Impressive cinematography, but...

Rating: 7/10 (6 April 2020)

For me, 1917 was good, but some aspects took me out of the film.
Likes: (i) The cinematography. (ii) The first part the movie, until the German plane crashes.
Dislikes: The German plane literally crashes on the exact spot where the two protagonists (Brit 1 and Brit 2) are. I thought: "What is the probability of that happening?" "Nearly zero," I thought.
The two Brits save the German pilot from being burned alive, and what does the German do? Stabs and kills Brit 1, only to be shot dead by Brit 2.
Why was the milk left in the pail? What happened to the person who milked the cow? Did the Germans do 'something' to that person? Brit 2 filled his canteen with milk -- important for a later event.
Germans killed lots of cows, just for the fun of it. I guess their withdrawal was too hasty to commandeer them for food. Such barbaric people.
A few moments later, Brit 2 kills a sniper and becomes unconscious. Then, the entire movie seemed to become visually surreal, like it was a dream. I thought, "Is this a dream? It must be."
I pondered: "What are the chances of Brit 2 stumbling into the hiding place of a woman with a baby that is not hers? It must be a dream." The baby can't yet eat solid food. Thank goodness for the milk from before!
Brit 2 encounters a German soldier, and the German seems to agree to not shout out, but the German shouts out, leading to the German's death. During the struggle, the German's comrade is literally just meters away, oblivious to what's going on.
Did the British Army have colonial soldiers (e.g., South Asian, African/Blacks) mixed in with regular white British soldiers? Is that true or a rewriting of history?
The way the Germans were depicted reminded of old propaganda movies: they are cruel, murderous, and/or stupid. The booby trap in the cave left the feeling that the Hun was devious and barbaric.
Do people realize that it was the humiliation of the German people (inflicted by the Allies after WWI) that led to WWII? Humiliation is one of the strongest -- if not the strongest -- of human emotions. Have you forgotten the time(s) you were badly humiliated?
1,600 British lives are in peril, and the General sends only two runners to warn them? I am not an expert on WWI, but given that it was a dangerous mission, if I were the General, I would have sent two teams of two, each independently and ignorant of the other team. There were British planes; why not send a runner to the airfield with the written orders, pass the orders to the airfield commander, who would then have a pilot fly to near where endangered troops are, and deliver the written orders? Does anyone have a horse they can spare or commandeer?
How is it that the two guards cannot stop Brit 2 from entering the command post? They don't know his intentions -- he could have been an insane man intent on killing the officers!
I could list many more aspects that gave me pause, but I'll stop here.
Because the movie tried so hard to depict the harsh and brutal 'realities' of war, I would have preferred to not have to "suspend my disbelief" so many times.