Rating of
3/4
All is NOT quiet...
Gabe - wrote on 04/26/13
A far more brutal film than Saving Private Ryan, which is probably the greatest war film of all time. I prefer Platoon, but to each his own. This is a WW1 film told from the German POV. A boy must make a choice, to join the war effort, or not. His whole class chooses to go the to front line after a riveting speech from their teacher.
Once there, he learns that the war is not all that it's made out to be. All of his friends that joined are killed, except for him. He goes home and realizes that everyone back home is a master war tactician, but they just won't/can't believe the boy who was actually there. This to me is the best part of the film. When he realizes that after witnessing what he has, he's actually more comfortable in the trenches than he is in his own home. You here about this all the time, even today.
Some reviewers have noted that it seems dated and the pacing is slow, those are both true, but, it still might be the most realistic war film ever made.
