Journey's End (2017) Reviews

• Not a War Movie

  boonanak2018-09-12

  I just want to provide a quick calibration of what people should expect from this movie because some of the reviewers seem to have had a misconception of what this movie was supposed to be about. This is not a war movie - it's a movie about war. Specifically, the affects of trench warfare on a group of soldiers. Too that end, the movie is absolutely brilliant from the moment it begins to the moment it ends. You will not see long drawn out battle scenes, hand to hand combat, fire-fights, bloody carnage or anything else you've recently seen in Hacksaw Ridge, Lone Survivor or Fury. What you will see is the persistent and inevitable deterioration of the innocence and humanity of the characters as their fate, which they all know is coming, slowly but surely creeps up on them from one day to the next. Many other reviewers have used the term, "disturbing", to describe this movie and I agree 100%. It is highly disturbing, on a psychological level. You won't leave this movie feeling good or motivated to join the military; you will leave it with a loss to understand why humanity ends up in situations like this to begin with.

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• Masterpiece - only way to describe it.

  pr652018-02-05

  I've seen the West End play, read the play transcript, and read the novel too. This (in my humble opinion) is a magnificent adaption of this very powerful play based upon R C Sherriff's real-life experiences in the trenches of World War One. It captures the tragedy of war, courage in the face of hopelessness, friendship, and regret among a host of human emotions. The acting is superb, the sets and attention to detail like nothing I remember seeing in a film set in World War One. I cannot recommend it enough. How sad that it has had such a limited cinema release on the Centenary of the year in which the film is set. Almost as if these men are all forgotten now? Not by me.

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• Benchmark by which to judge others

  esklepios2018-06-03

  What a contrast to so much mediocrity and worse eg. Dunkirk. Set in the trenches in March 1918 but not really about the trenches or March 1918 at all. Superbly cast and acted, a beautifully written reflection of a junior officer's view of the penultimate stages of WW1. Even more, this is a beautifully written reflection on the human spirit in adversity. Of course some of the senior officers are somewhat caricatured - that is what happens in real life. Of course it becomes more and more difficult with the passage of time for people to understand the mentality of empire, the public schoolboy ethos embodied by Raliegh, Maybe the same bravado and fear affects people joining violent gangs - I know not - but Raleigh is about the same age as some gang members - 18/19. Stanhope at 21/22 is a veteran of war, Uncle (Osborne - quite possibly early 30s) almost a veteran of life in their eyes. Of course such characters have been used in films since - but this was written in 1928. It cut the new ground - others have followed. The Roman Horace said "Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori." and it took until WW2 for Patton to say "The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his." But what about sending your friends, your very best friends, your nearest and dearest to near certain death. What does that "do" to a man. Stanhope knows and through this film we can maybe glimpse that horror. What happens when there is no "cunning plan" left. Uncle knew. Hold them off for as long as you can. In 1914, in 1918 when Journey's End is set, and again at Dunkirk ordinary men really did. No doubt there are countless other examples both before and in the last 70 years. This film is a fitting tribute to those men.

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• "Charming War film that hits you hard!"

  samuelcbishop2017-10-29

  I was fortunate enough to see the premiere of this film at the London Film Festival, and went in with no prior knowledge of the story or the characters, and was blown away by the impact this film has. Each actor suited their role perfectly, with Sam Claffin adding a smooth, sophisticated yet equally mysterious spin on the title character, Toby Jones adding fantastic one-liner humour to give the script more depth, and the other characters making the film's narrative put you on the edge of your seat. Usually I brush over war films, as I find the production and aesthetic quite similar. However, this film left me with lots of powerful thoughts and I am grateful to be one of the first to see it! Its now clear to see that this was based on a play, as the majority of the scenes were shot within the same set, with the focus on the characters' progression and the narrative as a whole, but this really worked! This is a film I highly recommend seeing- superb acting, released at a fitting time (its release being 100 years after the end of WW1), beautiful cinematography, a powerful script, and so much more! I will be seeing this again at the next given chance. So stop watching these big Hollywood remakes, be ready to be lost in the charm of this war film, and witness something quite special, that will hit you hard!- Sam Bishop

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• Extremely powerful

  owanitall2018-03-30

  I want to start by saying that this film should not have been given the R rating. There is less fighting than in most superhero movies and no gore. It is, however, very distressing. Because it's very very good. It left me shaken and stayed with me for a long time. I felt it work not only on mental and emotional, but also on sensory level. There is no title and no credits in the beginning. The soldiers and officers start marching towards the front line, the camera focuses on faces, such melancholy in the eyes. And the music comes in - a low string melody that filled my whole being with the sense of dread. It never lets go. The score is absolutely brilliant. As is the acting. Especially the acting. Sam Claflin plays Captain Stanhope in whose PTSD "P" stands for not just "post", but "present", "persistent", "pervasive". The horror he's seen in 3 years at war is compounded by responsibility for those under his command with very little control over their fates. He barely eats or sleeps, but drinks practically all the time and lashes out at those closest to him. Yet it gradually becomes clear that while other officers and higher ups have detached themselves from those underneath them, he can't and won't. His decency and guilt is what's tearing him apart. It's a heartbreaking, riveting, Oscar caliber performance. But to be fair, if there's ever a film deserving a SAG Best Ensemble award, this is the one. Paul Bettany is great as calm and calming Osbourne. Asa Butterfield - perfect as naive Raleigh. Ditto Tom Sturridge as falling apart ex-playboy Hibbert, Stephen Graham as simple, always eating Trotter, Toby Jones as Mason the cook, much more than a comic relief as he witnesses what wasn't meant for him to see, Andy Gathergood as Sergeant Major who has barely any lines, but whose eyes say so much. In fact, everyone's eyes. This is something that cannot be achieved on stage - close ups on the eyes that silently scream what societal norms don't allow to be said out loud. There is a saying that goes something like this, "When one person dies, it's a tragedy. When thousands do, it's statistics." The power of this film is that when "Spring Offensive" statistics appear on the screen in the end, it feels like 700,000 tragedies.

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