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All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)

Posted By: Someonelse
All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)

All Quiet on the Western Front (1930, Restored)
DVD9 | ISO | NTSC 4:3 (720x480) | HQ Scans (Cover, DVD) -> 2,55 Mb | 02:13:35 | 7,71 Gb
A Film by Lewis Milestone
Audio: English AC3 2.0 @ 192 Kbps | Subtitles: English SDH, French | Black & White
Genre: Action, Drama, War | Won 2 Oscars + 3 wins | USA

One of the most powerful anti-war statements ever put on film, this gut-wrenching story concerns a group of friends who join the Army during World War I and are assigned to the Western Front, where their fiery patriotism is quickly turned to horror and misery by the harsh realities of combat. Director Lewis Milestone pioneered the use of the sweeping crane shot to capture a ghastly battlefield panorama of death and mud, and the cast, led by Lew Ayres, is terrific. It's hard to pick a favorite scene, but the finale, as Ayres stretches from his trench to catch a butterfly, is one of the most devastating sequences of the decade. The film won Oscars for Best Picture and for Milestone's direction – and trivia buffs should note that the actors were coached by future luminary George Cukor, while Ayres became a conscientious objector in World War II. The Road Back (1937) followed, and the film was remade for television in 1979.

IMDB - Top 250 #212
DVDbeaver

All Quiet on the Western Front is an anti-war message film, unusual because it is told from the viewpoint of German soldiers fighting in World War I. The film has a stark, unrelenting look to its battleground sequences, and as such it represented an increased level of realism in Hollywood films. The film tends to look dated now, and the performances are sometimes very showy and theatrical. And, as can occur with message films, there is occasional descent into maudlin peachiness. However, at its best, All Quiet on the Western Front contains numerous striking and memorable moments – none more so than the final scene of a doomed soldier's reaching for a butterfly.
Richard Gilliam, Rovi

All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)

The film is emotionally draining, and so realistic that it will be forever etched in the mind of any viewer. Milestone's direction is frequently inspired, most notably during the battle scenes. In one such scene, the camera serves as a kind of machine gun, shooting down the oncoming troops as it glides along the trenches. Universal spared no expense during production, converting more than 20 acres of a large California ranch into battlefields occupied by more than 2,000 ex-servicemen extras. After its initial release, some foreign countries refused to run the film. Poland banned it for being pro-German, while the Nazis labeled it anti-German. Joseph Goebbels, later propaganda minister, publicly denounced the film.
Excerpt from TV Guide
All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)

Still the greatest pacifist film ever made.

It is the outbreak of a world war (a sad irony that even at the time, it was probably made in the belief that another war like it would never be seen) and in Germany a group of young classmates decide they're going to abandon their studies, serve their country and sign up, including Paul (Lew Ayres) and Kemmerich (Ben Alexander), where they fall under the command of grizzled Katczinsky (Louis Wolheim). Together, they train, learn to fight and are thrown into battle where they learn what the true nature of battle truly is.

All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)

So, yeah, some of this has dated badly. The jump cuts between the wildly enthusiastic faces of the young men in the class room, deciding to join up, will probably elicit sniggers nowadays and the fact that all these Germans are played by Americans, with no attempt to hide their accents (there are some really "Gosh, darn it!" ones in there, too) doesn't help either.

All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)

But these are ultimately irrelevant, because All Quiet On The Western Front is a film that all following war films still tip their hats to, and what's important is that the vast majority of the film still feels as vibrant and hard-hitting as it was undoubtedly meant to at the time of release. It doesn't really have an overriding narrative, as it's more of a reportage with the film following the day-to-day lives of the soldiers trying to survive, although it does eventually come full circle with one character returning to the classroom to inspire a new group of potential soldiers, only finding nothing but emptiness and bitter truths to offer them instead.

All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)

Milestone uses the loose journey of the soldiers to throw in many biting details of war and the dehumanisation that it causes - remember, this is a film that invented some of these cliches. We have trenches and soldiers suddenly invaded by a flood of rats, shell-shocked survivors pleading to dead bodies for forgiveness and, most shockingly of all, an explosion that clears to leave the briefest glimpse of a pair of dismembered hands grimly hanging onto a barbed wire fence.

All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)

I can't speak for the remake, but this has the feel of a film that hangs out with his characters, even when the camera doesn't show it. The characters, who while fairly generic, change from youths bursting with energy, to pallid, withdrawn shadows of themselves. The dirt of the mud lives under their fingernails and their physical and mental exhaustion is palpable. This is why scenes that stick out as being representative of, shall we say, less refined film and acting techniques of the day, don't really matter. The film has an aching and weary power that only truly great war films achieve.

All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)

Milestone's direction is vivid and dynamic, particularly in the battle scenes. The action sweeps from one end of the field to the other, with the Germans advancing, beating a retreat and then launching counter-attacks. It's chaotic, violent, punishing, but splendidly realised throughout. It's a surprisingly cynical and bitter film, too. Hospitals aren't just for recuperation, they're a home for thieves as well, stealing from brothers-in-arms. And an argument with an army chef is as cutting and ridiculous as anything to be found in MASH or Catch-22.

All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)

For my money, the best anti-war statement when it comes to World War One, is still the final episode of Blackadder Goes Forth, as sometimes farce is the only way to make sense of the tragic lunacy of it all. But All Quiet On The Western Front and that iconic image of the hand stretching out to the butterfly, still says it better than any Hollywood film ever has since.
MP Bartley, eFilmCritic
All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)

This is the Cinema Classics release which features the restored Library of Congres version.
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