• Unrated, 2 hr. 14 min.
  • Drama, Classics
  • Directed By:
    Lewis Milestone
    In Theaters:
    Aug 24, 1930 Wide
    On DVD:
    Jan 5, 1999
  • MCA Universal Home Video

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All Quiet on the Western Front Reviews

Page 1 of 2
Rob Humanick
Slant Magazine

The rawness of the audio eradicates any lingering notion that war is romantic or exciting, and at times suggests the very battered eardrums of those engaged in combat.

Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | Comment | Original Score: 4/4

May 25, 2012
Stephen Garrett
Time Out New York

The despair-and the artistry-is breathtaking.

Full Review Source: Time Out New York | Comment | Original Score: 5/5

May 22, 2012
Kevin Carr
7M Pictures

Took an opportunity to question warfare and its civility long before the war protest film became popular in the 70s. It's dated, obviously, but still powerful.

Full Review Source: 7M Pictures | Comment | Original Score: 4/5

February 27, 2012
Donald J. Levit
ReelTalk Movie Reviews

A movie of timeless relevance and effects. Lew Ayres would never again equal his performance in this film version of the well-known anti-war novel.

Full Review Source: ReelTalk Movie Reviews | Comment

August 1, 2010

TIME Magazine
Top Critic IconTop Critic

From such grisly materials the popular cinema is rarely drawn. The film is monumental in the courage that risked its manufacture.

Full Review Source: TIME Magazine | Comment

February 17, 2009
Ian Nathan
Empire Magazine

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

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | Comment | Original Score: 5/5

October 16, 2007

Film4

A a film that remains one of the most powerful screen comments on the horrors of war.

Full Review Source: Film4 | Comment

October 16, 2007
Variety Staff
Variety
Top Critic IconTop Critic

A harrowing, gruesome, morbid tale of war.

Full Review Source: Variety | Comment

October 16, 2007
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Deserves its reputation as a classic.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | Comment

October 16, 2007
Rob Humanick
House Next Door

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 Source: House Next Door | Comment

July 3, 2007
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

The film made Ayres a star.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | Comment | Original Score: A

March 22, 2007
Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

...a bitter indictment of the insulated powers that induce naive young men to kill one another.

Full Review Source: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette | Comment | Original Score: 94/100

February 9, 2007
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]

An ambitious epic of tremendous sweep and scope.

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | Comment | Original Score: 4/5

February 4, 2007
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

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 Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | Comment | Original Score: A-

December 25, 2006
Wesley Lovell
Oscar Guy

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 Source: Oscar Guy | Comment | Original Score: 4/4

October 5, 2006
Geoff Andrew
Time Out

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 Source: Time Out | Comment

June 24, 2006
Christopher Null
Filmcritic.com

Heavy stuff, especially for 1930.

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | Comment | Original Score: 4/5

August 25, 2005
Steve Crum
Kansas City Kansan

Classic early talkie is still anti-war effective.

Comment | Original Score: 5/5

June 2, 2005
Clint Morris
Moviehole

A Classic and then some

Comment | Original Score: 4/5

May 12, 2005
Daniel Eagan
Film Journal International

Classic anti-war drama

Comment | Original Score: 5/5

August 10, 2004
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