“1917” is a rather harrowing war film with plenty of disturbing scenes. Like Hitchcock’s “Rope”, the movie has been crafted in such a way that it makes it look as though it is one continuous shot. You really have to admire the skill of the filmmakers as it’s very convincing.

In “1917”, two young British soldiers (Dean-Charles Chapman, George MacKay) are given an assignment by General Erinmore (Colin Firth “The King’s Speech”). Their job is to deliver a message to stop Colonel MacKenzie (Benedict Cumberbatch “The Imitation Game”) from leading his troops into an ambush. This will be no easy task as they must navigate their way through hostile territory with danger never far.

I think it was a wise decision to cast two unknown actors as the main soldiers. It may have been distracting and taken away from the experience if we were looking at familiar faces. The two main soldiers are really engaging and it’s interesting seeing their interactions as they try to overcome various obstacles. Firth, Cumberbatch and Mark Strong (“Green Lantern”) all appear in very small roles. They give decent performances but none of the big names are on the screen for more than a couple of minutes.

“1917” is not a movie for those that just want to relax. This is a very intense movie with lots of intense sequences where soldiers make their way through narrow trenches and crawling across battlefields littered with the corpses of dead friends and enemies. The way that the movie has been shot only amplifies the intensity. We really do get a taste of just how awful it must have been to be stuck in muddy trenches surrounded by rats and bombarded with the noise of explosions. It’s not the most exciting war movie out there but it is very captivating and I think those that really like their war films are going to need to go out of their way to watch this one.