They Shall Not Grow Old movie review

MOVIE TITLE: They Shall Not Grow Old [DVD] [2018]

RATING: R

LENGTH: 99 minutes + 30 minutes after the rolling credits for an explanation by director/producer Peter Jackson

Movie Review Mom GRADE: B+ for storytelling/A for technical achievement

TIPS FOR PARENTS:

Lots of disturbing images, including dead bodies with colorized red blood and gore.
There are a few images of soldiers hanging their bum over a trench that they used as their outdoor bathroom, so you see their naked rear ends.
You see several dead horses, as well as footage of two of them being hit and killed by an explosion.
You see wounded soldiers with blood, as well as horrific gangrene on people’s feet.
While this movie is probably too rough for sensitive American parents to allow their children to see, copies of the film were distributed to schools all over the United Kingdom after Prince William attended the premiere.

IN A NUTSHELL: Peter Jackson will surely receive awards for what he calls his “computer firepower” and state-of-the-art film restoration. It would be well deserved. He has given the gift of history to the world by bringing 100-year-old footage of World War I to life. It’s a heartbreaking film of humanity, sacrifice, honor, and bravery. The valiant men who fought and died in World War I will haunt and inspire you. What a reverent tribute to such a brave generation and one that commemorates 100 years since the end of World War I.

Peter Jackson was commissioned by the Imperial War Museum to use the old war footage and do something “unique” with it. Mission accomplished. He explained at the end of the movie that this is his most personal film because his grandfather fought in WWI. So did my husband’s. In fact, we have an old journal of his where he wrote about his experiences in the war. My four sons have been fascinated by it and have read it several times over the years. It was because of his journals that we wanted to watch this movie. While my husband’s grandfather survived the war, his health was never the same because of the mustard gas he had to run through as he delivered messages to the other side of the field in the trenches.

Peter Jackson’s hope in making this movie is that it will get families talking about their ancestors and be inspired by the ones who fought so bravely in this “Great War.” He concluded, “All of us have been shaped by this war.” Peter Jackson did not receive any fee for making this movie.

THEMES:

Duty, honor, courage
One of the veteran soldiers who was interviewed after the war stated simply, “Everything should be done to avoid war.”

THINGS I LIKED:

While the “veneer of civilization was stripped away,” during this war, the movie showcases the kindness and respect that were shown among the soldiers, even between the Germans and the British. It was touching to see how friendly many of the British soldiers were toward the German prisoners they captured. They admired one another’s bravery and recognized that each side was simply doing their patriotic duty for their countries.
Peter Jackson was able to take sometimes static footage and move his own camera around to create motion. He was also able to zoom in to get close up shots of the soldiers’ faces, which revealed an astonishing mixture of fear, humor, and tension.
Most of the footage used in the movie has never been seen. It has been sitting in storage in London’s Imperial War Museum for 100 years!
Despite 600 hours of war footage, there wasn’t much footage of the actual battles because of the danger a cameraman would have been in. To illustrate that part of the war, Peter Jackson gathered old copies of “The War Illustrated” magazine and used some of the printed sketches to recreate some of the fighting moments. Pretty clever. It felt more like a storyboard, however, and chopped up the continuity of the film part of the war.
The sobering movie title grabs your heart.
Before the movie began, there were a bunch of slides with WWI trivia and questions on the Big Screen. That was such a nice touch. I took a few shots so you could see them.

At the end of the credits, Peter Jackson spoke for 30 minutes. Those who left the theater while the credits rolled really missed some great material and insights into how this movie was made.
There is no narration. Instead, real soldiers who survived the war share their thoughts on the various experiences they had.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

I was surprised that so much of the movie was in black and white since it’s advertised as using colorized footage. That it does; however, the first 30 minutes and the last 15 are in black and white, while it’s only the actual war on the front lines part of the movie that has been colorized. It was an artistic choice and it works; I was just surprised and a little disappointed.
Sometimes it’s hard to understand the thick accents of the soldiers who are British, Scottish, and Welsh.
Rats, maggots, and lice. My husband’s grandfather wrote often in his journal about the horrendous living conditions and specifically mentioned those nasty things.
British dentistry was so terrible back then!
I couldn’t hear the very last sentence. I was frustrated that I missed what was probably a profound statement! Drats!
Sadly, this movie is only playing in a few select theaters for a limited release. Unfortunately, most movie-goers simply don’t tolerate “boring” documentaries. As you can imagine, the audience I sat with was mostly older people. My 18-year-old son was the youngest person in the audience by far.
During the 30 minute talk by Peter Jackson after the movie, he showed some footage and talked about other aspects of the war that he could have covered. It made me wish he had included them because I thought they were so fascinating.

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