User reviews

To me, "Journey's End" is a far better film than the rating may lead one to believe. It's an intense war film with extremely realistic sets and clothing. The film puts you right into the trenches of WWI in way that I've never experienced before in a film.

Adapted from a play, "Journey's End" takes place primarily right in the trenches and underground officer's quarters, with the characteristic lack of set changes that come with plays and films adapted from them. While the movies are nothing alike in any way, I was reminded of the classic film "Glengarry Glen Ross," as it was also adapted from a play. When a film is adapted from a play and done right, it gains a certain intensity that is sometimes lacking in standard films. This played perfectly into the WWI trench atmosphere - a constricted, confined, intense space.

These sort of movies become character focused and the actors can really shine. Therein lies my only real critique of "Journey's End," in that I found some of the acting to be a bit uneven. I have nothing against Sam Clafin (Captain Stanhope), but he failed to carry this film, even though the story is ostensibly about him. The drinking in particular bothered me - the character drank whiskey like it was water but came across as too sober and clear-eyed for it to be believable.

But overall, "Journey's End" is a compelling look at a war that perhaps doesn't get the attention it deserves. Maybe it was so horrible, we'd just rather forget all about it, but therein lies the danger.

"Journey's End" makes for a claustrophobic and tense movie experience. It's quite clearly a film adaptation of a stage play, but it's a surprise (to me at least) that the stage play - penned by R.C. Sherriff - dates back to 1928 and was first performed in London by a young Laurence Olivier.

You might say "A filmed stage play? Hm... I'm not sure about that". But actually, it works really well, adding brilliantly to the claustrophobic nature of the piece but - more importantly - largely eschewing "action scenes" to focus in on the dramatic relationships between the officers in their dugout and the men in the trenches above.

The plot is a simple one. Set in the spring of 1918 (arguably, the movie might have been even more powerful had its release been delayed by about 6 weeks), Captain Stanhope (Sam Claflin, "Me Before You", "Their Finest") leads a company of men marching into position in a trench near Saint-Quentin, Aisne for a six-day tour of duty. Given they are one of 1,800 such companies on the Western Front, it's unfortunately their bad luck that the German's "spring offensive" is forecast to happen imminently. As Stanhope's CO (the excellent Robert Glennister, "Live by Night", TV's "Hustle") makes clear, and as the film's title might also suggest, this is forecast to be a one-way trip.

With immaculate timing, squeaky-keen young recruit Lieutenant Raleigh (Asa Butterfield, "Hugo") uses his brass-connections to join the company, since he knows Stanhope from his schooldays. Indeed, Stanhope is his sister's beau. But Raleigh soon discovers that Stanhope is no longer the 'affable chap' he was....

Butterfield is marvelously cast as the perky new recruit, all wide-eyed and eager on arrival but completely ill-equipped for what he is to see and experience in a confined society being stretched beyond breaking point. Claflin as well is superb, and must have spent hours in front of a mirror trying to perfect his haunted expression. The range of emotions he delivers through those eyes is just extraordinary. Finally rounding out the star-turns of the officers are Paul Bettany ("Avengers: Age of Ultron") as the avuncular Osborne and Tom Sturridge ("Far From The Madding Crowd") as the shell-shocked and useless Hibbert.

Those of you familiar with the splendid "Black Adder Goes Forth" will know the comic role played by Tony Robinson as Baldrick with his strange culinary concoctions. In this film Toby Jones ("Atomic Blonde", "Dad's Army") fills that role and similarly has some comic lines to add - just a touch of - much needed light-relief to the tension.

The film has a necessarily melancholic feel, but (for me) it's rather over-egged by the sonorous cello score by Natalie Holt and Hildur Gudnadóttir. (Again, reflecting our different tastes, I'll point out that my wife found the music fitting and not as annoying and intrusive as I did).

