Peter Jackson documentary on WW1: They shall not grow old

[Remius]

Looks phenomenal.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YPlXlshA0Zc

 

[Remius]

Just for info, Peter Jackson took old war footage and using today’s tech modernised and colourised for speed and so on to make the footage as close to realistic as possible and events as they looked to the soldiers of the time.  Quite an achievement. 

 

[Rifleman62]

When you view the video suggest you stop play and look at the stunning stills.

https://taskandpurpose.com/new-trailer-for-they-shall-not-grow-old-is-epic/?bsft_eid=d4bdea7b-0afd-4dbf-8117-0fbbf146bb6d&bsft_pid=5ca09d7e-8128-449d-a4bf-fe2898ded44b&utm_campaign=tp_daily_monday_pm&utm_source=blueshift&utm_medium=email&utm_content=tp_daily_pm_ricks&bsft_clkid=a693ccfd-e828-4223-8530-f62a3dedb9d0&bsft_uid=1fba1701-e094-4757-90c5-0bf8c4675b71&bsft_mid=9b99dafd-7151-47cc-8db6-33d97a1b2eb9&bsft_pp=2

The Extended Trailer For Peter Jackson’s New World War I Documentary Is Epic

If there were ever a good time to be British it would have been on Nov. 11, the 100th anniversary of Armistice Day, when BBC Two premiered Peter Jackson’s highly anticipated World War I documentary They Shall Not Grow Old.

As for those of us stuck on this side of the pond, we still have a few more weeks to go before we too can watch the film, which debuted in the U.K. to rave reviews. The Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw gave it five out of five stars, writing, “The soldiers are returned to an eerie, hyperreal kind of life in front of our eyes, like ghosts or figures summoned up in a seance.”

Set to hit U.S. theaters on Dec. 17 and Dec. 27, They Shall Not Grow Old is the culmination of a four-year project commissioned by the Imperial War Museum in partnership with the BBC. Jackson and his team distilled 600 hours of grainy black and white footage into a 99-minute documentary, using state-of-the-art technology to add depth and colors. As Bradshaw notes, Jackson also “used lip-readers to help dub in what the men are actually saying.”

Warner Bros. released a 47-second trailer for the film last month.  At nearly three times as long, the new trailer provides a better look at the sheer breadth of the project. See for yourself:  (Video at Link)

 

[Stoker]

When you view the video suggest you stop play and look at the stunning stills.

https://taskandpurpose.com/new-trailer-for-they-shall-not-grow-old-is-epic/?bsft_eid=d4bdea7b-0afd-4dbf-8117-0fbbf146bb6d&bsft_pid=5ca09d7e-8128-449d-a4bf-fe2898ded44b&utm_campaign=tp_daily_monday_pm&utm_source=blueshift&utm_medium=email&utm_content=tp_daily_pm_ricks&bsft_clkid=a693ccfd-e828-4223-8530-f62a3dedb9d0&bsft_uid=1fba1701-e094-4757-90c5-0bf8c4675b71&bsft_mid=9b99dafd-7151-47cc-8db6-33d97a1b2eb9&bsft_pp=2

The Extended Trailer For Peter Jackson’s New World War I Documentary Is Epic

If there were ever a good time to be British it would have been on Nov. 11, the 100th anniversary of Armistice Day, when BBC Two premiered Peter Jackson’s highly anticipated World War I documentary They Shall Not Grow Old.

As for those of us stuck on this side of the pond, we still have a few more weeks to go before we too can watch the film, which debuted in the U.K. to rave reviews. The Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw gave it five out of five stars, writing, “The soldiers are returned to an eerie, hyperreal kind of life in front of our eyes, like ghosts or figures summoned up in a seance.”

Set to hit U.S. theaters on Dec. 17 and Dec. 27, They Shall Not Grow Old is the culmination of a four-year project commissioned by the Imperial War Museum in partnership with the BBC. Jackson and his team distilled 600 hours of grainy black and white footage into a 99-minute documentary, using state-of-the-art technology to add depth and colors. As Bradshaw notes, Jackson also “used lip-readers to help dub in what the men are actually saying.”

