Best movie of 2019... They Shall Not Grow Old-meets-Dunkirk

Rating: 10/10 (11 January 2020)

As "1917" (2019 release; 119 min.) opens, we are told it is "April 6, 1917", and Lance Corporals Schofield and Blake from the British army are summoned by the General: the two soldiers must deliver an urgent message to 2 battalions who are about to fall into a massive German trap. Blake's brother is among the 1600 soldiers in peril. Off they go, Schofield and Blake. At this point we are less than 10 min. into the movie but to tell you more of the plot would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out...
Couple of comments: this is the latest movie from British director-writer-producer Sam Mendes, who brought us the 2 most recent James Bond films, and American Beauty way before that. Here he brings a WWI story to the big screen as it was relayed to him by his grandfather, who served in WWI. I don't want to spoil anything by revealing more of the plot. Instead let me make the following general observations: as the movie opens, we watch as Schofield and Blake walk to the General's camp, get his orders, and get underway, and after a couple of minutes, I realized that all if this was being shown in one continuous take. Then it became 5 min., then 10, then 15 min., and I thought to myself, how much longer can this be just one continuous take? (Sorry, I'm going to to tell you.) The movie is just epic on so many levels. There are some stretches where there is little to no dialogue and it is then how critically important the movie's sound design is. You may recall that in 2018 there was a fabulous documentary called "They Shall Not Grow Old" (directed by Peter Jackson), in which WWI archive footage is restored gloriously. And in 2017 there was Christopher Nolan's epic WWII drama "Dunkirk". To me "1917" recalls both those films in the best possible way. Kudos also to Thomas Newman for the massive original score, which plays almost non-stop during the movie.
"1917" went wide this weekend, and i couldn't wait to see it. The Friday evening screening where I saw this at here in Cincinnati in a mid-size theater was pretty much sold out, I am very happy to say. Winning Best Picture and Best Director at last weekend's Golden Globes will only reinforce the strong word-of-mouth this movie surely will generate. I am going on record that this movie will get multiple Oscar nominations (and then win them). If you like an epic war movie, you are in for a treat, and I would readily suggest you check this out, be it in the theater, on VOD, or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, and draw your own conclusion.