dockbillin-2
2014 is the centenary of the "war to end all wars", as they called it then - the war to which young men were pushed into joining, cheered on by civilians at the home front who had not the faintest idea what the fighting involved. In this film,we see the reality - trenches full of glutinous mud, corpses stuck in the mud, the wounded eaten alive by rats; death in all forms - death by shell and bullet,by spiked club (they really did use those for trench raiding parties), death by bayonet and barbed wire.The Good War it wasn't.This is an excellent movie, not least because it doesn't pull its punches. The basic premise - which isn't a spoiler to give away - is improbable, but then all ghost tales are. But the acting is good, the atmosphere is *excellent*, and the pace never, ever, lets up. One finds oneself grateful that it isn't a Hollywood film, though - there are none of the tired tropes of American filmdom, stock characters, predictable ending, and the rest of it.This isn't a pretty film, but then it doesn't pretend to be; and its subject, the brutal war in which the 19th Century gave way to the modern era, is anything but pretty.In the making, though not in the subject matter, this scores higher than the 1979 version of All Quiet On The Western Front, and higher than A Very Long Engagement. If they ever get round to remaking All Quiet, with modern cinematography, I'd be interested in seeing how it stacks up to this. Highly recommended.
hobgoblinlol
I simply love this movie. It has great suspense and set up is just great along with the amazing atmosphere. I really love war horror movies and this may be one of the best of it's genre. The acting is good, story-line is decent and character development is nice. And the movie also has pretty good cast in my opinion.The Bunker and Deathwatch are alike and i think they are both great, underrated films. I enjoyed them both and recommend them. I did notice some humor in the movie and another good touch when you see character slowly lose it and go crazy. 7/10
udoricht
One of the movies again that combines many different genres - supernatural horror, mystery, thriller,war etc. Maybe this is the main problem with this movie 'cause it made pretty mess. Who's killing those soldiers? Some kind of invisible force or what? It's confusing. It has scary moments but nothing else. The plot could've been better. It seemed similar to another movie - "The bunker". Both have similar concepts except the plot period. "Deathwatch" is placed in first world war. But it doesn't matter. Both movies have similar flaws - average plot, acting, special effects and directing and no twist. Both movies are law budget so if you don't have great expectations to watch it maybe you won't be very disappointed.
defhead359
As a film for serious film watchers, the 5.9 score on IMDb does not do it justice. This undeserved low rating just shows me how many people should have chosen Jennifer's Body rather than Deathwatch when searching through the Horror section of their local or online movie rental store. WWI was characterized as a necessary war with meaningless casualties- countless bodies, muddy trenches, rats and insects everywhere- and this movie portrays these details to perfection. The only detail this film does not and cannot transfer over from the disasters of battle is the smell, yet the viewer can almost smell the rotting odors for the characters in the story. I judge a film overall by its cinematography, characters, setting, plot, and especially underlying themes. And this film's underlying themes are impeccably deep. So anyone who did not enjoy this film, or forgot it the moment the credits rolled, should stick to Hollywood and prime-time TV.Stranded in a deserted German purgatorial trench, a British squad is ordered to hold the area until reinforcements arrive. Upon finding the trench the soldiers find three Nazis, kill two and hold the remaining one soldiers captive. Every soldier is different in some way: one, a natural leader; the leader, a by-the-book soldier; another, a killer; a religious devout, a few normal soldiers, and finally a 16 year-old brown-nosed idealist. All are put to the test defending the trench, dealing with the POW Nazi, taking the orders of the capt, and maintaining their poise in a dismal situation. By the end of the film, the audience finds out how almost no soldier in war can sustain their moral integrity for long. Even the religious devout loses faith by the end. The film shows how most soldiers are committing to evil the moment they sign up for the military; how warfare is still a means of murder, though it may be for the patriotic cause of one's country; and how when under duress one must maintain their own path of morality and value to salvation, whether or not they survive or die.
AD
