A marvelous film about the STUPIDIST war in history with a dynamic performance by Douglas

Rating: 10/10 (15 November 2006)

This is a wonderful film and for those who are looking to see a Stanley Kubrick film that the average person can relate to, this is a great initiation to the director's work. Some of his films are a bit hard to understand or frankly make my head hurt (2001 is a great example), but this one is much more straight-forward and conventional than most of his other films while still being a great film.
The movie is based on a real incident in WWI. When a squad of French soldiers were ordered "over the top" (i.e., to crawl out of the trenches and charge across the battlefield while being shot down like dogs--the standard way of fighting on the Western Front), the men were so sick of the pointless fighting that they refused. As a result, the officers (who are shown sitting many miles behind the lines sipping sherry and living a life of opulence) order that some soldiers randomly be taken out of the group to be executed as an example to the others! The complete unfairness of the punishment, the futility of the war and the fact that the leaders were a group of soul-less fiends were the focus of this intensely interesting film.
The lead was played by Kirk Douglas. His job was to defend these poor men, but it soon becomes obvious that the trial is a show trial--the men are doomed from the outset. In some films, Douglas' style of acting is not very appropriate, but his bigger than life acting style and the way he ultimately explodes at his superiors is a wonderful addition to the film. He single-handedly acts like the conscience of the nation--something that was clearly lacking. A wonderful and intense performance on his part--perhaps only surpassed by his lead in the film LUST FOR LIFE.
This is a wonderful film about this war--a wonderful film to be seen along with ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT. Any true fan of film should see this movie.