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IMDbPro

They Shall Not Grow Old

  • 20182018
  • RR
  • 1h 39m
IMDb RATING
8.2/10
36K
YOUR RATING
They Shall Not Grow Old (2018)
Produced and directed by Peter Jackson: The acclaimed documentary is an extraordinary look at the soldiers and events of the Great War, using film footage captured at the time, now presented as the world has never seen. By utilizing state-of-the-art restoration, colorization and 3D technologies, and pulling from 600 hours of BBC archival interviews, Jackson puts forth an intensely gripping, immersive and authentic experience through the eyes and voices of the British soldiers who lived it.
Play trailer2:25
2 Videos
99+ Photos
DocumentaryHistoryWar
A documentary about World War I with never-before-seen footage to commemorate the centennial of the end of the war.A documentary about World War I with never-before-seen footage to commemorate the centennial of the end of the war.A documentary about World War I with never-before-seen footage to commemorate the centennial of the end of the war.
IMDb RATING
8.2/10
36K
YOUR RATING
    • Peter Jackson
  • Stars
    • Thomas Adlam(voice)
    • William Argent(voice)
    • John Ashby(voice)
    • Peter Jackson
  • Stars
    • Thomas Adlam(voice)
    • William Argent(voice)
    • John Ashby(voice)
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 304User reviews
    • 130Critic reviews
    • 91Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award

    Videos2

    Official Trailer
    Trailer 2:25
    Watch Official Trailer
    Official Trailer
    Trailer 0:48
    Watch Official Trailer

    Photos109

    They Shall Not Grow Old (2018)
    They Shall Not Grow Old (2018)
    They Shall Not Grow Old (2018)
    They Shall Not Grow Old (2018)
    They Shall Not Grow Old (2018)
    They Shall Not Grow Old (2018)
    They Shall Not Grow Old (2018)
    They Shall Not Grow Old (2018)
    They Shall Not Grow Old (2018)
    They Shall Not Grow Old (2018)
    They Shall Not Grow Old (2018)
    They Shall Not Grow Old (2018)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Thomas Adlam
    • Self - Bedfordshire Regiment
    • (voice)
    • (as Capt Thomas Adlam VC)
    William Argent
    • Self - Royal Naval Air Service
    • (voice)
    • (as LM William Argent)
    John Ashby
    • Self - The Duke of Cambridge's Own (Middlesex Regiment)
    • (voice)
    • (as Cpl John Ashby)
    Attwood
    • Self - British Army
    • (voice)
    • (as Cpl Attwood)
    Walter Aust
    • Self - East Yorkshire Regiment
    • (voice)
    • (as Pte Walter Aust)
    Donald Bain
    • Self - Seaforth Highlanders
    • (voice)
    • (as Pte Donald Bain)
    Thomas Baker
    • Self - Chatham Battalion, Royal Naval Division
    • (voice)
    • (as Pte Thomas Baker)
    George Banton
    • Self - 50th Division Headquarters
    • (voice)
    • (as Sig George Banton)
    Walter Becklake
    • Self - Northhampyonshire Yeomanry
    • (voice)
    • (as L Cpl Walter Becklake MM)
    Arthur Beeton
    • Self - Royal Navy Air Service
    • (voice)
    • (as POM Arthur Beeton)
    Robert Bell
    • Self - British Army
    • (voice)
    • (as Mr Robert Bell)
    William Benham
    • Self - Hawke Battalion, Royal Navy Division
    • (voice)
    • (as Sub Lt William Benham)
    Joseph Biglin
    • Self - Durham Light Infantry
    • (voice)
    • (as Pte Joseph Biglin)
    Edwin Bigwood
    • Self - Worcestershire Regiment
    • (voice)
    • (as Pte Edwin Bigwood)
    Horace Birks
    • Self - Tanks Corps
    • (voice)
    • (as Capt Horace Birks)
    Edmund Blunden
    • Self - Royal Sussex Regiment
    • (voice)
    • (as Lt Edmund Blunden MC)
    Clarence Bourne
    • Self - Army Service Corps
    • (voice)
    • (as S Sgt Clarence Bourne)
    Allan Bray
    • Self - The Duke of Edinburgh's ((Whiltshire Regiment))
    • (voice)
    • (as L Cpl Allan Bray)
      • Peter Jackson
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Much of the footage had never been seen, having sat in the vaults of London's Imperial War Museum for many years.
    • Goofs
      Several shots of tanks appear in the film, both Mark V (Mark Five) and Mark V* (Mark Five Star). They have been colourised green. In reality, tanks of these types were painted "a neutral brown colour". See the article by the British Tank Museum which states that. "Surrendering to the inevitable, towards the end of 1916 it was ordered that the tanks should be painted in a 'neutral brown colour' all over." These tanks entered service in 1918, and were factory-painted brown.
    • Quotes

      Soldier: [waving at camera] Hi, mum.

