Johnny Got His Gun (1971)

Movies can be horrifying for many different reasons. They could display extreme violence, extreme sexual content, and many other frightening imagery. However, another effective way to terrify the viewer, which I just discovered while watching this movie, is putting the protagonist in a dire situation. The feeling of hopelessness that this movie provides can not be any better.

After a soldier fighting in WW1 named Joe Bonham is rendered limbless, blind, deaf, and mute due to being injured by an artillery shell attack, he ends up in a hospital where he periodically hallucinates and retreats into his memories as he learns to handle living in such a despairing way.

Part of the reason why this movie works so well is that Joe is completely powerless to the outside forces. If a doctor decides to kill him, he won't be able to do anything about it. If someone tries operating on him, he won't be able to stop them. This sense of hopelessness works very well, and the condition that he is in sort of amplifies this even more. The creative and promising plot line of the film makes a cause and effect reaction which helps the film work in other ways.

His flashbacks worked very well at helping me to develop a strong connection with him and other characters he was around. My favorite character in the film, by far, was his father. He did love his son like any other father would, but there were some scenes which made him look like a very nice man. He said how he really loved his fishing pole at a point in the movie. However, after Joe loses it while camping with him, he chooses not to get mad at him as that was their last trip together. This scene had a huge impact on me. Other scenes involve a tender and charming love scene with him and his girlfriend the day before he is shipped off to war. That scene echoes throughout the entire movie, and it often comes to mind when he faces times of despair. Another character that I liked a lot was Jesus Christ, who was in a few of his flashbacks. He doesn't have much advice to give to Joe as in real life, there isn't much that he can do.

The acting is pretty good. I thought that Timothy Bottoms (Joe Bonham) did a pretty good job as the lead role. His performance was pretty convincing. I've seen a lot of people say that he did a very bad job, and when I hear people say that, they often bring up his performance in the scene where the doctors are cutting his arms and legs off. I will admit that his performance in that scene wasn't that convincing. Looking back, however, that was only 1 scene out of the movie that I had an issue with. I feel like many people are overlooking that fact. If you think that his acting was bad all around, that's fine. However, if this scene is your only reference point, I will suggest re-thinking your opinion.

While Bottoms was good, I feel like a couple other actors were just as good, if not, better than him. Jason Robards as Joe's father gave an overall strong performance. Even though he wasn't in all that many of the scenes, he was pretty effective when he was in the movie. Also, Donald Sutherland as Jesus Christ had a nice charm to him that worked very well. His performance is charismatic. Many of the other actors did pretty nice jobs as well. It's important to note that I don't think that anyone's performance in this film was incredible. I thought that the best performances in this movie were just good, and I can't say that any of them stood out. However, I also can't say that they're as bad as some people are making them out to be. The actors were pretty decent all around.

Another criticism I've seen people bring up about this movie is that it's music is really bad. They were saying that the happy music beat you over the head, and that it was trying to shove happy emotions down your throat. I honestly don't see why people are having an issue with this. It's perfectly normal for a movie to play happy music during a happy scene. You wouldn't expect it to play sad music. The music choice was just fine in my opinion. Also, like the criticism some people have on its acting, I have only seen 1 scene as a reference point by the people who agree with this criticism (I won't state which scene as it is a bit of a spoiler). While I don't agree with this criticism, my message to the people who disliked its music is: Did you dislike its music choice all around or in just one scene? If it was all around, that's fine. If it was just one scene, I would suggest toning down your hatred.

In conclusion, this was an amazing movie which was terrifying and engaging. It worked very well at terrifying me, and the flashbacks and hallucinations were all very good. Its ending is really exceptional as well, and it is a perfect way to end the film. I'm not going to forget its ending anytime soon, and it will probably linger with me for years to come. The acting could've been a little better, but it was still decent, and I'm glad that I checked this film out. It did a great job at engaging me, and it's always refreshing to see a film which displays the horrors of war. Especially in creative ways, which is what this film did.

Final Verdict: 9/10 Amazing