A century and three years old, 1917 relives the terrifying but excellent journey of two unsung heroes.

Rating: 9/10 (9 January 2020)

It features a realistic portrayal of a true remarkable story following the appalling journey of two soldiers having to call off the attack against Germany.
1917 is a massive technical achievement done right. The camera tracks this pair of individuals with a smooth good-looking one continuous shot for 110 mins! Despite it's not exactly one shot, the slick technique where it manages to trick the audience's eyes when a one shot jumps from the other is brilliant.
Cinematography is riveting to the eyes. There are so many important close-ups that picture a thousand words of these two soldiers about their past and their emotional trauma of the World War 1 effect. The better thing is it knows when to pull back from those close-ups to reveal the true scale of the horrendous and the shock of the battlefield.
Immersively done, 1917 sucks you into the sheer horror of experiencing the daunting moments of World War 1. You will feel as if you are walking with these men.
1917 is a highly suspenseful film from the front 'till the end of the line. I can assure you, the intensity is greater than 90% horror movies in the last decade. Sam Mendes escalates the tense atmosphere little by little before he uncovers everything in the final 20 minutes.
The set feels very much like a breath of air back in the early 1900s. It is unrelenting seeing objects, locations and soldiers are bombed into pieces, excellently enhanced by how specific the layouts are to justify the maddening era of bloodbath.
Though feels gimmicky, the music projects a powerful influence in increasing the gritty war moments and giving the sense that every scene should be appreciated as much as possible.
George Mackay & Dean Chapman's performances are great however, I wish they could give more. The former expresses his raw emotions clearly but sometimes, he falls flat and the latter's way of characters feels quite unbelievable due to Chapman's failure to construct expressions that is substantially connected to the impacts of war. For mega-awards like Golden Globe & Oscar, the lack of creativity to create nuances details on their face, resulted in them not nominated for Best Actor/Supporting Actor.
1917 renders much of a survival movie like Dunkirk rather than non-stopping war shootings genre. The plot is where the downside comes. Mind that it is great and propulsively executed but the emptiness of the sub-stories is what 1917 suffers.
1917 also hurts by putting in dialogues that does not drive the story further, but only to give a sense of what personality the characters embody.
Verdict: 1917 is a warfare that feels immersive and nerve-wracking with its glorious cinematography and visual designs however, it occasionally steps into the landmines which is forgivable as the whole movie transmits an experience that is substantially novelty and worth living for.