background and keep your audience waiting for the payoff. There is no payoff. There is no landing in Omaha Beach, no great battle at the bridge like Private Ryan. Another movie that comes to mind with a similar format was the masterpiece Apocalypse Now. A sweeping war epic that constantly moves your protagonist though the horrific landscapes of combat. As Martin Sheen on the boat hears an Arclight B52 Bombing in the background you’re soon taken into the US army reeking havoc on a Vietnamese village, inflicting carnage while at the same time we see the contradictions of the humanitarian efforts of soldiers taking care of Vietnamese civilians. We have the Flight of the Valkyries as we follow soldiers into combat of helicopters launching missiles and shooting Gatling guns into the jungle canopy below. We’re there as the soldiers run into a Vietnamese village and engage in combat. Later were introduced to “ The Roach” as Captain Willard reaches the last outpost of US Marines. The soldiers in trenches are living in chaos with no leaders just shooting into the dark. Each film, Private Ryan and Apocalypse take us on a realistic ride into combat. 1917 does none of that. You’re more or less brought into a BBC dialog heavy series with a backdrop of wartime landscapes. There from the very beginning this film has the opportunity to be great. To give us a front seat to witness the horrors of trench warfare. Instead, not one shot is fired. We then spend 30 minutes of film watching two soldiers walk and talk through fields of grass. You suffer this thinking you’ll be soon rewarded by some sort of combat. What you get is a knife fight, and a choking oh and a German soldiers chasing and shooting. THATS IT! I REPEAT THERE IS NO COMBAT IN THIS FILM. Spoiler alert, everything you will see of signifince to this film is in the trailer. I swear there’s nothing else.