One of the most honest war films ever made

Rating: 10/10 (4 September 2009)

This movie is based on the book you read in High School. Yeah... I didn't either. But the film is definitely worth watching. It's hard to believe it was made in 1930 - for several reasons. For one thing, the war itself couldn't have been over for a decade yet when they started making it. That alone is impressive. Furthermore, sound hadn't even been in film for very long, and most war films were more fantasy than reality back then... but not 'All Quiet on the Western Front'. No, this film is a brutally honest portrayal of war. And, despite it's age, seems to ring true today as well. It's a reminder that despite all our technological advances, for the front line infantry, war really hasn't changed much for nearly a century. Some call it an anti-war movie, perhaps it is, but not in the blatant way of, say, Renoir's "Le Grande Illusion". Mostly it's just best described as honest.