10 Most Immersive Movies Ever
5. 1917
Movies that are filmed in one continuous shot - or movies that edited to look like one continuous shot - are nothing new. They date back as far as Alfred Hitchcock's 1948 thriller Rope, and more recently, the likes of Russian Ark and Birdman.
But it's never been done in a big-budget war epic, and it's arguably never been done this well, full-stop. Sam Mendes' Oscar frontrunner is a remarkable technical achievement, utilising one continuous shot to take viewers on a ride through the mud, the gunshots, the explosions, and the deafening noise of World War I.
It's an intimate and visceral style that places you firmly in the trenches, and because Mendes never has to cut away, we're able to absorb so many more tiny details that really help bring the horror of the situation to life: the camera may pass by a bleeding man on a stretcher, or zone in on the dirty boots and soaking wet trousers of a brave young soldier crawling through a barren field of rotting corpses and rats.
Mendes also wisely avoids his continuous take feeling like a gimmick - it's not like the camera goes through a keyhole, or spins around the battlefield in a Zack Snyder slo-mo circle - making the movie feel very grounded, and the violence brutal and raw.
Although we can't possibly begin to understand how horrific the war must've been to experience first-hand, 1917 is the closest a film has come to making you feel like you're right there in no man's land with the valiant soldiers of the time.