Journey's End

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.

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.

This is definitely one of the best war movies I have ever seen. No Rambo actions in this one. The title really depicts what the movies is all about A Journey's End. The brutality of war. Good men die like that . In times of war orders are orders. It is sad. I wonder all this potential gone to waste . Over 60 million people died in world wars. Countries destroyed. I wonder how the world would have been liked if only ... I recommend you see this movie with high quality video . The sound is amazing& the cinematic . The acting is superb . If you think that war is exciting . Think again . You ought to see it. Deserves a better rating.

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.

I don't rate myself as an overly emotional person, but I must admit this film hit a raw nerve for me. I had a relative in the First World War, perhaps that enables a better connection? The film really illustrates what an unspeakable tragedy this war was for ordinary young men of that period from a multitude of backgrounds, of course not just from this country. This story has been told and re-told many times over the years since it's release as a play in 1928, but I can't imagine a better adaption than this. The production is superb, the acting utterly compelling. I literally felt emotionally drained after leaving the cinema, it was more than a film, it was an experience I shall not forget, just as we should not forget that terrible war. Incredible film.