Impressive and raw with its sharp stunning direction.

Rating: 8/10 (16 January 2020)

1917 (4 out of 5 stars).
1917 is one of a king epic war film which puts you right with the characters Will (George MacKay) and Tom (Dean-Charles Chapman) as they travel through the battlefield. Director Sam Mendes is trying to achieve something with his direction, long camera shot continuation, and a wonderful music score by Thomas Newman. The film does well in capturing the realism and raw tone of war. The silence in walking through a mineshaft. The enemy firing at you and hearing the bullet ricocheting. Or an enemy charging at you. The audience is put right next to these soldiers as they cross enemy territory.
The plot follows Will and Tom as they are assigned by their captain to cross no mans land and to warn the other battalion that they are about to fall into a trap from their enemy. It is a race against time that they will have to walk a far distance in less than a day. While watching out and avoiding their enemy.
Director Sam Mendes does well in capturing a still camera shot. Mendes does not over do it like other action film directors with adding a lot of unnecessary action or explosions. He does capture the realism and raw tone of the movie. I like that he is trying to break the ground barrier with a one long continuation shot with the camera. Sure, there may be a scene cut somewhere. The editors did a great job in keeping the camera shots and direction very coherent without breaking away from a scene. It is kind of distracting. It works great with the movie. The opening scene following Will and Tom from their captain being told their assignment. To walking through the trenches around the soldiers. The cinematography by Roger Deakins did a great job in following these characters. And capturing the production set with torn down villages. Or a gritty aftermath of the battlefield with corpses on barb wires. It is just impressive. Lee Smith editing was well done in keeping the one long shot focused.
The music score by Thomas Newman was beautifully done and haunting in a way. George MacKay and Dean-Charles Chapman were also good with their characters. We learn a little about them as they talk about their history as they walk through no mans land. Plus there are other actors in here with a small appearance like Mark Strong, Andrew Scott, Colin Firth, Claire Duburcq, Richard Madden, and Benedict Cumberbatch.
My one issue with the film which I dislike about it is the pacing. It is nice to see a one shot sequence with the cinematography following the characters without cutting scene to another. Basically, you're with the characters every foot step they make. Which is cool and all but it does get a little slow when they walking a long way in a field or come to a complete pause.
Overall, 1917 is a good war film done by Sam Mendes and his sharp beautiful direction. With a good music composer, editor, cinematography, and cast. It is one film that is worth seeing on the big screen.