Superb!

Rating: 9/10 (26 February 2004)

This film is everything that most of the reviewers have said...and then some. I believe it to be among the greatest war films ever made. Don't be fooled, this is not a war movie, but an anti-war movie. It's about the destruction of both life and innocence, the magnificence and futility of war. In the next war, Gen. George S. Patton, US Army was quoted as saying, "Compared to war, all other forms of human endeavor pale to insignificance". And he was right - man pours more time, effort and money into war than any other pursuit. When the soldiers on both sides of World War I marched off to war, some even called it "a lovely little war". When it stalled into a stalemate that resulted in the slaughter of millions of people, it was no longer lovely. This film follows some German soldiers through from enlistment till the end. There is a great deal of emotion in this film and it comes through to the viewer. There was a fine remake of this film starring Richard Thomas and Ernest Borgnine, but it pales next to this one. This is truly one of the epic best films of all time. Watch this one, then the remake. Both are good.