So this is a movie about the events on a single day in WW1, a war which, in America, we don't tend to think about that much. It follows two soldiers chosen for a serious mission - that of telling a front-line battalion that the attack they are planning on the "retreating" German army is actually a trap. There's the added spice of the man who got chosen for the job being told by the general that his brother is in the ill-fated unit, so if he doesn't make it to them on time, his brother will die as well.

*That* is a dramatic incentive!

The two experienced soldiers have to cross from their side of the trenches across a (hopefully) abandoned German position to reach another group of British soldiers up ahead and to the side without getting killed in the process. The camera follows them closely, and the whole movie seems to be in a firstish person perspective, which makes everything feel very tangible. When the movie's over, you realize that they didn't really show you a bigger picture of the war, which was probably by design. The movie focuses on these soldiers' experiences, what they know about what's going on (not much) and what they didn't (most things). It's very effective in conveying their perspective.

Also, the scenery and sets are amazing. They show the men walking through reinforced trench after reinforced trench, and you can't help marvel at how much human labor the soldiers had to expend in building them. It also reinforced how effective poison gases would be in that environment with the heavier than air gas sinking from wherever on the field in to the trenches where the soldiers were. (There's no poison gas in the movie, btw, the thought of that has always been particularly repugnant to me). Anyway, he also shows what the Germans did in retreat, cutting down trees, killing livestock so they couldn't be eaten by the other side, spiking their guns so *they* couldn't be used, etc. Very practical people, the Germans. Hee hee, there are also some hokey coincidences like one of the soldiers finding a pail of fresh milk on an abandoned farm (I really thought it was poisoned - another trap left by the Germans - but it wasn't) and then finding a baby in need of milk. O.k., so even though it's hokey, it was nice and something you don't mind buying into.

He also shows the horrors of war without being Mel Gibson about it, so you get the idea without being overwhelmed with it. In fact, in a way the horrors of the surroundings seemed almost distant in comparison to the coverage of the death of a soldier and a friend, which is probably how it really is - and it was portrayed well.

Overall, if I had to describe the movie in one word it would be "unrelenting". It puts pressure on you in the beginning of the film, and doesn't stop. And that's good to show what the soldiers probably really felt, on this particular day. OTOH, it would have been nice to break it up a bit to get a bigger picture of what was going on in the soldiers' lives, or with the war overall, but again, I don't think that was the intent. In any event, the movie was well worth seeing.