1917 (2019)
1917
I remember seeing the trailers for this when it came out, and it always piqued my interest. I’m not completely sure why I haven’t seen it until now. I guess I never got around to it until now, and boy I’m glad I did. I watched it with my new sound bar, which was extremely smart on my part. If I watched it with my TV speakers, it still would’ve been good. But man, the clearness of the sound, and the crisp accent of the gunfire and explosions was freaking awesome. Especially the scene where Blake runs outside of the trench, and the scene with the soldier singing to the group. My goodness. I’ll put my audio rant aside now. The story was extremely well written, as it depicts a man’s adventure across the battlefields and trenches in WWI. You don’t have to think too hard about anything. Just watch it and put yourself in the character’s shoes. Sometimes it’s hard, but you learn to grow very close and understand Blake's decision. I just love the way he was portrayed. The acting was phenomenal, with a lot of emotion displayed through the eyes and facial/body expressions. The rest of the cast is amazing as well, and I was extremely happy to see the wonderful faces of Benedict Cumberbatch, Andrew Scott, Mark Strong, and Colin Firth. The score was one of the best I’ve ever heard in any war movie, because it’s subtle, but also extremely powerful. There were times it stole the spotlight, and there were times where it was quiet, but just loud enough to add depth. Hats off to Thomas Newman. The action sequences were very nicely put together, much like the entire movie. My last thought is how gorgeously perfect this movie was shot. It’s meant to almost look like one continuous shot, and it adds so much realism to the whole movie. It feels real, authentic, like you’re a part of everything. The way the camera hovers and pans, and keeps the characters in the center while still capturing everything happening around them. Overall, this is one of the best war movies ever made, and I’m certainly ready to watch it again. I’d recommend it to all war/action fans. This film is officially Berry Approved, so go check it out now!