Best film ever!

i have seen it once and i like it

Thank you for taking the time to share your incredible insight into this film. One can only imagine that days spent finding just the exact right words. I wait with bated breath for your next review.

"Gentlemen you can't fight in here!" "This is the war room!" Dr. Strangelove

It was almost good for me but not quite. It had several good moments but a lot of it was random, and the ending didn't feel like a real ending. The dad came back to join them but when he got their, it didn't feel like much was said and done, aside from the two getting engaged.

It was a series of random moments, some of them good, some ok and not going much anywhere or not having anything to do with much.

I enjoyed it very much. Nothing wrong with a bit of nostalgia. It was a very difficult time.

I agree - the ending of this film is simply one of the most joyous pieces of cinema that I have seen.

I wouldn't for a moment describe this as the best film ever. Come to think of it, I probably wouldn't describe any film in that way, because I'm not really sure of the value of doing so. However, if I had to take eight DVDs to a desert island, this would top my list.

I first saw it at the cinema with my girlfriend (now wife of twenty-five years), and loved it then. When my children bought it for me on DVD, I cried just knowing I was going to watch it again. Since then it has become a family favourite, and is one film above any other that I can watch repeatedly. In fact, I seem to enjoy it more with each viewing.

It's true that it does not have a strong plot, but it does have strong characters and themes and beautiful photography. There are so many memorable moments, of which the "Thank you Adolf!" moment at the end of the film is a prime example. However, possibly my favourite moment comes near the beginning of the film when the Dad is about to leave to go to war when he feels compelled to pass on some manly advice to Billy his son, who is "not quite old enough, but...it's the googly". This is a line that is probably entirely meaningless to anyone outside the cricket-playing nations, but is one more than any other that serves to define the quintessential Englishness of this beautiful film.

I'm also very keen on Excalibur, also by John Boorman, and love the cross-references that occur in Hope and Glory - at the start, Billy is playing with some toys in the grass imagining an encounter between Merlin and some mediaeval knights, and in the Christmas Dinner scene, following the stammering King's Speech on the wireless, Clive says to Billy, "The land and the King are one, my son", which is of course also the message of the Holy Grail in Excalibur. Probably more for the amusement of the Director than to add much the film itself, but I love it anyway, and make sure I notice it every time.

I think this film is a real one-of-a-kind, and my life has been hugely enriched by happening to encounter it.