They Shall Not Grow Old

I saw this film in various theaters 4 times. Absolutely stunning. The restoration is incredible. I wish Mr. Jackson would produce a series of half a dozen more with all the film he has. My ONLY reason for not giving 5 stars is that I was deeply disappointed that the DVD does not include the incredible 30 minute “behind the scene” or “making of” the film that he included in the theater version. That was as interesting, if not more, than the actual film. Anyone who missed this in the theatre has really missed out. Literally a crash course on film making and made me appreciate everything everyone who contributed to this project accomplished. The skill!!! The dedication!! The serendipity of finding the “speech”. The accents. The color of mud!!! French Mud!! I cannot say how much that omission disappointed me. But I still recommend this to everyone, for everyone’s collection, whether as a war video document, or as an example of what can be accomplished in film by a caring director and crew.

I have to say, slapping this disc in my computer took me for a helluva ride. The (re)production quality was absolutely immaculate, considering they were dealing with footage from the early 20th century and how they implemented the added on voicelines and sound effects made this once series of fully silent films into a bonafide documentary movie. While I had to rerun some of the scenes due to waning interest and multitasking (which I am very horrendous at for the latter), it was worth rewinding to that part where I left off just to make sure I captured every moment. (As you could probably tell, I was that engrossed in the movie.)I recall a notable scene (that might have been shown in another documentary) where it had a British battalion waiting for the command--the whistle--to go out and charge against the German Empire opposition, only to be gunned down with a marginal success, seconds later.You will be taken to hell and back as this entire movie takes you into the frontlines where the Brits fought during the Great War. You will face Britain's triumphs and failures; you will face, firsthand, the many troops who were there in their encampments trying to make the best of it all, when they're in the frontlines, still trying to keep the mood up despite their imminent deaths, and the aftermath of it all. Especially if you are buffed with the history involving these wars, it adds to the overall emotion and grittiness that these massively bloody battles had contributed to the entire planet.It's like terror, only it is one aspect of the war that unashamedly reflects the realities of how World War I went on; it wasn't glory, nor successfully winning every fight with injuries or fewer deaths; it is unlike how most of their nations would typically view it under propaganda. It is gritty, horrible, perilous, and excruciating, and it only made me empathise with these past soldiers without ever having to be there.As for the physical product, itself: based on the seller I bought this from, the entire casing was mostly intact with one small part of the disc holder (albeit most DVD cases were made very cheaply, sadly) being completely broken off, but the disc worked just fine, to my surprise. While I'm not exactly sure why the seller did not attempt to put more packaging material for the entire product, as I do know that DVDs can be very fragile and very much prone to scratching and being unreadable, I was, again, surprised that the entire disc media was not destroyed or rendered unreadable, nor scratched, at the very least.Like I said, vehemently: you will love this movie, especially if you just want another glimpse--perhaps another perspective--of the Great War.

My wife and I saw the film in the IMAX format in December 2018. There was a short introduction to the film by Peter Jackson that set up the film followed by about a 1/2 hour "documentary" on how the film was made, how the film was restored, who sang the closing song, getting the colors right, etc. Both the introduction and the epilogue added immeasurably to our understanding of how the film was made, and the untold hours of work that went into the making of the film.Neither of these two (very important) parts were a part of the film I bought; the blu-ray version that does work on american dvd players. Instead that was an extra that consisted of a Peter Jackson interview after what I presumed to have been the English premier of the film. While that was better than nothing, it was sort of disjointed and nowhere as good at the two extras that I saw in the theatre.I have to hope that if an American version of the film if ever offered that these two presentations will be a part of the disk. If so, I will buy it.Having gotten my rant out of the way, I have to agree with the other reviewers, the film was a masterpiece!

A definite film for people who think they understand war but have never been in action themselves. Nothing is held back. Actual films from WWI are used and the technology used to colorize and adjust the frame rate to eliminate the jerky images seen in old films is amazing. The film covers the British action. It would be nice if one covering the US is made.

A bit disappointed , not to the level of all the hype . Its one of those , watch it once , and your done . This is a movie that will get " recycled" as a gift , for many years .

When I received this DVD it would not play on my DVD player. I tried it on my Blue Ray player just in case and it would not play on that either, however when I tried it on my computer it played perfectly. I didn't see anything about this DVD being formatted for European players in its description, which would have been helpful. However, since it did play in the computer I was able to watch it and I have to say it is a very impressive DVD on the First World War. The colorization is great and the only drawback it that it couldn't be played on the DVD player.

Documentario fantastico con un lavoro dietro da premio Oscar.Peccato che non ci siano sottotitoli in italiano.

この映画はぜし多くの人に見て貰いたい！戦争の悲惨がカラーで、生々しく描かれた記録映画で、本当にあった事なので、見ごたえがあった。

This is one of the most moving and lovingly presented 'movies' dealing with WW1 that I have ever seen. The other most extraordinary movie that I've ever seen dealing with this conflagration has been Lewis Milestone's All Quiet On The Western Front. They Shall Not Grow Old is up there with that masterpiece. It brings home that once upon a time, these men and women were alive. Nearly all of the lives seen and 'heard', would not return to their loved ones. We see them before us on screen, then they'll disappear before war's end. This doco 'movie' moved me very much. A must to see!

Documentario interessantissimo ottenuto con un lavoro certosino di restauro di filmati d'epoca. Si vede la realtà della guerra in trincea in tutto il suo orrore e insieme la mancanza di consapevolezza con cui i giovani soldati la affrontavano.Attenzione: le immagini a tratti sono molto crude ...purtroppo tristemente reali.Utile per chi ama la storia e per ricordare a tutti che la guerra è sempre orrore, in qualunque epoca e a qualunque latitudine.

WW2のカラー映像はよく見掛けますが、WW1のカラーそれも音声付きは非常に貴重なので、ずっと観たいと思っていました。残念ながら日本での公開予定はないので、日本語で詳しく観る事は出来ませんが、英語が苦手でも映像だけで当時の雰囲気が伝わってきます。他の戦争資料にもいえますが、死体や塹壕足等の傷のシーンはとても生々しく痛々しいです。カラーだとなおさら...ちなみに、カラーで音声をあてたと言っても、序盤の30分位は白黒映像に解説?のナレーションが流れる様な、よくある形式なので目新しさがなく、個人的には少し退屈でした。また、BBC制作なので英軍側の視点が多く、期待し過ぎるとガッカリするかもしれません。もっと詳しく観たい場合は白黒ですが、過去作の「The Great　War」をオススメします。しかし、少しでも第一次世界大戦に興味のある方には是非ともオススメしたい作品です。最後に、このBlu-rayは欧州版ですが、ps４で再生可能です。追記2019 9/3より、Amazon prime ビデオで日本語字幕版が配信されるそうです