4 ms·

One random omission from the no man's lands in both Wonder Woman and this blog: dead bodies. The mortality rates for frontal assaults were incredibly high, and

One random omission from the no man's lands in both Wonder Woman and this blog: dead bodies. The mortality rates for frontal assaults were incredibly high, and there was no way to collect the bodies of the dead, so the corpses would just rot and in a year or two you'd have skeletons all over the place.

inglor_cz 5y ago
That was shown pretty realistically in the "1917" movie.
- wffurr 5y ago
  And in the Tolkien movie.
- cassepipe 5y ago
  I think that this movie showed, besides showing the germans as barbaric/unloyal (they rescue a german pilot that ends stabbing one of them) missed a lot of what made WWI, WWI. The images are beautiful but WWI seems to only provide a backdrop for a save-private-ryan story. I recommend the not very well known Kubrick's Paths of Glory (with Kirk Douglas!) instead
  - billfruit 5y ago
    Yes, also the single take gimmick in "1917" was needlessly restrictive. It sort of prevented the camera from freely looking at the scene, by the need to have the principal character always in view. Also we are still waiting for a reasonable movie treatments of the Russian/Austrian/Italian/Turkish fronts in WWI. John Buchanan's "Mr Standfast" would make a fine WW1 film if ever filmed.
    - cassepipe 5y ago
      You are right I forgot about that. The movie really feels like a video game. Nice graphics and always centered on your character. Which I suspect was intended. It's a pity. Would work well for horror movies I guess.
- billfruit 5y ago
  Perhaps a better description of the same can be found in 'Goodbye to All That'. I don't have a copy at hand, but I remember it having detailed description of the trenches.
  - cafard 5y ago
    For a handy view of the literature generally, Paul Fussell's The Great War and Modern Memory is worth a look.
h2odragon 5y ago
"the corpses would just rot" ... glosses over a lot. Not objecting, but I can't help dwell on the thought some. Imagine moving several day old roadkill. Some of us have done that. Imagine acres of that churned up with wire etc. NFI how many soldiers fell to illness but it seems a miracle to my modern sensibilities that any could fight or do anything else.

inglor_cz 5y ago

That was shown pretty realistically in the "1917" movie.

wffurr 5y ago
And in the Tolkien movie.
cassepipe 5y ago
I think that this movie showed, besides showing the germans as barbaric/unloyal (they rescue a german pilot that ends stabbing one of them) missed a lot of what made WWI, WWI. The images are beautiful but WWI seems to only provide a backdrop for a save-private-ryan story. I recommend the not very well known Kubrick's Paths of Glory (with Kirk Douglas!) instead
- billfruit 5y ago
  Yes, also the single take gimmick in "1917" was needlessly restrictive. It sort of prevented the camera from freely looking at the scene, by the need to have the principal character always in view. Also we are still waiting for a reasonable movie treatments of the Russian/Austrian/Italian/Turkish fronts in WWI. John Buchanan's "Mr Standfast" would make a fine WW1 film if ever filmed.
  - cassepipe 5y ago
    You are right I forgot about that. The movie really feels like a video game. Nice graphics and always centered on your character. Which I suspect was intended. It's a pity. Would work well for horror movies I guess.
billfruit 5y ago
Perhaps a better description of the same can be found in 'Goodbye to All That'. I don't have a copy at hand, but I remember it having detailed description of the trenches.
- cafard 5y ago
  For a handy view of the literature generally, Paul Fussell's The Great War and Modern Memory is worth a look.

h2odragon 5y ago

"the corpses would just rot" ... glosses over a lot. Not objecting, but I can't help dwell on the thought some. Imagine moving several day old roadkill. Some of us have done that. Imagine acres of that churned up with wire etc. NFI how many soldiers fell to illness but it seems a miracle to my modern sensibilities that any could fight or do anything else.