Director Sean Dibb (Suite Française) has here delivered a tense and very well-executed movie that ably demonstrates the British "stiff upper lip" in public - and the weak whiskey-soaked psychosis in private - of men under the most unbearable stress imaginable. Recommended... but go expecting something that's more drama than World War One 'action'.

(For the full graphical review, please visit bob-the-movie-man.com. Thanks.)

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

Ever watch a movie that was so good, so well done that it ceases to be theater - it seems real? That's the feeling one gets watching director Saul Dibb's "Journey's End", a masterpiece on several different levels. The actors are superb, the sets unsettlingly authentic and with a spellbinding screenplay, despite taking place mainly in a wartime trench. The ominous background score heightens the film's feeling of impending tragedy.

It is WWI in 1918, somewhere on 'The Front'. The commanding officer is Capt. Stanhope (Sam Claflin), who apparently suffers from battle fatigue as he tries to keep his men, as well as himself, from feeling the effects of the growing despair that grips his company as they await the German's massive attack which has been foretold by a captured German soldier. Director Dibb captures the emotional tone in the claustrophobic officers dugout as we learn the motivations as well as the mental aspect of each. And there is no thought, of course, of a wise retreat.

"Journey's End" is more evidence of how european filmmaking has eclipsed that of the U.S. American studios are too timid to back a film considered too daring and that would break the mold of the cookie-cutter stories emanating from its assembly line. So, those of us interested in excellence in film must forage around. My star rating is in the heading as the website no longer prints mine.

"Journey's End" takes place in the trenches of the Western Front in 1918. It was originally a very successful stage play in 1928 starring Lawrence Olivier in what must have been one of his first leading roles. In 1930 a film version was produced, one of the earliest British "talking pictures", directed by James Whale and starring Colin Clive (soon thereafter both were to re-team in the memorable films, "Frankenstein" and "Bride of Frankenstein).

The above is worth pointing out because the 1930 version which is still available for viewing on Youtube, makes an interesting comparison with this current production of the same story. That is because, meticulous as this production is, it was produced a century after the events depicted in the film. To the makers of this version, this material is ancient history. To the makers of the 1930 version, it was only a dozen years ago. Indeed, James Whale, who directed the 1930 film, actually had been a British officer on the Western Front during World War I. Consequently, to him, getting the details and the atmosphere right was not a matter of researching historical records, he had only to search his own memory.

Apart from the color photography and the differences in acting styles, one big difference is that the 1930 version had a lot more humor in. While the 2017 version seems unrelentingly grim, the characters in the 1930 version exhibit a lot more of the sort of dark humor that one might expect from troops in the front lines. It is almost as though that aspect of the play did not occur to the director, or else he had simply ignored it. Either that, or perhaps that sort of humor is now considered "politically incorrect".

Nevertheless, "Journey's End" is a highly evocative depiction of the Great War, and well worth seeing in this, the centennial of the end of "The War to End ALL Wars".

To quote the AMC's BAND OF BROTHERS: "We lost a lot of men that night". This does apply since in WW1 we lost 6,000,000 British men to be precise. WW1 was such a pointless waste of life and JOURNEY'S END, directed by Saul Dibb portrays all the characteristics of the great tragedy brilliantly! JOURNEY'S END is a real Tore Du Force in the war genre. It's dark, brooding, tragic, and a very miserable affair but it certainly gets the point across about the death, depression and most of all the pointless waste of life. With the cast, music, set pieces and dialogue, Dibb has created a very strong film that authentically portrays the absolute horror of war. Let's look at all the good things of JOURNEY'S END...

Firstly, the directing. Dibb really gives this movie his all, his directing is brilliant and he really gets the best from his cast. He's built a brilliant and authentic set piece that immediately made me think of PATHS OF GLORY and that looked exactly like a WW1 trench. But most of all he uses really evocative camerawork. What really struck me was Dibb's close-up shots of soldiers faces, he captures the powerful raw emotion on all of their faces. Quentin Tarantino attempted this in THE HATEFUL EIGHT by using a 70mm camera for close-up's on people's faces but in my opinion didn't come close to Dibb's work. He captures all the emotion, anger and terror on the men's faces and he didn't even need a 70mm. Obviously this depends on the actors he has and I can assure you that Dibb's cast is absolutely brilliant. Every single member was on top-form.

