8.3 | / 10 |
Users | 4.8 | |
Reviewer | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
At the height of the First World War, two young British soldiers, Schofield and Blake, are given a seemingly impossible mission. In a race against time, they must cross enemy territory and deliver a message that will stop a deadly attack on hundreds of soldiers, with Blake’s own brother among them.
Starring: George MacKay, Dean-Charles Chapman, Mark Strong, Andrew Scott, Richard MaddenHistory | 100% |
War | 95% |
Thriller | 69% |
Drama | 49% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: Dolby Atmos
English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
French: Dolby Digital Plus 7.1
Spanish: Dolby Digital Plus 7.1
French = Quebecois, Spanish = Latinoamerica.
English SDH, French, Spanish
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
Digital copy
DVD copy
BD-Live
Slipcover in original pressing
Region free
Movie | 5.0 | |
Video | 5.0 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 3.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
1917's technical achievements are surpassed only by its gripping narrative and emotionally driven character arcs. The movie foregoes frenzied action for frightening realism within the context of a war-torn landscape and two men's journey through it with the hopes of preventing great tragedy. Director Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Road to Perdition, Spectre) and Cinematographer Roger Deakins create a taut, seamlessly edited masterpiece that marries photographic immersion with absorbing storytelling. Few films can claim such thorough workmanship and faultless execution of cinema at both its most advanced and fundamental levels of excellence.
Going over.
One might believe a film source and a level of inherent grit to be vital to a movie like 1917, but Mendes and Deakins work magic with the high resolution digital photography that in many ways brings a more realistic character to the production than could film, more fully drawing the audience into the experience by erasing as much of the barrier between camera and viewer as possible. That's critical when considering the movie's makeup, its accomplished effort to present the story as if photographed in two continuous shots. On Blu-ray, the digitally sourced material shines. It's clean but at the same time captures the filth and mud and death and decay of the war-torn wasteland with remarkable precision and clarity. Terrain is a vital visual component in the movie. Viewers will see with great clarity clumps of mud, puddles, and some unblemished grasses. The trenches are filled with worn woods, beaten sandbags, and traces of material debris here and there. These are incredibly authentic production details that the Blu-ray presents with resplendent accuracy. Object clarity is excellent, too. A soldier's gear -- leather pouches, fabric frays, caked-on mud, scuffs on helmets, wear on rifle stocks -- is never wanting for improved textural definition. Faces are, of course, clearly defined and intimately revealing, though much of the movie sees the camera and the characters in motion, sometimes even walking away from the camera, so there are not the usual numbers for relatively static close-ups as one might find in other movies. The color palette appears slightly muted, and the production very much so. Earthy grays, uniform beiges, and overcast skies are the dominant tones, but rare examples of lively greens, white blossoms on downed trees, red blood, and orange fireballs do offer splashes of color that are intense compared to the drab world around them but that present with neutral contrast and no overplay. Black levels are fine within some lower light interiors and dark nighttime exteriors. Skin tones are a little pasty but within the movie's tonal parameters. 1917 looks magnificent on Blu-ray.
1917's Dolby Atmos soundtrack is an exercise in sound engineering and delivery excellence. The soundstage expands almost immediately to pull the listener into the trenches and across the battlefields. In the former, there's a hectic din at times, more subdued rustling at others, but the feel for immersion within the confined space is evident with surround and overhead engagement regular. Listeners will find the first example of discrete overhead usage when a pair of planes pass above Schofield and Blake within the 20-minute mark as they make their way across the abandoned battlefield. An explosion within the confines of an abandoned German bunker in chapter six offers an impressive blast rushing through the stage, sending debris flying across and then falling from above, both with seamless surround detail and top end presentation. Rushing waters in chapter 15 soak the stage with intense depth and ferocious movement, and gunfire punches hard and impacts surfaces with alarming ferocity, notably from a sniper's rifle partway through the film. Music plays with superb low end depth to solidify widely engaged, fluid, and very lifelike notes; like action and atmosphere, it's enveloping but with perfect balance. Dialogue is clear and well prioritized from a natural front-center position. Film audio doesn't get much more complete and immersive as this.
1917 includes a handful of featurettes and a pair of audio commentary tracks. A DVD copy of the film and a Movies Anywhere digital copy code
are included with purchase. This release ships with an embossed/debossed slipcover.
1917 ranks amongst the finest War films ever made. It's as much of a narrative achievement as it is a technical achievement, home to unprecedented production detail excellence as well as first-rate action and grounded, sincere emotional currents. Nominated for several Oscars, including Best Picture, and the winner of three, including Best Cinematography, 1917 is one of 2020's, and its genres, finest. Universal's Blu-ray is terrific, too, boasting excellent 1080p video, reference quality Atmos audio, and a fine assortment extra content. 1917 earns my highest recommendation.
2017
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Commemorative 20th Anniversary Edition
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2023
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Operation Chromite / In-cheon sang-ryuk jak-jeon
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