WWI Documentary - They Shall Not Grow Old

[James Patten]

For those that haven't heard, there's a new documentary of the First World War "They Shall Not Grow Old".  The film has been colorized thanks to the computer processing power of Lord of the Rings movie fame Peter Jackson.  Film from those days is faster than today, so the computers added frames to films.  I just watched it on BBC Two and was duly impressed.  Commentary is provided via voice overs of interviews of WWI vets from the 1960s, I believe.

There is some footage of some of the trench railroads.  At least a minute's worth, although I can't tell you exactly how much because the feed froze at that time.

Parts are not for those who are squeamish, as you can imagine. 

[Marcel Levesque]

I received an excellent WW I narrow gauge video taken in France.  However, I did not see any Insta-track@ used in the making of this film.     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWla__n-_sA

[Wayne Laepple]

I saw this movie on Dec. 27, and it is indeed impressive, and powerful.  There are a couple of short scenes of the two-foot gauge railways, but they are secondary to the stories told by the men who were there and the visuals. When the film was over, and almost everyone had stayed for an extra 20 minutes or so to see how Peter Jackson and his team actually pulled it off. It was almost like leaving church or a funeral. The audience was very quiet -- almost no one talked -- until we had exited the theater into the lobby. If "They Shall Not Grow Old" comes out in general release, you owe it to yourself to see it.

[John McNamara]

I have seen it and was about to praise the special effects when I reminded myself that this was all the real thing recorded a century ago. The mud and blood were not recreations. An excellent movie and a technical tour de force.