There were three standout performances for me: Sam Claflin, Paul Bettany and Asa Butterfield.Sam Claflin gives a titanic performance as Captain Stanhope. He portrays such raw emotion, such anger and such misery. He plays an rage-o-holic, alcoholic who's only just keeping hold of his sanity and talks mostly in growls. He's a pretty unlikeable character but Claflin really plays him to the uttermost of his acting ability and shows us what a powerful and versatile actor he is. For me, he represents what war does to ordinary men.Paul Bettany is another really powerful performance in this movie as Osborne. He plays a tender man, you can see that being in the War is eating at him slowly but he puts on a brave face and carries on. He looks after his soldiers like brothers and is a character you really grow fond of and care about.I am not an Asa Butterfield fan but I was pleasantly surprised by his performance as Raleigh. He arrives at the front as a green teen, eager to get at the "Gerry's" but when he experiences combat for the first time, we see his character change completely, he's depressed, brooding and has obviously lost innocence that can never be retrieved and Butterfield plays all those emotions brilliantly. Butterfield for me represents the waste of youth and the boys cut down in their prime and since he's on the cusp of manhood himself at the current age of 20 his character was made more convincing and sad.

The music was another thing that added to this movie, courtesy of Natalie Holt, it was like a groaning violin and really added to the drama and tension.

Another good thing about the movie was the script, courtesy of Simon Reade. It's simple and get's everything across but most importantly it creates tension and drama. Sometimes the tension was almost unbearable and does keep you hooked but in an almost uncomfortable way.

Then of course there's the action. The film is rated a 12 but is devastating enough. Loud, giant explosions and men's terrible screams, it really gets across the horror of war. However, I personally thought that the mood and a couple of the images deserved a 15, I don't think it's a film for 12 year olds and I'm over 15 and I still found it hard viewing.

However, I can't say that I enjoyed JOURNEY'S END. There was a lot I admired about it but it left me rather depressed and with a bad taste in my mouth. It's a powerful reminder but a tragic and unpleasant one.

This films gives you the real essence of the trench warfare in world war 1 and its effect of mental health of men

Greetings again from the darkness. R.C. Sheriff wrote this 1928 play based on his experience as a British Army officer in WWI. The play's successful two year run led to a 1930 big screen adaptation directed by James Whale and starring Colin Clive - two legends of cinema who also collaborated on FRANKENSTEIN and BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN. Now, exactly 100 years after "the Spring Offensive", director Saul Dibb (THE DUCHESS, 2008) delivers screenwriter Simon Reade's version of Sheriff's story and a tribute to those who served in the Great War.

It's the Spring of 1918 and a stalemate in the trenches of Northern France has occurred during the fourth year of the war. Fresh from training, a baby-faced Lieutenant named Raleigh (Asa Butterfield, HUGO) is assigned to a front line unit whose commanding officer is his former school mate, Captain Stanhope (Sam Claffin, THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY). The others in the unit include Trotter (Stephen Graham), who eats and talks incessantly to mask his anxiety; Hibbert (Tom Sturridge), who suffers from shell-shock; Mason (Toby Jones), the cook who brings subtle comedy relief: and Osborne (Paul Bettany), the heart and soul of the team.

Slowly cracking under the untenable pressure is Captain Stanhope. His coping method involves a problem with whiskey which drives his raging temper. That temper masks a not-so-obvious commitment to his men ... men who walk on eggshells around him. Most of the movie takes place in the dugout over 6 days, and though the soldiers spend much time in a holding pattern, the battle sequences involve an ill-planned surprise attack on a nearby German hold, and of course, the famous battle that kicks off the Spring Offensive - a 3 month run that cost the lives of more than 700,000 from both sides.

