All Quiet on the Western Front

barrymostSep 2019

4.5

This very dark, intense film about the horror and brutality of war focuses on a group of young German soldiers fighting at the front during WWI. It's brilliant, raw, and compellingly honest. Lew Ayers, only 20 years old at the time, does a very fine job. Based on Remarque's famous book, this is a classic, stunning piece of cinema, which earned Best Picture and Director Oscars. The ending is haunting and very disturbing, and it will stay with you long afterward. Would I recommend? Yes, but for more mature audiences who can really take it in.

FULL SPOILER-FREE REVIEW @ https://www.msbreviews.com/movie-reviews/all-quiet-on-the-western-front-spoiler-free-review "All Quiet on the Western Front is, by far, one of the best films of 2022! An emotionally powerful anti-war epic that portrays WWI in a cruel, merciless, disturbing, truly traumatic manner through the gradually more sensitive eyes of a German soldier. A two-and-a-half-hour tense, brutal, extremely captivating runtime, primarily due to one of the most astonishing cinematographies in recent years - Roger Deakins would be proud of James Friend's masterful work, which deserved the big screen treatment. Equally impactful score (Volker Bertelmann). Hypnotizing performances. I tend to avoid over-the-top reactions, but after observing countless lists with movies from the genre, it's challenging to find many that are superior to this brilliant adaptation by Edward Berger. One of the best war films of the CENTURY!" Rating: A