8.3/10
341,364
2,755 user 466 critic

1917 (2019)

14A | | Drama, War | 10 January 2020 (Canada)
Trailer
0:31 | Trailer

In Theaters Now

April 6th, 1917. As a regiment assembles to wage war deep in enemy territory, two soldiers are assigned to race against time and deliver a message that will stop 1,600 men from walking straight into a deadly trap.

Director:

Sam Mendes
Popularity
35 ( 6)
Top Rated Movies #90 | Won 3 Oscars. Another 110 wins & 161 nominations. See more awards »

Videos

Photos

Edit

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Dean-Charles Chapman ... Lance Corporal Blake
George MacKay ... Lance Corporal Schofield
Daniel Mays ... Sergeant Sanders
Colin Firth ... General Erinmore
Pip Carter ... Lieutenant Gordon
Andy Apollo ... Sergeant Miller
Paul Tinto ... NCO Baker
Josef Davies Josef Davies ... Private Stokes
Billy Postlethwaite ... NCO Harvey
Gabriel Akuwudike ... Private Buchanan
Andrew Scott ... Lieutenant Leslie
Spike Leighton ... Private Kilgour
Robert Maaser ... German Pilot
Gerran Howell ... Private Parry
Adam Hugill Adam Hugill ... Private Atkins
Learn more

More Like This 

Joker (2019)
Certificate: 14A Crime | Drama | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8.5/10 X  

In Gotham City, mentally troubled comedian Arthur Fleck is disregarded and mistreated by society. He then embarks on a downward spiral of revolution and bloody crime. This path brings him face-to-face with his alter-ego: the Joker.

Director: Todd Phillips
Stars: Joaquin Phoenix, Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz
Gisaengchung (2019)
Certificate: 14A Comedy | Drama | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8.6/10 X  

Greed and class discrimination threaten the newly formed symbiotic relationship between the wealthy Park family and the destitute Kim clan.

Director: Bong Joon Ho
Stars: Kang-ho Song, Sun-kyun Lee, Yeo-jeong Jo
Certificate: PG Action | Adventure | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8.4/10 X  

After the devastating events of Avengers: Infinity War (2018), the universe is in ruins. With the help of remaining allies, the Avengers assemble once more in order to reverse Thanos' actions and restore balance to the universe.

Directors: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo
Stars: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo
Inception (2010)
Certificate: PG Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8.8/10 X  

A thief who steals corporate secrets through the use of dream-sharing technology is given the inverse task of planting an idea into the mind of a C.E.O.

Director: Christopher Nolan
Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page
Certificate: 14A Comedy | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.7/10 X  

A faded television actor and his stunt double strive to achieve fame and success in the final years of Hollywood's Golden Age in 1969 Los Angeles.

Director: Quentin Tarantino
Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie
Certificate: PG Action | Biography | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8.1/10 X  

American car designer Carroll Shelby and driver Ken Miles battle corporate interference and the laws of physics to build a revolutionary race car for Ford in order to defeat Ferrari at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1966.

Director: James Mangold
Stars: Matt Damon, Christian Bale, Jon Bernthal
Certificate: 14A Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 9.3/10 X  

Two imprisoned men bond over a number of years, finding solace and eventual redemption through acts of common decency.

Director: Frank Darabont
Stars: Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman, Bob Gunton
Certificate: 18A Biography | Crime | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8.2/10 X  

Based on the true story of Jordan Belfort, from his rise to a wealthy stock-broker living the high life to his fall involving crime, corruption and the federal government.

Director: Martin Scorsese
Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Margot Robbie
Certificate: PG Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8.4/10 X  

The Avengers and their allies must be willing to sacrifice all in an attempt to defeat the powerful Thanos before his blitz of devastation and ruin puts an end to the universe.

Directors: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo
Stars: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo
Knives Out (2019)
Certificate: PG Comedy | Crime | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.9/10 X  

A detective investigates the death of a patriarch of an eccentric, combative family.

Director: Rian Johnson
Stars: Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Ana de Armas
Jojo Rabbit (2019)
Certificate: PG Comedy | Drama | War
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.9/10 X  

A young boy in Hitler's army finds out his mother is hiding a Jewish girl in their home.

Director: Taika Waititi
Stars: Roman Griffin Davis, Thomasin McKenzie, Scarlett Johansson
Certificate: PG Adventure | Comedy | Sci-Fi
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8.5/10 X  

Marty McFly, a 17-year-old high school student, is accidentally sent thirty years into the past in a time-traveling DeLorean invented by his close friend, the eccentric scientist Doc Brown.

Director: Robert Zemeckis
Stars: Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson
Edit

Storyline

April 1917, the Western Front. Two British soldiers are sent to deliver an urgent message to an isolated regiment. If the message is not received in time the regiment will walk into a trap and be massacred. To get to the regiment they will need to cross through enemy territory. Time is of the essence and the journey will be fraught with danger. Written by grantss

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Taglines:

Time is the enemy.

Genres:

Drama | War

Certificate:

14A | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

View content advisory »
Edit

Did You Know?

