Popular reviews

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  Review by Sean Baker 17

  Truly incredible. Very happy I took advantage of the
  one night only screening at the Ahrya Fine Arts in Beverly Hills. On the big screen. (I know how much some of you love when I state that)

  The incredible restoration, colorization, 3D application and sound work transform the archival news footage in to a totally immersive experience.
  It’s educational to boot!

  It was followed by a 30 minute making-of doc that was quite informative
  and just as fascinating.

  Odd this was looked over in terms of awards this year. Not only does it deserve recognition as a historical documentary but it’s a technical feat as well.

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  Review by Milo ★★★½ 15

  Among the unruly film conservationist community – an elusive and underloved subsection of society at the best of times – there is much discontent afoot. Peter Jackson’s latest project, a commission from the Imperial War Museum to mark the centenary of the First World War’s conclusion, has been considered by some in said community to be an act of barbarity, an unjustifiable marring of historical record for the sake of empty titillation. This project, entitled They Shall Not Grow Old, is understandably controversial: Jackson has taken archive footage from the Western Front and not only colourized it, but dubbed it with sound and rendered it in 3D. And that’s not even to mention blowing up 4:3 to 16:9, often considered…

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  Review by matt lynch ★★★ 5

  Classic Peter Jackson tech fetish crossed with classic Peter Jackson unvarnished sentiment. THE HOBBIT didn't need 48fps (or two extra movies for that matter but that's neither there nor back again), and this footage didn't need to be colorized and augmented with sound. It's still super super neat. I want to hear the interview with the guy who took all the pictures of his fellow soldiers taking a shit.

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  Review by Kii Belling ★★★★★

  Scientific Fact: No matter what year it is, or where you are, if you point a camera at a group of young men one of them will say “Hi mum!”

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  Review by Ruben ★★★★★ 2

  Big cry

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  Review by Houston Coley ★★★★ 1

  I don’t know if they’re doing this at all the screenings, but I was lucky enough to have a 30-minute behind-the-scenes documentary of the film play after the credits. Absolutely amazing seeing the technical feats and their process. My screening was also in 3D, which was pretty effective.

  Narratively, this is nothing groundbreaking for the documentary format. It’s basically audio of interviews with footage playing which loosely pictures what’s being described. Although it’s the sheer organization and editing of that 700 hours of footage and 300 hours of audio interviews that’s incredible. The fact that Jackson chose to tell the story solely from the perspective of the soldiers who were *there* and exclude all other historians and “experts” was a…

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  Review by Allison M. 🌱 🔜 Tribeca ★★★ 18

  I was looking forward to seeing this, until I remembered Peter Jackson made a mockumentary that was in poor taste to silent film lovers: Forgotten Silver (he just never ends the joke, although the end credits specify that it's fiction).

  This film is indeed a real documentary, and furthermore, it's a tribute to his grandfather who was a soldier in The Great War. The idea that war is useless is espoused. Young men had to endure horrors that no one should even dream of.

  There is an introduction from Peter Jackson. Most of the movie is shown in 3-D. I found it pretty unnecessary, but hey, it was not bad. I do prefer things to jump out at me when…

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  Review by Cinema Strikes Back ★★★★ 5

  Selten so toll restauriertes und neu vertontes Material aus dem Ersten Weltkrieg gesehen!

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  Review by THE CINEMATIC MIND ★★★★★

  I will award this “Outstanding Contribution to Cinema History” of the Year.

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  Review by {Todd} ★★★★★ 2

  "In fact I tend to actively avoid learning about history" -Quote from a review of this that makes me want to drink until I pass out (sorry).

  Trench warfare SUUUUUCKED without Wonder Woman.

  As people evolve more and more into bots with no ability to establish fact vs. fiction, I'm thankful for persons like Peter Jackson for taking an interest in history and the value that bringing history to life can have for persons too silly to spend more than an hour or two learning anything, which I would say is the true threat to democracy in America. Ignorance is one hell of a drug.

  This is one of the only documentaries I have ever watched where I believe saying…

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  Review by nick wibert ★★★★ 1

  A fantastic showcase of what modern technology is capable of achieving in the realm of restoration.  I can somewhat understand why a lot of people are against the notion of colorizing and dubbing this footage, but I think the manner and intent behind Jackson’s approach was very respectful.  The behind-the-scenes look at the end really assured me that the focus was centered on bringing the footage to life rather than showing off a tech gimmick.

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  Review by Rafael "Parker!!" Jovine ★★★½ 2

  Even though I personally dim the concept of war as unnecessary, I have still developed an affinity for these types of films, especially those about the two big wars. Now, for some obvious reasons, World War II gets the most attention. However, I also find the first one very intriguing in its tragic narrative.

  Regarding the format, what I find more preferable is a movie adaptation or a traditional documentary format, though I occasionally do enjoy some of those who blend footage and voice overs as it's the case with this feature. One of the biggest selling points of this movie was not much the director Peter Jackson or the subject, but that we got to see some real footages…