Peter Jackson’s new documentary, “They Shall Not Grow Old” is an exciting technological achievement which brings to life The Great War (World War I). Explore more below.

The Academy Award-winner Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Rings trilogy) presents the Great War as you have never seen it before!

This unique film brings into high definition the human face of the First World War, by scanning masses of footage to restore old film and improve it dramatically with the help of technology.

Cutting-edge techniques

Click to enlarge the images below

The technology helped to restore original archival footage which is more than a 100-years old.

As stated on the movie page: “Jackson and his team have used cutting edge techniques to make the images of a hundred years ago appear as if they were shot yesterday. The transformation from black and white footage to colorized footage can be seen throughout the film revealing never before seen details”

“The transformation from black and white footage to colorized footage can be seen throughout the film revealing never before seen details”

Grain, color, sharpness and movement were improved by special effects artists.

Furthermore, Jackson says that the frame speed was ramped to 24 FPS and the new images were generated and implemented by computer in order to elevate realism.

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Implementing the real voices

Jackson used the voices of the men involved, in order that the film will explore the reality of war on the front line; their attitudes to the conflict; how they ate; slept and formed friendships, as well what their lives were like away from the trenches during their periods of downtime.

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All that parameter were amplified by advanced sound design techniques.

Look at the official trailer below:

Final thoughts

In my opinion we should embrace projects like this, which bring to life (very) old footage so we can enjoy them on the big screen.

Have you watch the film? Let’s know what you think of Peter Jackson’s work.