showing the futility of war

Rating: 10/10 (27 May 2008)

Lewis Milestone's anti-war masterpiece remains important as ever. Starting by portraying a bunch of young Germans learning how to be patriotic and go fight for their country, the movie shows how they go fight in WWI, and realize "Hey! Wait a minute! We're just shooting at them and they're just shooting at us." Only a few movies have shown war this directly, avoiding clichés about the characters' stories. This is a warts-and-all look at the horror that was WWI. The final scene reminds me of the end of "Coming Home", as the main character tells soldiers-to-be the truth about being in the middle of war, and what it does to people for the rest of their lives.
All in all, "All Quiet on the Western Front" is truly one of the best movies of all time. Kudos to Lew Ayres not only for starring in this movie, but also for becoming a conscientious objector in WWII.