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"All Quiet on the Western Front" is important filmmaking that still rings true today. The film deals with World War I combat through the eyes of the enemy (the Germans). For the first time ever it was realized how heartbreaking war really is, for all involved. One key message within the film is that innocence cannot survive on the battlefield. War is an awful thing that has no true winners, just losers. Brilliant performances from all involved make the film believable and accurate for the most part. A very young Lew Ayres is the best as his story creates tension for the entire film. This is perhaps the first film that proved that the cinema could be a truly imperative medium. The film was scorned by many in the U.S. as some thought that showing the Germans as sympathetic characters was in poor taste. Germans hated the film because of its anti-war message. Hitler was about to become a world power and he wanted all Germans to be excited and enthusiastic about combat. This film goes against those ideals. The Academy was brave enough and smart enough to award the film with the Best Picture Oscar in 1930 and Lewis Milestone became the first multiple Oscar winner in the directing category. "All Quiet on the Western Front" has the storyline of Malick's "The Thin Red Line" and the action and drama of Spielberg's "Saving Private Ryan". An overwhelming film experience. 5 stars out of 5.

The first temptation can be to define it as a classic. But its basic virtue remains the status of admirable crafted adaptation of the novel. In simple , precise manner, the war, the civil life, the kick of teacher to become volunteers, the portraits of characters and , sure, the lines of book are reflected in honest way , offering a clear image of war without ambition to impress.

A beautiful film , for me, i admitt, the best version of the All Quiet on the Western Front, for the noble simplicity , offered first by the masterpiece of Erich Maria Remarque, but, not less, for the context of its aparition and for the echo in our time.

In short, easy to define it as gem or masterpiece or example for proper war film.

In fact, a profound honest work. It is enough for be one of memorable films.

The horrors of war, The Great War, seldom better summarised by: 'It's dirty and painful to die for your country, when it comes dying for your country it's better not to die at all. There are millions out there dying for their countries, and what good does it do?'. And yet the wars continue, death and destruction sustained, lessons seldom learnt, the cries remain unheard.

The film begins in a classroom. Outside, martial music is blaring and the professor inside the room is lecturing the boys about their duty to the Fatherland and encouraging them all to as a group in the German army at the outbreak of WWI. The film is exceptional in how it captures the enthusiasm and naiveté of the boys--as they imagine glory awaiting them after they enlist! Even in boot camp, the mood is light and the new recruits are excited about seeing their first action. This perfectly sets the stage for the actual war--not the sanitized or "fun" war of many films but the hellish and pointless mess that was WWI. The rest of the film is brutally honest and harsh and shows how the students die off one-by-one and the remaining students become more and more jaded and emotionally dead due to the fighting.

I love this film and strongly recommend it to anyone who considers themselves to be a film buff. Part of my love of the film is because it was made relatively shortly after the war and the uniforms, trucks, etc. all appear correct for the period. Many years later, a made for TV version of this film appeared with Ernest Borgnine and Richard Thomas. It, too, was excellent but also was perhaps a bit too polished and pretty--lacking some of the grit of the original. Great acting, direction and production all made this original THE best of the anti-war films of the 1920s and 30s.

Other similar great movies I strongly recommend are J'ACCUSE (French), WESTFRONT 1918 (German), THE BIG PARADE (USA--silent) and THE EAGLE AND THE HAWK (USA). All excel at portraying war in a truthful and non-glamorized manner--it's just a shame that their impact of the world as a whole was negligible--particularly in Germany--where Fascism would soon replace the anti-war sentiment of the book ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT. In fact, his books and this film were banned once the Nazis came to power just a few years later.

World War 1 and a young German, Paul Baumer, enthusiastically joins the Army. With romantic notions of war and idealistic dreams in his head he undergoes training and then is sent off to the Western Front. In due course the romantic notions are replaced by the harsh reality of war and he becomes disillusioned with it all.

Great World War 1 movie, made when the war was still fresh in everyone's minds.

Might well be the first anti-war war movie, as it depicts the grim realities of war, rather than the romantic, heroic non-existent version of it.

Harrowing, shocking, original, unpredictable, and just as relevant today as in 1930.

Surprisingly good production values for 1930.

Solid performances all round.

Far far better than the 1979 remake.