They Shall Not Grow Old

"Feeling heavily enlightened and emotionally shattered during Sir Peter Jackson's They Shall Not Grow Old, I grew to realise a potential double meaning behind the film's title. It's a line from Robert Laurence Binyon's poem For the Fallen which, when used here, reflects the colossal restoration and colouring efforts put in place to house the memories of those who gave their lives to The Great War. It's also a stark reminder of the youth that was robbed of these men."

"Perhaps surprisingly, with a blockbuster merchant at the helm, little here is rousing or sentimental; the film's mordant intimacy of perspective endures as stoically as the speakers themselves."

"It is an encounter with the past that feels exhilaratingly present-tense."

"They Shall Not Grow Old, should be lauded ... for not only making history come alive again, but providing a potential template and touchstone for future film-makers and storytellers wanting to look back."

"You might have thought there was nothing new to say about the First World War but Peter Jackson's astonishing and revelatory new feature documentary comes at the subject in a way no previous film, book or play has ever done."

"Nothing feels too sentimentalised or sanitised, but nor is it sensationalised for extra shock value either. These are the true accounts of survivors, after all, mostly talking decades after the events and grateful to be alive."

"...unbearably poignant."

"An emotionally rich documentary that wows both as a technical achievement and an unforgettable portrait of a terrible period of 20th century history."