I was very surprised when I watched "They Shall Not Grow Old" as I think my hopes were set way too high. Instead of seeing amazingly restored archival footage, the whole thing looked much like colorized WWI documentaries I'd seen on television already. Now I am not saying the film was bad....but it wasn't the amazingly restored masterpiece I heard it had been. Yes, Peter Jackson and his team did a ton of work on the film and it is impressive...but not as impressive as I'd hoped.
As for the film itself, it consists of no narration--just snippets from hundreds of different soldiers' accounts of the war. Then, it was all strung together with many, many, many short snippets. I personally would have probably enjoyed less snippets and more lengthy accounts of the war as the style film made it seem a bit choppy and disconnected.
Overall, not a bad film at all but one that didn't leave me as blown away as I expected from a BAFTA-nominated documentary. Good...not great.
By the way, while sitting and watching all this became a bit numbing, this would be a great film to show at a history museum--perhaps to play as you walked around the museum or perhaps cut into snippets that play as you walk about the place.
As for the film itself, it consists of no narration--just snippets from hundreds of different soldiers' accounts of the war. Then, it was all strung together with many, many, many short snippets. I personally would have probably enjoyed less snippets and more lengthy accounts of the war as the style film made it seem a bit choppy and disconnected.
Overall, not a bad film at all but one that didn't leave me as blown away as I expected from a BAFTA-nominated documentary. Good...not great.
By the way, while sitting and watching all this became a bit numbing, this would be a great film to show at a history museum--perhaps to play as you walked around the museum or perhaps cut into snippets that play as you walk about the place.