They Shall Not Grow Old

Stunning footage , the restoration work done here is incredible. While watching I came to the conclusion I would’ve Probably survived the war unscratched, I’d become Dame Edna and get to stay home.

Goes to some unbelievable lengths to make World War I footage look like World War II footage. This was actually an excellent watch. I highly recommend the documentary on the making of the film as well as it shed quite a bit of light on the intentions and reasoning behind a lot of the choices.

Colourising and re-dubbing archive footage is the part of this that captured much of the media attention. The use of these techniques is certainly very effective. The film starts and ends in monochrome, with the vivid colour only introduced during the most deathly, horrifying part of the experiences being relayed. The most poignant part of the piece, however, is the voice testimony of men who lived through the western front, describing their own feelings and motivations as well as the horrors.

An admirable and worthy project, but as with most areas of technology, the work done here will probably be able to be done better and cheaper in a few years time. But there's a good deal of merit in the footage and interviews, if you're a war buff, this should go on your short list.

men who were there take us back, without interference from narration or text. They tell their tale. They tell us of their adolescent eagerness to fight, the camaraderie, the fear, the blunt violence. They look back, still not sure why we have to fight, yet sure that they became better men for surviving it. The various voices coalesce into a single person, someone you feel you know by the end -- the boy who went to fight in the Great War, now an old man teaching you what he learned.