Rent 1917 (2019)

3.9 of 5 from 1324 ratings
1h 54min
Rent 1917 Online DVD & Blu-ray Rental
  • General info
  • Available formats
Synopsis:
At the height of the First World War, two young British soldiers, Schofield (George MacKay) and Blake (Dean-Charles Chapman) are given a seemingly impossible mission. In a race against time, they must cross enemy territory and deliver a message that will stop a deadly attack on hundreds of soldiers - Blake's own brother among them.
Actors:
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Directors:
Producers:
Pippa Harris, Callum McDougall, Sam Mendes, Brian Oliver, Jayne-Ann Tenggren
Writers:
Sam Mendes, Krysty Wilson-Cairns
Others:
Stuart Wilson, Mark Taylor, Roger Deakins, Thomas Newman, Pippa Harris, Guillaume Rocheron, Dennis Gassner, Callum McDougall, Oliver Tarney, Scott Millan, Lee Sandales, Greg Butler, Naomi Donne, Tristan Versluis, Rebecca Cole, Krysty Wilson-Cairns, Dominic Tuohy, Dominic Tuoh, Jayne-Ann Tenggren, Rachael Tate
Studio:
eOne
Genres:
Action & Adventure, Drama
Collections:
2020, Award Winners, BAFTA Nominations Competition 2023, BAFTA Nominations Competition 2024, CinemaParadiso.co.uk Through Time, Oscar Nominations Competition 2024
Awards:

2020 BAFTA Best Cinematography

2020 BAFTA Best Visual Effects

2020 BAFTA Best Film

2020 BAFTA Best Production Design

2020 BAFTA Best Direction

2020 BAFTA Best British Film

2020 BAFTA Best Sound

2020 Oscar Best Cinematography

2020 Oscar Best Sound Mixing

2020 Oscar Best Visual Effects

BBFC:
Release Date:
18/05/2020
Run Time:
114 minutes
Languages:
English Audio Description Dolby Digital 2.0, English Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles:
English Hard of Hearing
DVD Regions:
Region 2
Formats:
Pal
Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen 2.39:1
Colour:
Colour
Bonus:
  • The Weight of the World: Sam Mendes
  • Allied Forces: Making '1917'
  • The Score of '1917'
  • Feature Commentaries
BBFC:
Release Date:
18/05/2020
Run Time:
119 minutes
Languages:
English Audio Description Dolby Digital 2.0, English Dolby Atmos
Subtitles:
English Hard of Hearing
Formats:
Pal
Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen 2.39:1
Colour:
Colour
BLU-RAY Regions:
B
Bonus:
  • The Weight of the World: Sam Mendes
  • Allied Forces: Making '1917'
  • The Score of '1917'
  • In the Trenches
  • Recreating History
  • And More!
BBFC:
Release Date:
18/05/2020
Run Time:
119 minutes
Languages:
English Dolby Atmos
Subtitles:
English Hard of Hearing
DVD Regions:
Region 2
Formats:
Pal
Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen 2.39:1
Colour:
Colour
BLU-RAY Regions:
B
Bonus:
  • The Weight of the World: Sam Mendes
  • Allied Forces: Making '1917'
  • The Score of '1917'
  • In the Trenches
  • Recreating History
  • And More!

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Reviews (23) of 1917

Inexorable Videos Micro Review: 1917 - 1917 review by EP

Spoiler Alert
31/01/2020

Deakins and Mendes combine talents to create what is undeniably one of the most technically impressive films of recent years. However, sometimes it feels like the story is complementing the camera work, and not the other way around.

11 out of 12 members found this review helpful.

My choice of best oscar film - 1917 review by TH

Spoiler Alert
21/03/2020

What a great film. The years best in my view. While Parasite was good as well this deserved the award in my opinion.

Big fan of Sam Mendes as a director and this had everything from emotion, action and was gripping throughout.

5 out of 6 members found this review helpful.

Disappointing - 1917 review by IG

Spoiler Alert
29/05/2020

We found this rather lacking in emotion, bland, sanitised and overall very dull. Suggest you watch Gallipoli or Hacksaw Ridge for a gripping war film, this one isn't.

5 out of 15 members found this review helpful.

Critic review

1917 review by Mark McPherson - Cinema Paradiso

1917 may as well have been called The One-Shot War for its stylish gimmick that has paraded in the media. The film can almost be a game of trying to determine where the cuts were made in its presentation of one continuous shot and just how the camera got to such a perspective. While this focus on the technical certainly makes one more aware of the craft, it also makes one more appreciative of the experience. Sam Mendes certainly delivers an unforgettable World War 1 pictures in this aspect.

The film concerns two British soldiers on the frontlines that are given one of the most dangerous of missions. The army has learned of a German surprise attack that could decimate the British forces on another side of the battlefront. The two men are tasked with traversing the dangerous German territories by hopping out of the trenches and straight into hell to deliver the crucial message. One of them has a brother serving on that side so there’s reason enough to hurry, if not for the hail of gunfire and explosions they’ll face along the way.

The two soldiers fulfill a sufficient role by adhering to some somewhat expected melodramatics of staging a war drama; there’s some tension, some dry humor, some contemplation of home, some tragedy, and some near misses. But let’s be honest; this is all more in service of the vibrant visuals more than anything. The argument of the film being little more than a pretty piece of fantastic filmmaking is not really a negative here. This is a film that knows where its strengths lie and it’s clearly not in the most original depictions of soldiers and superiors, despite some strong cameos from the likes of Colin Firth, Mark Strong, and Benedict Cumberbatch along the way.

Every scene is perfectly staged. Though there is no exciting action for the first twenty minutes, it builds so well with a brooding in the soundtrack and a fear in the characters. We’re let in on how dangerous the journey will be and the first few steps out into the open are treated with the terror they deserve. Some jumps and surprises occur when the two discover hidden bombs, are fired upon by soldiers and flee from the wreckage of a dogfight. And though there’s a ticking-clock sensation throughout, there are still a few moments that feature a somber break from the action to catch your breath.

Cinematographer Roger Deakins has truly outdone himself with this picture. The camera whips around so many different angles and shots as it constantly follows the central soldiers. It goes high, low, into buildings, into tunnels, into trucks, into crowds, behind soldiers, underwater, off cliffs, over the hills, etc. There’s a constant battle with the eyes and the mind of trying to pay attention to find all the seams and then getting lost within the story that you almost forget about it.

For example, one scene features a soldier hop into a truck with other soldiers, sitting around and thinking about the mission while some joke about their superiors. An interesting scene that takes a break from the action but, wait a minute, how did the camera just effortlessly shift directly behind a soldier with his back to the wall of the truck? How did it get there? These are the unique questions I love thinking about while watching a technical marvel, amazing enough that I almost don’t want the answer how it was done if only to believe a little more in movie magic.

1917 is just damn good filmmaking and one of the strongest presentations of a war film I’ve seen since Dunkirk, bursting with an astounding sense of color and thrill. Last year, I watched Peter Jackson dress up World War 1 archive footage in his documentary They Shall Not Grow Old. If that film was vividly informative for the engaging presentation, Mendes gives an added dose of spectacle to that same sense of capturing history. Try to double-feature both if you can.

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