GRADE: A+

Originally begun as a silent film, but shortly into its filming re-conceived as a major sound and special-effects epic that would become the most expensive film ever produced by Universal Studios up to that time, “All Quiet on the Western Front” is the story of seven high school buddies who are cajoled by one of their teachers into enlisting in the German army at the start of the First World War, when German public opinion held that the country would easily defeat its enemies in a matter of months or perhaps even weeks.

Those who wanted their share of high adventure and untold glory, the instructor beseeches them, had better jump in before it was over. Of course, the conduct of the war has a mind of its own as anyone who knows their history remembers—the bloody conflict that took more than 15 million lives languishes on for many years and, in the end, Germany is defeated and forced to sign the devestating Treaty of Versailles.

Before that end occurs, the students-turned-soldiers are quickly dispatched to the infamous Western Front where they are immediately subjected to the horrors of war and combat, with its rat-infested trenches, dangers and disease every bit as intent on destroying them as the enemies they face. It isn’t long before their naïve patriotism and sense of duty evaporates, replaced by the gut-wrenching physical and emotional realities of death and destruction.

Even by today’s hi-tech, graphic standards, “All Quiet on the Western Front” features production values and battles sequences that remain among the most incredible ever conceived. And since the film itself is very much from the era it depicts, watching the action unfold, with the unrelenting attacks and counter-attacks, is almost like watching actual archival footage from the war.

Clearly intended as an anti-war exercise, only occasionally does the film suffer from the kind of staginess commonly found in many early Hollywood productions, here mostly in terms of performance, some of which suffer from melodramatic excess. It’s hard to fault the actors, though, especially considering the film’s subject matter, what with the stress and insanity brought on by the unceasing carnage the soldiers must contend with—it’s the kind of environment that would make just about any sane person act strangely, as many of the men eventually do.

Despite minor signs of dating, director Lewis Milestone’s “All Quiet on the Western Front” has retained virtually all of its power and potency; a film that some 80 years after its initial release still has everything it takes to hold viewers in a vice-like grip of tension and tragedy.

Winner of the Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Director, and nominated for Best Cinematography, “All Quiet on the Western Front” remains one of the finest of its kind and a must-see motion picture.

#