how realistic a portrayal do you think the film gives the war and of the people fighting in it

Reviews for the film were favorable, with many praising the impressive visuals and awe-inspiring storytelling, although some suggested that the film was underwhelming. Peter Travers, for Rolling Stone, praised the visual effects as well as the acting, writing, "Whether running past soldiers storming the battlefield or getting stopped in his tracks by a voice singing the haunting “Wayfaring Stranger,” Schofield stays determined to complete his mission. And the burning intensity of MacKay’s face, reflecting the ferocity and futility of war, leaves an indelible mark. His fervor, coupled with the creative passion that Mendes infuses in every frame, makes 1917 impossible to shake." Manohla Dargis of The New York Times felt differently, writing about the historical revisionism of the film: "None of those complications and next to no history, though, have made it into 1917, a carefully organized and sanitized war picture from Sam Mendes that turns one of the most catastrophic episodes in modern times into an exercise in preening showmanship."