Rating of
2.5/4
All Quiet on the Western Front review
Daniel Corleone - wrote on 01/23/13
"It felt so good to be alive." It starts with boys being recruited in school. Much like Full Metal Jacket, the commanding officer was very strict, though lacked the personality unlike the one in the aforementioned Kubrick masterpiece. Not enough background of the soldiers unlike films like Platoon, Apocalypse Now or even Thin Red Line.
Though the film has an earnest message and may have been pioneering for its genre, its humor, performances and pace have dated. Sluggish storytelling is a pain to watch coupled with a few coy moments with the soldiers dialogues and gestures make them effeminate. It doesn't boast of any memorable soundtrack but substitutes it with realistic war sequences. The screenplay was its strength with lines: "War is war." "When it comes to dying for country, it's better not to die at all." "We fight. We try not to be killed, but sometimes we are." Despite its age and length, All Quiet on the Western Front is worth viewing if one needs to view how a Best Picture awardee was presented in 1930.