Warner Bros. released a 47-second trailer for the film last month.  At nearly three times as long, the new trailer provides a better look at the sheer breadth of the project. See for yourself:  (Video at Link)

Wow, that's all I can say

 

[Underway]

When you view the video suggest you stop play and look at the stunning stills.

https://taskandpurpose.com/new-trailer-for-they-shall-not-grow-old-is-epic/?bsft_eid=d4bdea7b-0afd-4dbf-8117-0fbbf146bb6d&bsft_pid=5ca09d7e-8128-449d-a4bf-fe2898ded44b&utm_campaign=tp_daily_monday_pm&utm_source=blueshift&utm_medium=email&utm_content=tp_daily_pm_ricks&bsft_clkid=a693ccfd-e828-4223-8530-f62a3dedb9d0&bsft_uid=1fba1701-e094-4757-90c5-0bf8c4675b71&bsft_mid=9b99dafd-7151-47cc-8db6-33d97a1b2eb9&bsft_pp=2

The Extended Trailer For Peter Jackson’s New World War I Documentary Is Epic

If there were ever a good time to be British it would have been on Nov. 11, the 100th anniversary of Armistice Day, when BBC Two premiered Peter Jackson’s highly anticipated World War I documentary They Shall Not Grow Old.

As for those of us stuck on this side of the pond, we still have a few more weeks to go before we too can watch the film, which debuted in the U.K. to rave reviews. The Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw gave it five out of five stars, writing, “The soldiers are returned to an eerie, hyperreal kind of life in front of our eyes, like ghosts or figures summoned up in a seance.”

Set to hit U.S. theaters on Dec. 17 and Dec. 27, They Shall Not Grow Old is the culmination of a four-year project commissioned by the Imperial War Museum in partnership with the BBC. Jackson and his team distilled 600 hours of grainy black and white footage into a 99-minute documentary, using state-of-the-art technology to add depth and colors. As Bradshaw notes, Jackson also “used lip-readers to help dub in what the men are actually saying.”

Warner Bros. released a 47-second trailer for the film last month.  At nearly three times as long, the new trailer provides a better look at the sheer breadth of the project. See for yourself:  (Video at Link)

Not gonna lie, I teared up watching this.  Tissue movie for me I guess.

 

[Xylric]

My brother and I try to hit the movies at least once a month. Should it release in a theatre near us, I'm going to talk him into it.

 

[Platitudinarian]

Canadian Release date seems to be December 17th, with some additional shows on the 27th. Would be great if you're close enough to a major center so you can see it. Looks phenomenal. 

 

[fake penguin]

Just got back from seeing this.
It was very well done.
Was cool how they figure out one of the speeches the officer gave his troops the day before the Somme.

 

[Rifleman62]

My wife and I saw it last night in 3D. At the end, there was a 30 minute documentary on how they did the project. Peter Jackson apparently is a World War One buff. They used his collection of uniforms/eqpt for colorization; his period artillery pieces (that was a surprise) for the loading of shells, breach opening/closing sounds. They went to an NZ arty range for the shells passing overhead and the explosions.

Was cool how they figure out one of the speeches the officer gave his troops the day before the Somme.

  Yes.

Identifying the units, they got actors from that part of the UK to get the dialect correct.

Possibly a fellow in the PPCLI in one shot.

The narration that accompanies the film sequences is all World War One Vets recorded by the BBC years ago. Two VC Vets.

Would really like to see what was left on the cutting room floor.

 

[Infanteer]

I saw it...fantastic.  The biggest take away I had was that some things never change.  The second biggest was that turn of the century Britain was an orthodontic nightmare.

I'm convinced there was a member of the PPCLI involved somehow - the film opens with Has Anyone Seen the Colonel, is soon followed by It's a Long Way to Tipperary, and the film closes the final credits with Mademoiselle from Armentières.

 

[Rifleman62]

and the film closes the final credits with Mademoiselle from Armentières.

As they needed, at the last minute,  English dialect to sing that song, they dialed up the the British Consulate General in Auckland and got five (they show that in the documentary) "volunteers" who rehearsed all day for the final take.

 

[BeyondTheNow]

I watched this a couple of nights ago and it was as I’d expected based on reviews and previews I’ve seen. It was touching, sad, humourous, graphic and lovely all mixed together.

That being said, this article popped up on my Flipboard today and given the nature of the headline I had to read it. How could anyone be “against” the film? Isn’t it a tribute? After reading through though, the author raises some good points. I don’t agree with all of his thoughts, but they’re worth consideration. Even features applauded by the majority are fair-game for critiquing/criticism.

Against Peter Jackson’s “They Shall Not Grow Old”

Tim Carmody

https://kottke.org/18/12/against-peter-jacksons-they-shall-not-grow-old?fbclid=IwAR0cnG-bKSIqkhmozcAEfOWkhD-bdgU2e-z6MCxiikzFnkpDt5-KFiwHrX0

...Ask a black American soldier, fighting in a segregated regiment, whether his experience of the war was the same as the British soldiers he fought besides. Ask one of the Arab irregulars immortalized and distorted in Lawrence of Arabia what it was like to fight across German soldiers, who turned out to be really not so different after all, in trenches. Ask the African soldiers who fought and died in Europe. Ask what their equipment situation was, whether they got paid, or what their lives were like when the war ended. Ask the civilians whose lives were uprooted by these soldiers killing and destroying the countryside in their midst. Ask one of the women who cranked out artillery shells in the factory only to be turned away from her job at the war’s end whether or not anyone else could really understand her wartime experience.

