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MOVIES / ON DVD / ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT
All Quiet on the Western Front

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All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)

97%
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90%
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97 %
Reviews Counted: 30 Fresh: 29  Rotten:1 Average Rating: 8.6/10
 
Consensus: Brilliant film lays bare the tragic foolishness at the heart of war. Director Lewis Milestone's brilliant anti-war polemic, headlined by an unforgettable performance from Lew Ayres, lays bare the tragic foolishness at the heart of war. more
 
Runtime: 2 hrs 12 mins
Synopsis:
Still widely regarded as the best war film ever made, director Lewis Milestone's adaptation of the Remarque WWI novel is clearly his masterpiece, a searing indictment of the insanity of war. Starring Lew Ayres as the young Paul Bauman, the film focuses on the fates of the boy and his... [More]
Still widely regarded as the best war film ever made, director Lewis Milestone's adaptation of the Remarque WWI novel is clearly his masterpiece, a searing indictment of the insanity of war. Starring Lew Ayres as the young Paul Bauman, the film focuses on the fates of the boy and his classmates, who have enlisted to fight in the German army during WWI. Still on fire with the patriotism instilled by their teacher, Kantorek (Arnold Lucy), they arrive for training, eager to face death. When they reach the front lines, the realize that the German troops have few supplies and no food. Sgt. Katczinsky (Louis Wolheim), briefs the recruits on how to avoid getting killed, but on the first night, one of them gets shot. The carnage of the battle shocks the boys, and some are driven mad. Day after day, the recruits huddle in the trenches, frightened, starving, and unable to gain ground, realizing that it is not glorious to die for one's fatherland. This powerfully affecting film is brilliantly directed and written, and generally well acted despite some dated elements. Milestone's magnificent crane and tracking shots of the battlefields surely owe something to the work of Karl Freund, arguably the finest cinematographer in film history. [Less]

Genre: Action/Adventure

Starring: Lew Ayres, Louis Wolheim, Russell Gleason, John Wray

Director: Lewis Milestone
Producer: Carl Laemmle
Composer: David Broekman

DVD Info

Release:

Feb 6, 2007

[DVD Details]

DVD Features:

  • Region 1
  • Snap Case
  • Full Frame - 1.33

Audio:

  • Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono - English
  • Subtitles - English (SDH), French - Optional

Additional Release Material:

  • Introduction
  • Trailer - Theatrical Trailer

Buy It On DVD

Reviews

 
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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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Ratings Image

Despite a little dating around the edges this is a truly superb example of its genre and a cinema classic.

Full Review | Comment
10/16/07 04:17 PM
Ian Nathan
Empire Magazine
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A a film that remains one of the most powerful screen comments on the horrors of war.

Full Review | Comment
10/16/07 04:17 PM
Channel 4 Film
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A harrowing, gruesome, morbid tale of war.

Full Review | Comment
10/16/07 04:13 PM
Variety Staff
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
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Deserves its reputation as a classic.

Full Review | Comment
10/16/07 04:12 PM
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
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The film's centerpiece battle runs only eight minutes, yet its hellfire feels twice as long as Saving Private Ryan's D-Day onslaught.

Full Review | Comment
07/03/07 11:41 AM
Rob Humanick
House Next Door
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The film made Ayres a star.

Full Review | Comment
03/22/07 01:35 PM
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews
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...a bitter indictment of the insulated powers that induce naive young men to kill one another.

Full Review | Comment
02/09/07 04:16 AM
Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
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An ambitious epic of tremendous sweep and scope.

Full Review | Comment
02/04/07 08:07 PM
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]
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This uncompromising drama makes a bleak statement of war fighting in trenches, stressing the inanity of WWI (or any war) for both sides; perhaps the most memorable moment is the one in which Lew Ayres reaches out for a butterfly to disastrous effect.

Full Review | Comment
12/25/06 03:55 PM
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com
Ratings Image

There are few war films that can match the brilliance of Lewis Milestone's anti-war classic. It's a feast for the ears with a passionate soul.

Full Review | Comment
10/05/06 06:57 AM
Wesley Lovell
Oscar Guy
Ratings Image

The film's strength now derives less from its admittedly powerful but highly simplistic utterances about war as waste, than from a generally excellent set of performances (Ayres especially) and an almost total reluctance to follow normal plot structure.

Full Review | Comment
06/24/06 04:14 AM
Geoff Andrew
Time Out
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Heavy stuff, especially for 1930.

Full Review | Comment
08/25/05 03:15 AM
Christopher Null
Filmcritic.com
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No review available.

| Comment
08/24/05 08:01 PM
Jake Euker
F5 (Wichita, KS)
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No review available.

| Comment
07/04/05 11:35 AM
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com
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Classic early talkie is still anti-war effective.

| Comment
06/02/05 05:45 AM
Steve Crum
Kansas City Kansan
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A Classic and then some

| Comment
05/12/05 12:27 AM
Clint Morris
Moviehole
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Classic anti-war drama

| Comment
08/10/04 04:14 PM
Daniel Eagan
Film Journal International
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No review available.

| Comment
05/23/04 03:24 AM
Andy Klein
Los Angeles CityBeat
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No review available.

| Comment
02/24/04 09:54 PM
Linda Cook
Quad City Times (Davenport, IA)
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The horrific immediacy of the battle scenes remains unsurpassed and even though the discussions on the purposes, causes and effects of war now seem laboured and stagy, they still have power and cogency.

Full Review | Comment
01/15/04 05:11 PM
Philip French
Observer [UK]
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Related Forums

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