    • Crazy credits
      "Filmed on location on the Western Front, 1914 to 1918"
    • Connections
      Featured in Front Row: Episode #3.3 (2018)
    • Soundtracks
      If You Want to Find
      Traditional Trench Song

      Performed by Plan 9 and Hamish McKeich

    User reviews304

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    10/10
    We DO remember them.
    "Trapped in a Charlie Chaplin World". So says director Peter Jackson in a post-screening discussion with Mark Kermode, describing early black and white documentary footage. Whereas modern film runs at 24 fps, most of the old footage is hand cranked, with speeds as low as 12 fps which leads to its jerky nature. Jackson in this project with the Imperial War Museum took their WW1 footage and put it through a 'pipeline process. This cleaned-up and restored the original footage; used clever computer interpolation to add in the missing 6 to 12 frames per second; and then colourised it.

    The results are outstanding. Jackson wisely focuses the film on the specific slice of WW1 action from the trenches. And those anonymous figures become real, live, breathing humans on screen. It is obviously tragic that some (and as commented by Jackson, many in one scene) are not to be breathing humans for much longer.

    These effects take a while to kick in. The early scenes in the documentary are in the original black and white, describing the recruitment process, and how many of the recruits were under-age. (To explain the varied comments in the film, they should have been 18, although officially shouldn't have been sent overseas until 19).

    It is when the troops arrive in France that we suddenly go from black-and-white to the fully restored and colourised footage, and it is a gasp-inducing moment.

    All of the audio commentary is from original BBC recordings of war veterans recounting their actual experiences in the trench. Some sound like heroes; some sound like rogues; all came out changed men. Supporting music of WW1 ditties, including the incredibly rude "Mademoiselle from Armentières" over the end credits, is provided by Plan 9.

    But equally impressive is the dubbing of the characters onscreen. Jackson employed forensic lip-readers to determine what the soldiers on-screen were saying, and reproduced the speech using appropriate regional accents for the regiments concerned. Jackson also recounts how the words associated with a "pep-talk" speech to troops by an officer he found on an original slip of paper within the regimental records: outstanding. Added sound effects include real-life shelling by the New Zealand army. It all adds to the overall atmosphere of the film.

    The film itself is a masterpiece of technical innovation that will change in the future the way in which we should be able to see this sort of early film footage forever. As a documentary it's near-perfection. But if I have a criticism of the cinema showing I attended it is that the 3D tended to detract rather than add to the film. Perhaps this is just my eyesight, but 3D always tends to make images slightly more blurry. Where (like "Gravity") there are great 3D effects to showcase, it's worth the slight negative to get the massive positive. But here, there was no such benefit: 2D would have been better. For those in the UK (and possibly through other broadcasters worldwide) the film is being shown on BBC2 tonight (11/11/18) at 9:30: I will be watching it again to compare and contrast.

    Jackson dedicated the film to his grandfather. And almost all of us Brits will have relatives affected by this "war to end all wars". In my case, my grandfather was shot and severely wounded at Leuze Wood on the Somme, lying in the mud for four days and four nights before being recovered... by the Germans! Fortunately he was well-treated and, although dying young, recovered enough to father my father - else I wouldn't be here today writing this. On this Rememberance Sunday, 100 years on, it is a time for us to truly remember the sacrifice these men and boys gave to what, all in the film agree, was a pretty obstinate and pointless conflict.
    helpful•439
    36
    • bob-the-movie-man
    • Nov 11, 2018

    FAQ7

    • When will this be on general release for the public?
    • Is the title of this film an intentional misquote of Laurence Binyon's Ode of Remembrance?Laurence Binyon's poem 'For the Fallen' published in 1914 has the line "They shall grow not old" which is often misquoted as "They shall not grow old". Is Peter Jackson's film title playing with the meaning here, in the sense that we are seeing the soldiers as they were during the war, and therefore will not grow old on screen? Or is it another example of a misquote?
    • will this be released on 3d bluray ?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • February 1, 2019 (United States)
      • United Kingdom
      • New Zealand
    • Official sites
      • Official Facebook
      • Official Site
      • English
    • Also known as
    • Filming locations
      • Canakkale, Turkey
    • Production companies
      • House Productions
      • Trustees of the Imperial War Museum, London
      • WingNut Films
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • 1 hour 39 minutes
      • Color
      • Dolby Digital
      • Dolby Atmos
      • (original footage)

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