Like watching someone else play a high-end computer game

Rating: 7/10 (24 January 2020)

Two young English soldiers (possibly Cockney) must deliver a message across enemy lines to save 1600 men from certain annihilation - and one of them has a sibling in the doomed attack.
Technically, directorially, cinematographically, 1917 is stunning; amazing. As you probably know, it's supposed to consist of one continuous 2-hour shot. Hitchcock, eat your heart out.
Nearly 500 rank-and-file digital artists alone might tell you different, and I'd be interested to learn about the size of the camera disk drive they used, if it was 'one take'.
Emotionally, 1917 is suspenseful, scary, shocking, sad, exciting, nightmarish, and yet: your engagement with the two main characters is more to do with 'what will be thrown at these actors next?', rather than 'what will happen to this person I really care about?'
It's like watching someone play a massively multiplayer online WWI game, with graphics and camera movement that blows the competition away because it's actually staged. It's not like feeling anger at the stupidity of war, or feeling grief at the deaths of thousands over a pointless dispute between royal cousins - any Germans certainly get a very rough ride from the script.
1917 is impressive in the way 'Saving Private Ryan' was impressive, but not as moving in the way 'Paths Of Glory' and many others were emotionally moving.
Ten stars for technique, five for throwing money at a series of old soldiers' gory tales without any more context than, 'Wow, look at this!!'