The movie “1917”, directed by Sam Mendes, is inspired by true stories that his grandfather told him about World War 1. During World War 1, Lance Corporal Alfred H. Mendes was a message runner and my first thought at the beginning of this film was; if 1600 lives were at stake to prevent an attack on a German position, then why did a General only send two men? Considering 1600 lives, I would expect that a General would send an entire platoon to prevent an attack that would have been a trap for 1600 British soldiers.

1917 is unlike most other war movies that have been made, because there is very little actual war action and much more about the trek of two solders trying to deliver an important message to a Major to prevent a German Trap. This trap was a German plan that was months in the making and only due to a lucky aerial photo, the greatly reinforced German position was uncovered. As these two young men walk through horrendous war zones, it reminds the viewer that war is about much more than two armies trying to kill the other side. War is about hundreds and thousands of dead bodies, and in the case of World War 1, huge trenches surrounded by sand bags, mud, trench foot, dead horses, land minds, bombs exploding, bullets flying and the realization that your life could end at any time,  just by walking around a war zone. I though that the most impressive thing about this movie, were the huge and lengthy trenches that were dug, and the thousands of sand bags that lined all of the walls.

I did expect more here, and in a way something more substantial in terms of a war movie that would include more war action.  However, I mostly agree with the 85%