Good but a classic?

Rating: 8/10 (25 October 1999)

Like some other people have mentioned, why is this a classic. It's well directed, has two very good performances (Gabin and von Stroheim), but it was kind of boring, seeming much longer than it was, and the anti war message was obvious and done with sledge hammer subtlety. Maybe back in the late 1930s this was considered powerful, but it hasn't aged well with time. Also we've had other anti war films that are much better. In fact "All Quiet on the Western Front" came out in 1931, was also about World War 1 and is twenty times better than this! Worth seeing, but don't go out of your way.