Go ahead, ask them. I’ll wait.

...He takes the “world” out of the first world war. And then, he tells us, unbelievably, that this extremely diluted, abstract take on the British soldier could stand in for any soldier who fought in the war. Whether they were German, Canadian, American, Polish, Turkish, or Russian, he thinks their experience of the war was likely very much the same as the British soldiers whose stories he smashes together...

 

[vonGarvin]

The guy who wrote that article very obviously did not stay to watch the final bit with Jackson speaking exactly about that.

Oh, wait, he did.  And he still doesn't get it.  And the critic can frig off and go make his own frigging film.  I guess anyone can be offended by anything...

Anyway, I saw the film last night.  I saw it on the 17th as well.  Breathtaking and heartbreaking is all I have to say.

I made a game of watching for Canadians in the film.  Saw a few, such as the Ross rifles on the ranges, the maple leaf cap badges, and the fellas apparently of the 25th Bn, CEF (Nova Scotia Rifles) going "over the top". 

I will go see it again when I can.

 

[Remius]

Agreed.

 

[vonGarvin]

I saw it...fantastic.  The biggest take away I had was that some things never change.  The second biggest was that turn of the century Britain was an orthodontic nightmare.

Agreed.  Their sense of humour, their shenanigans, how they mugged for the camera, etc, was all just like today.  And their comment on the sedentary civilians having to be made into shape.  And I guess their tooth brushes must have been used to clean their buttons.  Ha!

I'm convinced there was a member of the PPCLI involved somehow - the film opens with Has Anyone Seen the Colonel, is soon followed by It's a Long Way to Tipperary, and the film closes the final credits with Mademoiselle from Armentières.

I think the reverse is true in that those songs were so iconic of the war that the PPCLI made them theirs.  As I told my friend last night, the PPCLI was founded to fight in the war so it only makes sense that there is a strong connection with WW1.  I was singing along with Mademoiselle from Armentieres, as best as I could. 

Great flick! 

 

[OldTanker]

I saw this movie in Victoria yesterday. It was incredible. I was amazed by how young the soldiers were. I've read about it but seeing it is so different. Many of them really were just children. And the terror in some of their faces before "going over the top" was heart-wrenching. But much of the movie was soldiers being soldiers and doing things any of us who have served could relate to. My grandfather served as a driver with the British Field Artillery and I thought of him each time I saw the horses pulling the guns. He was gassed at Ypres and eventually died as a result of his wounds. Thank you Peter Jackson and team for doing this and honouring your grandfather and our ancestors.

 

[R933ex]

I just watched this last night in Edmonton. The only thing I can say is that Peter Jackson got it right, I think the only thing missing was the smells. Having said that, I think this is the movie you see once for the full effect. 

 

[Platitudinarian]

"The teeth were an orthodontic nightmare"

I also couldn't get over how bad it was. Easily 6 out of 10 soldiers featured had Gollum smiles.

That being said, the film was brilliant. I can see the point though about how wrong Peter Jackson was to assume that the British soldier's experience was a typical one considering all colonial troops. But he was making a film for  certain audience and did say he didn't want to make a clusterf*ck of film so much about everything that it did nothing justice. So I think he can be forgiven for that.

 

[FSTO]

I saw the film the other night in Ottawa. Very impressive I must say.

The look of dread on the faces of those soldiers in the ditch is haunting.

The goofing around of some of the guys just confirms that there was likely a clown in every military since the days of Thag and Ork throwing rocks at each other.

Hopefully they can make all the other remastered film available in the future. In the vignette after the film Peter Jackson said they have a 100 hours of remastered film covering the war at sea, in the air, colonial troops, women in factories, the home front, nurses and doctors. I don't mind if it stays in B&W.

 

[NavyShooter]

I heard a snippet about the troops in the ditch when they did some text recovery on history channel a few years ago - if I recall, that's the video of the 'sunken lane' and the Lancashire Fusiliers?  The person doing the translation noted that there were two separate groups of troops - one of them being the LF's, the other being a trench-mortar group, and the TM troops were the ones joking about - the LF's were, obviously, somewhat more grim.



OK, found video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Sb7urnjEaE


And here, starting at about minute 13 is the description:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSVF32QJeVo


And at minute 40:45 the lady does lip reading on the troops and what they're saying.

NS