Sick Product of a Sick System

Just perfect...

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

There are basically three aspects of this film to be commented upon. First is the film as a study of social class in early 20th century Britain. When it's in England, the film is set at Sandringham, the home of Queen Alexandra, the widow of Edward VII and mother of George V. The portrayal is of a very warm relationship (prim and proper certainly, but very sincere) between the servants on the estate (and especially Captain Beck, played by David Jason) and the royals. It wasn't a relationship of equals, certainly, but it certainly seemed more than a typical master- servant relationship as well. The film follows Beck's efforts to recruit a company from among the Sandringham servants to go overseas in 1915 during the Great War, and then follows their progress once sent to the Dardanelles to face the Turks. This was the second aspect of the film: as war story. There was some very realistic action scenes, and also a lot of pretty dry material, which probably sums up war and military life pretty well - times of great excitement and even terror followed by longer times of drudgery and monotony. Finally, the film deals with the mystery of the Sandringham regiment - which went off to battle and never returned, with no one knowing exactly what had happened to it, although the film offers a compelling (and probably accurate story) that most of the men were either killed in battle or were executed after being taken prisoner by the Turks. All three aspects of the story were fairly well told; the interspersing of the mystery and its solution toward the end seemed to interrupt the overall flow of the story a bit.The performances were quite good, especially Jason as the typical (or stereotypical?) "keep a stiff upper lip" British officer, and Maggie Smith's as Queen Alexandra, also trying to keep that upper lip stiff, but portrayed as caring very deeply about the Sandringham regiment and especially Beck, with whom she is described as having a very warm (but proper) relationship.This being as much about the role of social class as war, it's not your typical war movie, with sustained action and lots of battle scenes. It is, in fact, far from that. It's a very human movie, exploring the intricacies of individual lives and relationships. It's not explicit, but it seemed to me that there was a general point being made about the pointlessness of war and the human cost involved in war - both for the soldiers and those left behind.It's not a riveting movie. I would say that it accomplishes the purpose it set out for itself, which is more than a lot of movies are able to claim. (6/10)

Few screen depictions ever hammer home the blunt and pointless nature of the Great War, especially the futile Gallipoli Campaign. This much under-rated BBC film achieves just that, an historical tableau never matched since on the small screen.The cast contains the cream of British acting talent, including David Jason, Maggie Smith, David Troughton and Patrick Malahide. The story, in a nutshell, is that of the Sandringham Company, a territorial unit formed by Frank Beck, agent on the Sandringham Royal Estate for King George V and his mother Queen Alexandria. The Company is dispatched to Turkey and go down in legend as advancing into action whilst being enveloped in a cloud, rumoured to be the hand of God. Their fate is determined after their bodies are discovered several years later with bullet wounds to the skulls. They had, for the most part, been executed by the Turks after surrendering.The graphic nature of the conflict is commendably realised and the veneer of heroism and medals stripped when we see the horrors and cruelty of war in it's starkest form. The death of Captain Claude Howlett, the tortured Boer War veteran, is one of the most moving ever witnessed on film. Patrick Malahide once again displays his unique gift like few others are able to.This is certainly not for those who are used to the rather bloodless 'Gunga Din' depiction of warfare that has been made but if you desire a few hours of historical enlightenment and superb performances by some of the finest actors in the world, then this made for television film is the piece de resistance.

. . . this was a superb film. Oddly, I could not stop watching it.History lovers, war film lovers, and unexplained phenomena lovers will all be pleased.An entire company of soldiers (often called The Sandringham Men) mysteriously disappeared in the middle of a Turkish battlefield in 1915. Reports say the company was enveloped by a cloud shaped like a loaf of bread, that seemed to hover over them before floating down and covering them. The mysterious cloud then lifted into the sky and vanished . . . along with the entire Sandringham Company! Over the years, thousands of explanations have spread, including alien abduction. To this day, no "official" explanation has been given. Nor has any trace of The Sandringham Men ever been found.Now, this aside, the production quality of the film itself was spectacular! The cinematography, the music, the effects, all helped to drive this picture home. Everyone did a tremendous job in portraying their on-screen personas, making every scene believable.A great film, all around!My Grade: A

This is a richly textured story, filmed with the attention to detail that caused so many of us to plan our Sundays around "Masterpiece Theatre" starting with "Upstairs, Downstairs" and "Poldark", (Not to mention "I, Claudius", "The Duchess of Duke Street",...)In a film where the casting is uniformly superb, it is impossible to do everyone justice. As another commenter mentioned, David Jason and the always magnificent Maggie Smith remind us of a time when noble master and faithful servant were not cliches, but real people with pride, honor, and yes nobility on *both* sides. Additional shining performances from Ian McDiarmid as the vicar who stays home and Patrick Mallahide as the doctor who goes to war.I thought that "Johnny Got His Gun" (A+ book, B- movie) had given us the last word on WWI (or the 14-18 war as some call it.) I was wrong, and this film proves it.