With military orders such as "hold them off for as long as you can", this is no romanticizing of war. Bravery and courage in the face of likely death are balanced with overwhelming human emotions. Confusion and disorientation abound as bombs explode in an environment that offers no place to hide or escape. The war ended later that year on November 11, and trench warfare would never again be the predominant strategy.

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.

A British war drama; A story about a naive and idealistic young officer in France in 1918 who arrives at the Western Front and joins a trench full of fear, as the men await their seemingly grim fate while trying to cope with the daily pressures of the war. This anti-war statement and variation on a theme of War is Hell is a superb drama based on the the play by R.C. Sherriff. It is well acted and well directed. It retains a stagey feel, based on the original source material, but ultimately it succeeds at recreating the stress of combat and the terrible conditions of trench warfare through big moments of tension.

This is a bad movie and a bad movie about World War I. Terribly overacted by all the main players, except Paul Bethany, whose choice is to go all the way in the opposite direction. I couldn't understand anything anyone said, because the sound was poor and everyone was roaring and spluttering or muttering. Total mischaracterization of British army interrelationships, ridiculous depiction of a dugout, and nothing else about the Great War is done right ... daytime raids? Daytime anything? Ah well. I should be grateful anyone is making a movie about WWI, but this one really missed the mark. It's called Journey's End, but there was no journey here to follow.

Decided to watch this with my 13 year old son as he's learning about WW1 at school and I thought this may give him an insight as to how trench warfare would have felt for the men involved. He is a massive fan of all action cinema/TV from LOTR to GOT, and although I was completely involved in the film and felt the despair of every man on the front line, I feared that Zach might be disinterested as it was far more atmospheric than all out action. When we discussed certain aspect during the film he told me that his heart rate had been at about 120 bpm all the way through and that he was loving it. Tells you everything you need to know about this film. As stated before, this is not a war film, but a film about war and we loved it.

This was a really harrowing war film, don't go into this one expecting large scale battles or intense trench warfare, this one is more about the soldiers and the affect that fighting in such a brutal and nasty place has on their psyche.

The film has quite a star studded cast and is extremely well acted, everything is done right from the costumes to the cinematography and sets and the frightening sounds of war, it really helps you feel like you are among the dirt and grime that were the trenches of the western front in WW1.

My only real complaint is that it's a little to short, I think it could have done with another 30mins or so, throw in a few short combat sequences to really drive it home but unfortunately that didn't happen.

7/10.

I like war movies so was particularly looking forward to this ww1 trench warfare epic however it is very, very boring.

Essentially the story is centred around a young company commander who has previously been awarded the MC for some act of bravery that we don´t anything about, he spends his days just trying to get through it by drinking and obviously has minor to moderate PTSD.

That´s it, nothing else really happens, he gets angry with his younger officers then he is nice to them again and then it is back to drinking and facing his demons.

You can safely give this one a miss.

Journey's End is my favourite play and I have seen it staged over half a dozen times. I'm also a big fan of the filmed version, Aces High. This version is also now added to my list of must-watch over and again. I've seen this so many times now and I love the flawless execution. Such wonderful casting, design, atmosphere and direction. It's a near-masterpiece. Bettany is utterly heartbreaking as Uncle, and Claflin and Butterfield round out the leads well. An amazingly impressive achievement.

This is a desperately depressing glimpse into life in the WW1 trenches and a really poignant insight into the futility of war, and all the pain, suffering and fear that comes with it. It is not a pleasant viewing experience but it is a captivating one. The acting is universally outstanding and the film excels at building a claustrophobic sense of hopelessness and dread.

The only reason I haven't scored it higher is that it very much is a movie adaption of a play in that it's scope is very narrow (in terms of story, set, cinematography). That's a purely personal view about how I score movies though as the film excels at what it sets out to do.

