To think 1917 is beyond unrealistic?

[GinTonicOnIt]

Spoilers alert...

I'm watching it for the first time now. How can it possibly be that to save 1600 men they would send a message by just TWO soldiers, on foot through a really deadly mission where they are certain to die?

If you can get passed that, once the two men joined up with another set of English soldiers why didn't any of those join to help?

Why couldn't radio just be used to contact these 1600 men?

No it is all left to these TWO men? In saving private Ryan (fiction I know) but about ten men were sent to save one. But here, two for 1600?!??

I just can't get past it?

If you want a genuinely terrible/unrealistic depiction of the first world war try Wonder Woman- the Germans are basically Nazis even though its WW1, the evil (nazi) scientist wants to develop poisen gas which will float up to get around gas masks even though that would make it inneffective after a minute or so etc etc

@yetanothernamitynamechange

If you want a genuinely terrible/unrealistic depiction of the first world war try Wonder Woman- the Germans are basically Nazis even though its WW1, the evil (nazi) scientist wants to develop poisen gas which will float up to get around gas masks even though that would make it inneffective after a minute or so etc etc

Also, there’s an Amazonian super-hero in the middle of it.

@user1471565182

Thats a simplified trench map from 1917. So if the germans got hold of it they would just come across in the dark and run straight down the trenches knowing where they're going to the back areas. You can also notice how crap british trenches (blue) were compared to German ones.

Iirc the idea was once they were in retreat the germans built huge fancy trench systems (even including concrete and drainage at times)to hold.

While the british refused to improve the trenches as they were "advancing" so they wanted to motivate the troops to go forward

But 'Harry Potter' isn't based on a real seismic 20th century event: you can't argue the verisimilitude of a private school for teen sorcerers.
Witches do exist. Wicca is a recognised faith

But it was made up in the 50s not sure that counts as real

Although I suppose the kkk and masons have grand wizards don't they?

@user1471565182

Northern France and Belgium the farmers built a huge drainage system with ravines, dykes and whatnot. Thats one of the reasons it got so muddy, shelling completely destroyed the drainage system that had been there for 100s of years. It was actually filmed on the Tees though.

The ravine in the film is a deep narrow valley worn by the river. I haven't seen anything like that in that part of France.

My annoyance with 1917 was how incredibly healthy that baby in the basement looked. We were supposed to believe they were starving, and yet baby was lovely and chubby

Yeah they really should have put it on a crash diet for a few months. Or got a sickly skinny one. With some sores and shit.

It didn't occur to me to find the mission unbelievable because I didn't know that much about how messages were delivered before I saw it. From some of the answers on here, it sounds as if it was quite authentic.

I found the scenes with the woman less believable - yes, OK, there might have been a few civilians hiding out in the ruins, but for him to meet those specific two people, and to have exactly what they needed, felt a bit too neat and symbolic.

I think my favourite thing about that film (which could only happen the first time you see it, and only if you haven't read the reviews, which I hadn't) was the big switch less than halfway through.

BIG SPOILERS IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN IT

I thought the shorter one, whose brother it was, was going to be the hero, and his mate was the expendable one - specifically that he was going to die from some horrible infection because he put his injured hand in a dead body.

going to die from some horrible infection because he put his injured hand in a dead body.

Same, I honestly thought that was going to be a pivotal plot builder. Even just from the moment of injuring himself in such a insignificant way I thought that would be his downfall, like James mcavoy in Atonement!

Theres actually a British cemetary built in one of the ravines in northern France-

www.cwgc.org/visit-us/find-cemeteries-memorials/cemetery-details/61804/

Thats about it Sinful, when the Schlieffen plan failed in the west the germans decided to get the good, drained high land and sit on their arses for 4 years and try win in the east instead. I think for the british it was a bit more about wanting to travel light rather than dragging along barbershops and concrete bunkers (as the germans had in their systems) along in the attack.
Try and find The Somme-From Both Sides of the Wire on iplayer if you can. Probably the best history series the BBC has ever made- it explains the changes that went on into 1917

Theres this really famous photo of British soldiers in a ravine/riverbank which was part of the german defences in northern france as well

Some of them you can see are wearing life jackets they nicked on the way across to france on channel ferries- they used them to swim across the river to attack the hindenburg line. The same group of attacks that killed Wilfred Owen while he was crossing water

Blimey. Next you’ll be saying The Crown’s not accurate either..

[quote Leaannb]@Plonque...Do you jave the time period mixed up? Wilhelm the Second wasn't that bad.[/quote]
Are you kidding? He blamed the fact that he had to abdicate largely on the Jews and said they were a "nuisance that humanity must get rid of some way or other. I believe the best thing would be gas!"

Yeah he was a big fan of Hitler as well and kept pathetically sending him messages wanting to be stuck back on the throne as a puppet under him.