Trivia

Benedict Cumberbatch's second movie in which he portrays a British soldier during World War I. The first was War Horse (2011). See more »

Goofs

A ditched British Mark II tank appears briefly. The film is set on April 6th, 1917. Tanks were not used in the area where the film is set until April 9th, 1917. See more »

Quotes

[first lines]
Sergeant Sanders: Blake. Blake!
Lance Corporal Blake: [waking] Sorry, Sarge.
Sergeant Sanders: Pick a man. Bring your kit.
Lance Corporal Blake: Yes, Sarge.
[walks over to Schofield and wakes him]
See more »

Crazy Credits

The opening logos are shortened and tinted blue. See more »

Alternate Versions

The film's IMAX release presented the film open-matte, at an aspect ratio of 1.90:1, meaning there was more picture information visible in the top and bottom of the frame than in normal theaters and on home video. See more »


Soundtracks

I Am a Poor Wayfaring Stranger
Arranged by Craig Leon
Performed by Jos Slovick
See more »

User Reviews

 
1917 recruits you to experience a war journey done in an impressive "one-shot" style that I can't say i've seen before
17 January 2020 | by RforFilmSee all my reviews

Saving Private Ryan, 30 Seconds over Tokyo, Patton, Inglorious Bastards, The Great Escape and Schindler's List are only a few of the countless movies about World War II that have been made. In fact, many are still made today. So why haven't there been a lot of movies about the first World War? I think it comes down to exactly what was being fought for and what it meant for everyone. Everyone can agree that Nazism is bad and running a nation as a dictatorship robs everyone of their freedom. Germany was a common enemy that everyone would want to fight, similar to a simple film's goal of good against evil.

While World War I may have not had a simple enemy to get behind, it's still an important war as it collapsed several European empires, set the stage for a revolution in Russia, put the U.S. in a larger military position and unfortunately led to the deaths of millions. What movies can do is really put us in the position of those solders to see the magnitude of warfare and it's path of devastation. This may make 1917 one of the most intense movies to sit through, but an important one to witness.

In the misty month of April in 1917, English soldiers are resting after seeing the Germans pulling back from the western front. Two solders, Blake (played by Dean-Charles Chapman) and Schofield (played by George MacKay) are assigned to deliver a message to another Battalion. They receive more information from General Erinmore (played by Colin Firth), where they find out that the 2nd Battalion , which is assuming an easy victory, is about to walk into a deadly battle with most of the German offensive attacking there. With the phone lines cut, both Blake and Schofield are instructed to cross No Man's Land to find the Battalion and deliver a message to not attack.

Plot wise, that's all you need to know about 1917. The rest of the movie follows these two men as they cross over the horror that is No Man's Land, abandoned German trenches and everything else that would scare any soldier crossing the lines. What separates this from a lot of other war movies is that the entire film is created to appear that everything is done in one continuous shot, never taking the perspective away from the main characters. This also includes time and light, depending whether it's day or night.

Even with it's ambition, 1917 is still a phenomenal movie that's an experience that gave my heart a large rush. Director Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Skyfall) clearly wanted to give audiences the best way to experience the trenches and gunshots and did so through this one shot story. Birdman may have done something similar, but given how many extras and special effects went off, I would love to see a behind the scenes look at how everything was done. The cinematography pays a lot of detail to little things like the color of the sky during sunrise and how much paler skin would become after death.

The story feels a lot like something out of theme park or a video game...and I mean that in a good way. You're aware that your watching someone else's experience , but the right angles do make you feel like you're a part of it. Where 1917 endures in the story is it's simple goal while going through several layers of warfare Hell. I could see this getting boring quick, but despite it's one shot goal, every scene still has a different look that never feels too familiar. The movie knows not to stop for too long unless it was for an important reason. It's a rush.

Does this movie into the bigger political or social impact of World War I? No, but that was never the intention. It's like watching someone's small story that is large in scale. If I did have any problems is that there's a point where a character is knocked out and he's awoken. I won't say where, but it broke part of the spell that the movie put me in. You can tell it's a point where they were hiding an edit, but if the movie had a bunch of them in plain sight, you'd think they could have done better.

I'll give this eight dogfight planes out of ten. Like a lot of war movies, this isn't a pleasant experience. It isn't supposed to be; it's meant to be a tool to really give you something that a lot of people have forgotten about as WWI movies aren't made a lot. I highly recommend this if your willing to see something that I can't say I could make myself.


20 of 27 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you? | Report this
Review this title | See all 2,755 user reviews »

Frequently Asked Questions

See more »
Edit

Details

Country:

USA | UK | India | Spain | Canada

Language:

English | French | German

Release Date:

10 January 2020 (Canada) See more »

Also Known As:

1917 See more »

Edit

Box Office

Budget:

$95,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$576,216, 29 December 2019

Gross USA:

$159,227,644

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$374,717,445
See more on IMDbPro »

Company Credits

Show more on IMDbPro »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

Dolby Atmos | Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1
See full technical specs »

Contribute to This Page



Recently Viewed