Very thought provoking. It made me think deeply about what these men went through and the people they left behind. It hit me for the first time watching this how my nan who lost her father would have received the news.

Although I only awarded this film 6/10 for entertainment value, it is actually a 9/10 in terms of achieving its purpose, which is to portray the effect on the human psyche of the situation faced in the trenches during WWI. It is not a 10/10 because one cannot perceive the stench and the filth is not as bad as the reality, while we were spared the gory details of seeing friends gunned down or exploding in pieces in front of one's eyes.

What we do get is the emotional impact of sitting around for days on end waiting for something dreadful to come that there is a strong chance one will not survive. You keep telling yourself you are doing it for your country and that right is on your side, but in the end it all comes down to trying to stay decent and honourable and treat others well, as in ordinary life elsewhere.

It also shows the huge additional strain on officers who care about the men they are sending on missions, often with a slim chance of survival, and their efforts to maintain morale among the troops when even their own is flagging.

Despite the subject, this is not an action movie, but a deep and sensitive study of people who find themselves in the most appalling stressful circumstances and are pushed to the very limit - and often beyond - their capacity to bear the strain.

It should also make us question the human values and political artifices that place ordinary people in such unreasonable circumstances.

It is hard to put into words the impact that this movie can have on someone who may not be familiar with the droning torture of waking up in a trench waiting for death to come calling. This movie lovingly and carefully crafts that hellish and heroic existence. No stereotypes. No cheesiness. I felt that this must be what millions of average, "run of the mill" (and yet...how much above the term average!) souls endured so that we could retain freedom. Heartbreaking and humbling. Yes, war is hell. Yes, we don't want to enter into war lightly. But when fighting is required, due to a threat of our free existence, may we all be willing to do more than should be asked of any human being. The writing, acting, direction- perfection. The sense of all that was handed to succeeding generations came through in a powerful way.

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.

Sam Claflin, Paul Bettany, Asa Butterfield, Toby Jones, Stephen Graham - the cast is phenomenal and reads like a who's who from my favourite TV shows and movies. They all deliver strong performances here too, in what is a claustrophobic and overwhelmingly grim war film.

At times this made me feel angry and frustrated, which I guess is testament to "Journey's End" succeeding as an anti-war film. You can occasionally tell it was based on a play, due to the nature of certain scenes - if you're after an action-packed war film, this is not for you. It focuses more on the psychological effects of war and the human lives on the front line - the pointless waste of it all is really laid bare.

It could easily be renamed 'Impending Doom: The Movie' - such was the constant tension and underlying anxiety. It was gripping stuff and hard to look away from. I just wanted to grab the old pretentious leaders making all the stupid decisions and shove them into the frontlines.

This film made me feel similar to how I felt after watching Ryan Reynolds' "Buried". A depressing look at the cost of war that I recommend to those interested in WWI. Not a film that I would watch again.

Just got bored with how hard war was for upper and middle class officers. I'm no socialist, but I'm sick and tired of the toll it took on poets and authors. Any film based on their memoires or scribblings can never ever truly capture the horror of WW 1. Many of the lower ranked officers and NCO's deserve acclaim, their losses were proportionally as high or higher than the rank and file. The higher ranks never came to terms with their favoured cavalry was now obsolete, that men can't break through trenches that have well sighted machine guns. They played the final card - attrition, every man was expendable. Awful tactics, but worked eventually.

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.

After the elaborate opening out at the start, this centenary edition of the events depicted in R.C.Sheriffs' play settles into dead pan close-up exposition even more than James Whale's early talkie version had until the climax, when it follows the original remarkably faithfully.

Asa Butterfield as Raleigh looks much more fresh-faced than David Manners had in 1930; while Toby Jones as Mason is a far more sober presence as the company cook Mason than Charles Gerrard in the original.