They Shall Not Grow Old is truly an achievement in technology making history live again. I had heard about it, seen the trailer - but was concerned I would not see it on the big screen because of the limited release I thought was only in a few cities and then done. I, by sheer luck, got an email from a website I visit that let me know Fathom Events was taking it to other cities for a day each - and amazingly enough, it was showing in my small Indiana city! That there wasn't more promotion of this through media astounds me. There were only about 40 people at my showing, with two additional times (I hope the audience was bigger at those). That said..... This film takes WWI footage and makes it fresh and enthralling to see. The method of making the narration from interviews of vets of that war and fitting snippets of those into the scenes that were carefully culled from 100 hours of footage was wonderful. Peter Jackson explains the process in the mini-doc that follows the film, and those thirty minutes are almost as entertaining as the main feature. Many people may go to see this expecting only the colorization to be the technological highlight, but are they in for a surprise at how the grainy, jerky hand-cranked footage is transformed. I have bored several of my friends going on and on about this film, which is a once in a lifetime event. Thanks to Peter Jackson for rising to the occasion and fulfilling the request of the British Imperial War Museum to do something "different" with their resources. Side bar: My grandfather and his two brothers fought in Europe in this war, and one died in France. Seeing the British soldiers living what my great-uncle must have suffered made this an even more significant film for me. I would recommend the big screen - it is also in a very subtle 3D, which worked nicely. I think I have rattled on again..... a BIG 10 stars to this wonderful document of an important time that should not be forgotten.
Review of They Shall Not Grow Old
