"We live in the trenches out there. We fight. We try not to be killed, but sometimes we are. That's all. "

Rating: 9/10 (24 May 2005)

Well , this is a true masterpiece . I won't go much in details since there already 92 comments about it . I'll just express my views . I don't understand why many critics don't see it like a top movie and why they consider "Full Metal Jacket" or "The thin red line" so superior . I mean , I love those movies but considering this was made in 1930 I think it is more or at least equally important . I am actually astonished by the fact that a pacifist , high budget , movie could be done in those years . And what style , what poetry ! The battle scenes are very realistic and still enjoyable today : probably in 1930 they had a more shocking effect than Saving private Ryan's first 20 mins have in our days . This movie is technically amazing . Some of the lines are just unforgettable and incredibly sincere . Characters are real human beings: they cry during bombings , they steal things from dead friends , they fight for bread and women . It's so ahead of its time that it's often hard to believe it : most of the scenes here became war movies clichés . Even masterpieces like Apocalypse Now , Paths of glory and the ones I already mentioned stole a lot of ideas from "All is quiet on the western front". And there's some room for humour too , it's just perfect . War movies didn't take many steps forward after this . My personal beliefs in life are not the one of a true pacifist : it's not that I think that war is good it's just that I consider it as an inevitable aspect of human behavior . This is to say that I don't fully agree with the message behind the movie . Still , if I had to choose only one anti-war movie to show to someone I'd take this one . I give this 9 on 9 which is the best on my scale since I don't use 10 nor 1 . Only 21 movies on 1052 gets that mark on my vote history , and "All is quiet ... " got that mark on first vision which is something very very rare for me .