Journey's End (2018)

Absolutely brilliant

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian gave the film 4 stars out of 5, calling it "expertly cast and really well acted: forthright, powerful, heartfelt." I cannot agree more with that. Journey's End is a powerful depiction of what all bleakness, rudeness, booze, pain, suffering, trauma, shock, death, blood, vomit, sweat and mud are all about - they are all elements of brutal, merciless, sad, sick, dirty, even filthy, muddy, very crual and very shocking war. WWI is never forgotten due to such awesome yet deeply tragic movies, so this one does its job well. A stellar cast of Asa Butterfield - Second Lieutenant Raleigh, Sam Claflin - Captain Stanhope, Paul Bettany - Lieutenant Osborne, Tom Sturridge - Second Lieutenant Hibbert, Toby Jones - Private Mason, Stephen Graham - Second Lieutenant Trotter, Robert Glenister - The Colonel - among others - is a huge asset here, as all these very British actors show how unberable and awful war was. This deep, thick, fat, gurgling mud is omnipresent here, and this is the very symbol of that war - trenches, death, poor food, poor health, shock, traumas, alcoholism, endless waiting, and then - sudden, bleeding, vomiting war. The movie is a must, but be warned - this is a very depressing one

From the opening till close I forgot about everything else and was captured by the perfect presentation of what would be my favorite war I have seen for quite a while.Why this is not screening with the same amount of attention as other lesser war films that show a more comedic approach, this film is detailed and dark yet still maintaining a sense of innocence to capture even the most anti War film viewer. Worthy of 10 stars I could watch a season of this for sure! Hint HintWish I could have seen more from Stephen Graham (Trotter) however and that is why only 9 stars. He was why I watched the film in the first place but although glad he made me find such a beautiful film I definitely wished for more screen time for Trotter!

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.

For those who think The Great War (or WWI) is out of contact, that those involved are all gone as are many of their children, think again. It's now 100 years since it ended but my Grandfather fought in it & I'm only in my late 30s.He died when I was three but I do have two vague memories of him. One where he was lifting me up & the other where I was stood holding onto his leg as he sat. The latter of these two memories is more vivid because I recall feeling a sunken hole in his leg. Years later I found out that this hole was due to an injury he sustained during the war - he was blown up. He survived but his commanding officer (who was stood next to him) died.My grandfather lay unattended for over a day. When he was eventually found he was close to death. Two German POWs carried the stretcher that took him to safety with my Grandfather occasionally having to raise his arm to show life in order to prevent them dumping him onto a corpse pile.After the war he became a miner & it was this profession that had its hands on his eventual death (lungs). This film concentrates on the officer-class (as do the majority of films about The Great War). Nevertheless, I understand this, for there is no Hollywood glamour in being working class rank & file, but, it was the rank & file who truly bore the brunt of trench warfare & I wish their stories were truthfully told - It is no coincidence that a huge surge in the Labour/socialist movement followed WWI. Working class bitterness towards the elite classes after this war was warranted & it's a disgrace that contemporary upper class historians (Dan Snow) attempt to dilute elite class responsibility for the horrors of WWI. The actors in this film do a good job. The story runs smoothly & is accessible. The actors